Can you guess what books these maps are from? Let me know in the comments! I’ll post answers tomorrow with shoutouts for the most correct 🙂
As always, this great tag was originally created by The Broke and the Bookish but is now hosted over at That Artsy Reader Girl. Today’s prompt is about pet peeves, and whilst I can think of worse crimes (cough stickers you can’t peel off cough – find my most popular Top Ten Tuesday about bookish things I hate here) I wanted to talk about maps in books.
Maps in books are pretty – but do you actually use them? Do you really flip back to them when a new place is introduced and memorise the geographical location of it in relation to existing towns? I don’t.
Maps give you a really good overview of how a fantasy world works: whether it’s focused around cities or nature, how far the characters will travel, how developed the world is. I’ll also be judging the quality of the map – and if there isn’t a map in a fantasy book, I’ll be judging it pretty hard!
But realistically, I spend about 30 seconds admiring an aesthetic map and then skip to the part I actually bought the book for. The story! This admittedly sometimes comes back to bite me (the first half of Shadow and Bone was like a fever dream) but even if I study the map really hard, I’ll always have a different idea of how the world looks in my head.
What about you? What’s your opinion on maps in books? Does every fantasy book need one? Do you use them? How many of these maps did you manage to guess? Let me know in the comments!
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2. I have this map on my wall, ignore the stickers! (Although if it helps, that’s Baz from Carry On and part of a stag 😉 ).
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Hundreds & Thousands of Books 
Great choices! I love seeing maps in books because it helps me understand the journey, haha.
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Yeah I see where you’re coming from! I love it when characters travel a far distance and you can follow on the map 🙂
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Love this! I know 6 of these 😊 I do enjoy the maps and definitely spend a good deal of time going back to it while reading
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Oooo well done!! That’s really interesting about the map, glad to get someone else’s opinion 🙂
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The literal only book that I’ve ever looked back at the map for was ACOWAR when I was lost as to where in the world the characters were at one point. I love when authors include them though! I feel like it’s something that should always be included in high fantasy books where the worlds are so large, just in case I get lost.
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That’s a really interesting point! It is a staple of high fantasy…
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1st is I guess from six of crows
The second one is from Harry Potter
While the 5th one is from blood and honey
And 9th one is from shadowhunter series!
Great post! I could guess these.
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Ahhh we’ll done!! You’ve done great 😊
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I love maps but I like a family tree more!
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YES! I’ve read literally two books with family trees and each time I’ve needed them so much. You always know it’s a serious, confusing fantasy book when they include a long family tree…
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Only could guess one. Not every fantasy book needs a book- just depends on the book.
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Totally! It shouldn’t be expected at all
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Ooh this is so much fun! I think I know maybe 4? The first would be SoC, the sixth would be The Cruel Prince, and the last two Shadowhunters and The School For Good and Evil? Haha I hope I got that right 😅 Great choices!
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You did such a good job! Haha you were one of the top answers and I’ve given your site a shout out with the answers. Well done 🙂
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Thank you so much!
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😊
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I like a map because it’s a way of setting the scene for a fantasy world. It just feels like a touch of world building before you even start reading. But I don’t really use it very often. I don’t flip back to it as I read. Part of that could be because I’m not a very visual person.
I’m thinking about including a map in my WIP because it does move around a lot, but I’m sort of going back and forth on it. Maybe some readers will prefer to have it, but I don’t know if I’d call it “necessary.”
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I totally agree with everything you said 🙂 Ah your WIP sounds so cool! Yeah I don’t think they’re always necessary in fantasy books? If they’re rushed or unnecessary it just seems a bit tacky
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I adore maps in books so much, and I do sometimes flick back to have a look at them! Great post!
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It can be so helpful if you get confused (aka every high fantasy book ever haha)
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I love maps in books! I frequently flip back to them while reading whenever places and distances are mentioned. And if anything, they look so pretty!
Some of these look vaguely familiar, but I only recognize #1 and #2 for sure!
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Ahhh they can look so pretty! And I totally agree they can be so helpful when new places are introduced
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That Hogwarts map is so cute! I give a map the 30 cursory seconds at the beginning–but I also bookmark it so I can go back and check it out when each new place is mentioned. (This was SO helpful for Grisha books.) Great list!
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Ahh especially for the grisha books!! That’s such a smart idea for the book marking I’ll have to try it!
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Definitely! Makes for a really immersive read 🙂
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I totally agree 🙂
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I usually don’t mind the maps attached to books. I do see your point that , at times, they don’t serve any purpose. But I still find it cool (HAHA). For instance, I liked the map attached to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion. Maybe because it is an unfamiliar world.
Which reminds me. When I was younger, I used to like city maps for I had the vision of putting up my own in the future. I was into reading about cities and foreign places that I spend a lot of my time reading encyclopedias. I saw the map of New York City in your post and it reminded me of those old days when I would study the grids. In an alternative world, I might have been an urban planner. 🙂
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That’s so cool! Ahh an urban planner does sound like a sick job. If it’s a super high fantasy book or something similar I agree that maps can be helpful for a world you don’t understand!
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Thank you! It was fun!
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Aw I’m so glad to hear it!!
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I recognize the maps from the books I’ve read. 🙂 I definitely use maps in fantasy books — it helps so much to get a sense of where things are in relation to each other. I also appreciate maps when a book is talking about a place I have no familiarity with — but at the same time, just seeing that there’s a map at the beginning of a book makes me tired, because I realize there will some work involved in understanding the world I’m reading about. Great post!
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Ahh it makes me tired too pahahaha. All these new places I’ll have to learn about! I love your points 😛
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I’m one of the few people that actually refers back to maps whenever I read a book with new places! I may not remember the exact location, but I usually flip back and forth enough times throughout the story, that by the end of the book I have a rough idea of the layout of the lands!
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That’s so interesting! I’ll have to try flipping back while I read 🙂
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I always find that I end up only really using the map if the book becomes confusing, but I do love to have them there just incase
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Same! Although I have to admit I often get confused with high fantasy…
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I love maps in fantasy books, just because they are pretty to look at usually lol. But yes I do sometimes flip back to the map if I’m trying to get my bearings on geography in the story. Fun post!
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Ahhh that’s so interesting!! Thanks 😊
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