When I wrote Seraphina’s Lament, and made the decision to publish it, I didn’ t have a ton of money. Hell, I still don’t. Chronic illness is expensive, folks. Anyway, as luck would have it, I have a friend who makes AMAZING fantasy maps. He was willing to work out a deal with me, and together over the past few weeks he’s been working on this map.

I’ve always kind of wanted a map of The Bloodlands, but I wasn’t exactly sure how much anyone would care, or even IF anyone would care. I didn’t know if it would be important or worth the time invested in it. However, I have had a few readers comment that they’d really love a map in the books.

I decided to take the leap.

While Seraphina’s Lament focuses only on the Sunset Lands, with the Red Desert mentioned, the actual landscape covered is pretty narrow. In An Elegy for Hope, the world expands quite a bit, and in A Requiem for Fate, the scope will broaden even more. So I had to make a decision. Do I JUST make a map of the Sunset Lands, or should I cover all the territory that will come into play over all three of the books?

I decided to make one map that pretty much covers all the land that will be played in throughout the trilogy. That way, it can go in all three books. I specifically did not add certain elements that will give away plot points and could be considered spoilers.

The map itself is still in the beta phase, but I love it so much I asked for permission to show it off in its current incarnation (though Michael keeps saying it needs tweaking). Once it’s done, I’ll update Seraphina’s Lament with a copy of this map in it, and I’ll make sure it lands in An Elegy for Hope and A Requiem for Fate as well.

I didn’t really expect it to be such a moving experience to see the world I created in my head on paper like this, but it really has been quite surreal. I’ve spent a lot of time just looking at it, and marveling. It’s just… it’s really something else to see it. And Michael Baker is an incredible artist with a real zeal for the cartography craft.

He’s also always open for more clients, so check out his website here. Tell him I sent you.

Anyway, here’s the map. Isn’t it incredible??