{"id":1828755,"date":"2024-03-08T10:51:15","date_gmt":"2024-03-08T15:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=1828755"},"modified":"2024-03-08T10:52:00","modified_gmt":"2024-03-08T15:52:00","slug":"the-river-sins-of-fantasy-maps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2024\/03\/the-river-sins-of-fantasy-maps\/","title":{"rendered":"The ‘River Sins’ of Fantasy Maps"},"content":{"rendered":"

Author K. M. Alexander has some thoughts about rivers on fantasy maps<\/a>, and the mistakes authors make with rivers when drawing those maps.<\/p>\n

When it comes to rivers, I\u2019ve noticed that quite a few fantasy writers don\u2019t understand the basics. While their intent is noble, I\u2019ve seen plenty of examples of authors struggling with the underlying science of rivers and river systems. I sympathize. These are mistakes I have made myself. Early on, in one of my first projects, I made a mess<\/em> with the waterways in my fantasy world. Mistakes like these\u2014I like to jokingly call them \u201criver sins\u201d\u2014might go unnoticed at first, but when they are noticed, they can draw a reader out of the story or setting. It wasn\u2019t until I later learned more about the behavior of these ecosystems that I was able to hone in on my worldbuilding, and the end result was something much more interesting and complex. The cool got cooler.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Previously: \u2018The Perplexing River Systems of Middle-earth\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Author K. M. Alexander has some thoughts about rivers on fantasy maps, and the mistakes authors make with rivers when drawing those maps. When it comes to rivers, I\u2019ve noticed that quite a few fantasy… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[87,31,621],"class_list":["post-1828755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-maps-and-literature","tag-fantasy-map-design","tag-fantasy-maps","tag-rivers","post_format-post-format-link"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5831,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2017\/11\/an-online-class-on-fantasy-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1828755,"position":0},"title":"An Online Class on Fantasy Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"14 November 2017","format":"link","excerpt":"Alex Acks and Paul Weimer are teaching an online class on creating fantasy maps: Join Alex Acks and Paul Weimer as they talk about fantasy maps in order to give you the tools you need to create and map your world. Topics include basic geologic principles, common mistakes, forms maps\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Maps and Literature"","block_context":{"text":"Maps and Literature","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/maps-and-literature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1785164,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2018\/03\/new-orleans-totally-unrealistic-fantasy-city\/","url_meta":{"origin":1828755,"position":1},"title":"New Orleans: ‘Totally Unrealistic’ Fantasy City","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"22 March 2018","format":"link","excerpt":"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jameslsutter\/status\/975550946884268032 Don't miss writer and game designer James L. Sutter critiquing New Orleans as though it was a city from a fantasy novel.\u00a0A major criticism of fantasy maps, whether of cities or worlds, is their lack of realism: unrealistic rivers, mountains and so forth. New Orleans, with its totally unrealistic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Maps and Literature"","block_context":{"text":"Maps and Literature","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/maps-and-literature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5582,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2013\/06\/the-sixteenth-century-origins-of-fantasy-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1828755,"position":2},"title":"The Sixteenth-Century Origins of Fantasy Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"7 June 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the things I'm interested in for my fantasy maps project is the origin of fantasy map design: where does that tell-tale fantasy map look come from? Look at enough fantasy maps, and it's hard not to notice certain commonalities in design. As Stefan Ekman demonstrates in Here Be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5583,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2013\/06\/review-here-be-dragons\/","url_meta":{"origin":1828755,"position":3},"title":"Review: Here Be Dragons","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"9 June 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Stefan Ekman\u2019s Here Be Dragons\u00a0(Wesleyan University Press, February 2013) is a book-length examination of the use of maps and settings in fantasy literature. Maps and settings. Which is to say that maps are not the sole focus of this work: mark that. There are four main chapters, only one of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Book Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/book-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/ekman-dragons-199x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1136,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/03\/when-fantasy-authors-arent-fans-of-fantasy-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1828755,"position":4},"title":"When Fantasy Authors Aren’t Fans of Fantasy Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"7 March 2016","format":"link","excerpt":"The\u00a0Book Riot piece I linked to in January by A. J. O'Connell dealt with the editorial decision on whether to include a map in a fantasy novel. That\u00a0article appears to have followed up on\u00a0O'Connell's piece from last August, which I missed. It explores why some fantasy\u00a0authors may or may not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Maps and Literature"","block_context":{"text":"Maps and Literature","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/maps-and-literature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4860,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2017\/09\/the-territory-is-not-the-map\/","url_meta":{"origin":1828755,"position":5},"title":"The Territory Is Not the Map","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"27 September 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Critiques of fantasy maps have more to do with the shortcomings of fantasy worlds than the maps that depict them.","rel":"","context":"In "Book Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Book Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/book-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"From Jared Blando, How to Draw Fantasy Art and RPG Maps (Impact, 2015).","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/blando-example.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/blando-example.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/blando-example.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/blando-example.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/blando-example.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/blando-example.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1828755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1828755"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1828755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1828758,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1828755\/revisions\/1828758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1828755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1828755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1828755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}