Fantasy maps and mapmaking tutorials by Jonathan Roberts
The last map from the Lands of Ice and Fire is the map of Journeys – all the paths taken by the characters in the novels of A Song of Ice and Fire (up to the end of Dances with Dragons). This map contains spoilers, so don’t look too carefully if you’ve not read to the end of A Dance With Dragons.
Westeros is the beating heart of A Song of Ice and Fire. In this map Westeros gets its own official map in the form of a 3 foot by 2 foot poster. Continue reading “The Official Map of Westeros”
Today, the Dothraki Sea – home to the horse lords who destroy everything in their path. These tribes define a large part of the early books, offering a glimpse into a totally different culture from Westeros. Daenerys is brutally inducted into their ranks to help buy and army, and transforms to become a Khaleesi in her own right. Continue reading “The Dothraki Sea”
Today we visit the trackless East – land of mystery, off the edge of the known world.
King’s Landing, heart of power in Westeros, location of the Iron Throne. This city acts as the fulcrum for the plots and machinations of the warring factions of the Seven Kingdoms. This map is something of a dichotomy. It contains more detail than any of the world or regional maps, but fewer named locations. To see the high resolution version, you’ll need to pick up the poster map folio – The Lands of Ice and Fire – but if you want to see some detail shots, read on after the jump. Continue reading “King’s Landing”
The map folio contains 3 vertical maps that together cover the whole world. We’ve already seen the map of Central Essos. This map picks up the west of the Rhoyne. and details Westeros, The Summer Isles and the Free Cities. Continue reading “The West”
Today, the cities of the Slavers. If you’re following the TV series then you might be wondering why this part of the world merits a map all to itself, but all will become clear….
This is the second map with detail illustrations of the different cities. Continue reading “Slaver’s Bay”
Today we’re travelling to the Narrow Sea and visiting the city states of Lys, Pentos, Myr and Braavos.
Here’s the first official world map of Game of Thrones, which I was commissioned to illustrated for the Lands of Ice and Fire poster set for Random House. The Song of Ice and Fire is an epic series, and it was a privilege to create the map of the known world for the first time.
It was a dream commission for me. I originally read the books in college and, like so many others, was absorbed by the rich world. The lack of good maps bothered me, but I assumed that some day they would be created. I never expected I’d be the one to do it.
Continue reading “Official World Map of A Song of Ice and Fire”
It’s been a little while since this blog went down for renovation – and that was in large part due to the work on the Lands of Ice and Fire. The map folio (12 maps, 72 square feet of Westeros and the lands to the East in all) is now out, and normal service will be resumed. It’s had a great response, with some lovely things being said about the folio on MTV Geek, io9, Westeros.org and Flavorwire. I also had the opportunity to write a short piece on the process of making the maps over on the Huffington Post and in the January edition of ImagineFX.
photo of the maps courtesy of the Huffington Post story
