Do You Sea What I Sea
Quick! Think of a fantasy map! What do you see? I would be willing to bet that the image that popped into your head has a few key features. There's a long line of mountain ranges, deserts to the east or south, a frozen north, a huge land to the east extending far beyond the map, and an ocean or sea to the west. Examples of this include: Middle Earth from Lord of the Rings Trilogy Alagaesia from the Inheritance Cycle Faerun from Dungeons and Dragons So, why is this? Why are so many of these maps so obsessed with just showing the west coast? I think there might be several reasons. The first and most obvious of what might have influenced this is, as with many things in the Fantasy genre, J.R.R. Tolkien. As the father of nearly everything in fantasy, it's very likely that the maps in his books inspired later worlds and maps just as his interpretation of folklore races did. However, while that might be the direct connection, nothing is ever truly, completely origina...