Maps (major spoilers all RotE books/short stories up to end DH)

[Farseer]

We've talked of maps in various threads here and there before but I thought it was time to give them a thread of their own (why not add another thread to the ever-expanding tapestry?! ).

The main reason for doing this now is that Phil, from over in the Newsgroup, has created a Realm of the Elderlings map using both the existing maps from the books and also his interpretations from pouring over the texts themselves. I asked Phil's permission and he has allowed me to share his map with you all here to prompt some discussion (eg maybe we have interpreted the text differently, what do we like about the map/any RotE map, or what don't we like about this or other maps etc). Phil, too, will soon head over and join us in our conversation which will be fantastic.

In the meantime, this is the majority of what I had to say to Phil over there, some of which I took directly from posts I'd made here so apologies for any double-up:

Nice one Phil! I'm going to undertake a study of this at a later time, to compare where you've placed things with how I have interpreted the text, and am thoroughly looking forward to it! I love maps!!

Of course, there is the fact that I am hoping there's something not accurate about your depiction of the Out Islands. I have a bit of a theory (or is that a hope?) about their positioning. I also thought (there I go hoping again!) that this was why the Out Islands had not yet appeared on our maps.

I know that in Dragon Haven Alise was talking about a dream she'd had. In the dream she felt that she was a dragon or some such as she appeared to be above the city (Kelsingra?) seeing it as if from a bird's-eye view. Looking down at the city, it had looked to her as though it had been planned to be seen from above, like a piece of artwork.

When I first read this, I couldn't help but think immediately of the Out Islands and my little, long-time theory that the positioning of the islands could be somehow significant eg that they create some kind of pattern or shape when seen from above. This observation from Alise made me even more hopeful that I may be right.

I'm not sure why I think/thought that the positioning of the Out Islands may be something significant but they are "The God Runes" after all, so, ah, I don't know , I guess I'm thinking that Sa/El/Eda/Odava/Chranzuli (?) etc put them in some kind of special order to create some stupendous and important pattern that can only be seen from a dragon's/their perspective...above.

It was for this reason that I thought (hoped) the Out Islands had never appeared on a map in the books eg it is not for us yet to know what the gods had done until the characters themselves can view them from above OR knowing such a thing and being able to see the layout for ourselves may prove a spoiler for future works etc.

I also thought it worthy to note that Aslevjal was depicted as the most likely centre of the entire 'world', at least that is how it seems to appear on the map within the Aslevjal map tower? This makes me wonder if there is some true connection to it and "the gods"...or was it like that as those in Aslevjal simply considered themselves the centre of the world (as we humans once believed we were the centre of the solar system?)...or was it merely written in the text as such to hint at the (presently unknown to the reader) lands to the north and to the very east of the map?

Tangent coming! I've not thought of it until right this second but the Out Islands HAVE been seen from above in modern RotE times...during the Cleansing of Buck and the end of the Red Ships War etc, and also when Fool flew there on GoaD's back. Of course, there were only three beings other than "the gods" and the simulacra who'd have been in a position to possibly view and remember the positioning...Fool, Tintaglia and Icefyre. Hmm...!

So, Phil, if your depiction is fairly accurate, it would blow my theory about the positioning of the Out Islands out of the water!

I'll add other quotes from other threads at a later point, and feel free to add links to other RotE maps you may come across etc as well.

Here's the link to the map as the image was far too large to place here as a picture. Sorry. If you know how to put it here somehow, please do so!

Though you'll find that the map is in German (which I can't read for the most part), it is still rather easy to understand, especially if you, like me, have studied the other maps or read the books with a map in mind.