The Writing Cartographer: How Maps Improve Fantasy

At my book club, we have a running joke. There are three key things that every fantasy novel worth its salt absolutely must have: lavish descriptions of food and drink to entice the senses; at least one gratuitous sex scene (for similar reasons); but the most important element, other than the actual writing, is the map.

At the beginning of all of my favorite fantasy novels, there is a detailed map of the world or city in which the story takes place. The Hobbit has Middle Earth, The Tombs of Atuan has Earthsea. Even the Discworld books feature maps. Terry Pratchett even released a book mapping out one of the key settings of his satirical fantasy novels: The Streets of Ankh-Morpork.

But why are maps so important? And why are they so commonplace in fantasy as opposed to other genres? In a nutshell: world building.

Certain sub-genres of fantasy are grounded in the real world. Magical realism, urban fantasy, paranormal fantasy, etc.; these all feature fantastical elements that usually take place in a familiar setting. Think Christopher Moore or Charles de Lint. Other sub-genres, such as sword & sorcery and high fantasy, take place in completely…