![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Missing Maps And Annoying Alliteration
Feb. 20th, 2011 04:57 pmJul 2010
The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch - Gollancz, 2007
* * * *
Grrr. Another epic fantasy novel that doesn't have a map. Less of a problem here because of the single setting, but still annoying. Listen, young authors (Abercrombie, I'm looking at you) - there is a reason why golden age fantasists like Tolkien and Ursula Le Guin provide extensive maps. It saves them having to spend precious words explaining the relative locations of places, allowing them to focus on dialogue, history and spectacle rather than describing how the characters get from A to B. And don't say that it frees readers to use their imaginations - I'm not interested in woolly fantasy worlds and get annoyed when the picture I have built up in my head is undercut by an authorial aside which doesn't fit.
Okay, rant over. Actually I rather liked this book. Though the lack of a map isn't its only flaw.
( Read more... )
The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch - Gollancz, 2007
* * * *
Grrr. Another epic fantasy novel that doesn't have a map. Less of a problem here because of the single setting, but still annoying. Listen, young authors (Abercrombie, I'm looking at you) - there is a reason why golden age fantasists like Tolkien and Ursula Le Guin provide extensive maps. It saves them having to spend precious words explaining the relative locations of places, allowing them to focus on dialogue, history and spectacle rather than describing how the characters get from A to B. And don't say that it frees readers to use their imaginations - I'm not interested in woolly fantasy worlds and get annoyed when the picture I have built up in my head is undercut by an authorial aside which doesn't fit.
Okay, rant over. Actually I rather liked this book. Though the lack of a map isn't its only flaw.
( Read more... )