Shadow of What was Lost, map for the novel.

[TimPaul]

Here a map I did for a novel to be released soon. The Shadow of What Was Lost, By James Islington. Orbit books.

Shadow-ForPosting.jpg

Again, I did the map in color even though its going to be printed in black and white.

Shadow-TimPaul-Grayscale.jpg

Here's the rough I received from the author as my guide. Thought it would be interesting to for people to see what kind of brief I get from the client.

AuthorMap.jpg

the publisher wanted a two page spread for the map. The red lines shows where the gutter would be, where no text can land. So I worked with the author to figure out how to tweak the map to fill the spread. If I had drawn his world exactly like he had, there would have been a lot of blank space on both sides.

I also had to tweak the locations of things, so they didn't fall right in the gutter. Which always seems to happen with the most important locations on the map.

[Eilathen]

Hey Tim, thanks for posting. I was waiting for this map for a while now I saw it in my ebook of the novel but it was just too tiny and the author was no big help either. I like it! The red sea is a bit much for my eyes but i dig the overall feel of the map nonetheless. Thumbs up!

[TimPaul]

Hey Tim, thanks for posting. I was waiting for this map for a while now I saw it in my ebook of the novel but it was just too tiny and the author was no big help either. I like it! The red sea is a bit much for my eyes but i dig the overall feel of the map nonetheless. Thumbs up!

I always wait till I get permission from the publisher. In general, it's considered good manners to let the client have first reveal of any artwork you do. And in fact, sometimes contractually that they get first reveal.

I noticed that while the book isn't released yet, the Look Inside feature on amazon had the map as part of that. So I asked and got permission.

Always ask first.


And yes, ebooks are terrible for maps. I know that Orbit and Tor would love to be able to do something about it. A good rule of thumb, go to amazon, and see if there's a look inside option. Sometimes those have better versions then the ebooks.

[Eilathen]

Oh i am sorry, Tim, it was not meant as a critic of you at all. If it came across that way, i apologize. Asking is always good practice and good manners on top.

I did indeed see the map on amazon...this is also where i could read the tiny print of timpaulmaps So i knew that you'd probably post it here some time in the future...and voilà, you did Thanks again!

[TimPaul]

Oh i am sorry, Tim, it was not meant as a critic of you at all. If it came across that way, i apologize. Asking is always good practice and good manners on top.

I did indeed see the map on amazon...this is also where i could read the tiny print of timpaulmaps So i knew that you'd probably post it here some time in the future...and voilà, you did Thanks again!

Oh I didn't take it as critic. It's more like me talking out loud. Once the map is done and turned in, it can be a long time before the book is released. And even when it's out in the public, the publisher might still want to do something special about it with the map.

Otherwise I would post as soon as I turned the final art in =).

[Sapiento]

Well done!

[arsheesh]

Very nice Tim! The red sea was an interesting choice for the color piece but I think it looks really good with the overall simple tan and gold color scheme. Your work just keeps getting better and better.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

[- JO -]

Really nice map, very "hot" !
I hope the story is as good as the map looks ;-)
And nice work with the gutter : it doesn't show..

[BlindBlake]

Really nice work, I love the red sea, bold idea but the render is stunning ! The coastline feels almost alive !

[ThomasR]

I really love the map ! I'm a sucker for red seas The composition is great, the fractured islands give a real feel to the landshape and I love your reliefs. A tiny nitpick though : the shading on your river slopes seems to contradict the one you used on your mountains, shaded where there should be light given the fact that the light seems to be coming from the east.