My longest continuous online mapping project has been an attempt to produce a semi-definitive map of the world of the Malazan saga by Steven Erikson and Ian Esslemont. I started trying to come up with crude world maps all the way back in 2005, and these have continued intermittently ever since, especially when the authors released new regional maps in the books.
This is a totally new, ground-up redrawing of the world map on a new and extremely large scale (apologies for those who have problems loading it).
This map was created by combining the individual regional maps from the books with Steven Erikson’s original world map that he created back in the 1980s. Although that map was superseded by the later maps he created for the books with artist Neil Gower, it still proved extremely useful for the areas of the world that have still not appeared on any official map (such as Bael, western Seven Cities, Genostel and Umryg).
A few areas have survived from the older world maps created by D’rek on the Malazanempire forum, most notably Stratem. D’rek created the original outline of Stratem which I then modified when it became clear that the Sea of Chimes was virtually landlocked. Steven Erikson’s map of Korelri-Stratem wasn’t much help because it had been thoroughly revamped for the novels, so I kept Stratem much the same as in previous maps. It remains the only continental outline to be pretty speculative.
Other areas are still pretty speculative, such as most of western Seven Cities: we know where Perish, Nemil, Shal-Morzinn, Cabal, Ekhran, Grol Etur and Drammatan are located but not much more than that. The location of Farrog, Nightmaria and the Great Dry is also purely speculative.
Other locations are speculative in detail even when their general location is correct: Lamentable Moll, Spendrugle, Trygalle, Seven Ruins Island and the Glass Desert are all in the right general area, but their precise location may be slightly off.
As a bonus you can also see the map on a globe via this link.
As always, leave thoughts on the map in the comments and please let me know if you find any errors or mistakes.
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Dan D said:
Thank you! I’ve spent so much time looking for something like that every time I’m on a new book in the series. This is perfect.
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Pedro Enrico said:
Please, when will the “definitive” version be posted?
Super anxious, love yours maps
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werthead said:
Not until SE or ICE given a full world map their seal of approval, which does not seem imminent.
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Sean said:
Any thought to mapping the adventures of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach on your nifty globe for your next map?
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werthead said:
Most of the locations are already on there (Laughter’s End, Spendrugle, Farrog, Nightmaria, Theft).
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John said:
Map looks great 🙂
I’d like to ask – is there a vectorized version of this map? Im preparing a present to a big Malazan fan, and id like to make some adjustments to the map (mostly make it look old).
Would it be possible, to have a source vector version of this (name your fee…)
Thank you very much, John
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werthead said:
I have no idea what a source vector map is 🙂 I make them in layers in Paint-Net and then save the final product to a .PNG format.
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larckov said:
Vector format would be .svg (if you can export to that format in the software you use)
Also, I am starting my first re-read and this map will be esencial to better understand everything. Thanks a lot!
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Sweetlard said:
Just wanted to reach out and say that my wife and I are reading Deadhouse Gates right now and have been utilizing this map a ton to help with the large scale visualizations and understanding the justification/s of Coltaine’s decisions re: the chain of dogs. You’ve made a really cool resource here–thank you!
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Paul van Doleweerd said:
Excellent map, I noted in the comments this a multi-layered composition. I was wondering if you could produce one that has the geography but has no labels or city icons or names? (like the continent of Genostel looks in your latest version) I’m in the process of starting a gaming campaign in this world, and a blank map would be a phenomenal benefit, so the players could fill stuff in as they go, and not get spoiled if they start reading the series? Thanks for the consideration.
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Sharang Inamdar said:
You should try contacting Erikson and show him this if he is not aware! He is pretty responsive on his Facebook page
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Sigillatus said:
Brilliant map Adam! I’ve been looking for a Malazan reference map for some time.
BTW I just posted about it on the paint.net forum: https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/20363-paintnet-is-getting-noticed/?do=findComment&comment=585312
Thank you for sharing it 🙂
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Nikosierra said:
Great map, I LOVE the feature to put it on a globe, I had never realised how close the Otataral islands and the Toblakai range were.
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communard71 said:
This is by far the best Malazan map I’ve come across. Unfortunately, when I click on the main map, I just get the same small version of the map that’s on the above pate. However, I can see the global map in expanded views. Don’t know if it’s a Firefox issue or what, but having the globe view is more than good enough.
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werthead said:
It’s to do with some weird formatting. I’ve noted that WordPress keeps the size down in the shortcut address (i.e. it sometimes inserts 400×600 or whatever in the address), so removing that can force the image to render at full size.
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communard71 said:
Thanks. I changed the page style to ‘no style’ and it solved everything.
A further question: what led you to believe the Seven Cities continent is so enormous? In your map, the actual seven-cities part of the continent, with most of the detail and where most of the action takes place, is barely 20% of the thing, or less. I’m not criticizing, just curious.
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werthead said:
Because that’s what Steven Erikson’s map shows 🙂
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Abdulmajeed said:
thanks for sharing 🙂 awesome map !
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