A Dribble of Ink

Via Pat’s Fantasy Hostlist:

Though George R.R. Martin first started exploring the Free Cities in A Game of Thrones, nearly fifteen years ago, there has never been an official map of the city states or the continent of Essos. Doubly odd given the lovingly detailed maps of Westeros that have been available for years. Now, thanks to the HBO television adaptation, we have one.

I suppose the most striking feature of the maps is how empty it all is. Pentos, Myr, Tyrosh, Lys and Braavos are all there, but otherwise, it’s completely empty land, devoid of cities like Qohor or Volantis. Perhaps they appear off the map, but then why cut it off mid-way through the continent? The map was created for the purposes of the television series, so it stands to reason that they would only include the cities that are featured prominently in the novel, but it would have been nice to see Martin, Bantam Spectra and HBO take this as an opportunity to produce a map as detailed as those of Westeros that appear in each volume of the series (The North and The South). Perhaps we will get one when A Dance with Dragons releases later this year.