Monday Maps and Diagrams 12/3/18
As I paged through the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of books in my science fiction question in a search for maps, my interior dialogue went something like this….
“Map? No. Map? No. Map? No. Map? No. Map? YES! FINALLY! Is the book a far future post-apocalyptical pseudo-medieval type story? Yes. Sounds about right. Do any other science fiction stories have maps?” Repeat.
Here’s one from a Mark S. Geston far future post-apocalyptical pseudo-medieval type story….
The Map:
Citation: Jack Gaughan’s map from the Ace Books 1st edition of Mark S. Geston’s Lords of the Starship (1967) [click to enlarge] [review]
Series blurb: In my informal Monday Maps and Diagrams series, I showcase scans of SF maps and diagrams from my personal collection. As a kid I was primarily a fantasy reader and I judged books on the quality of their maps. When my reading interests shifted to science fiction, for years I still excitedly peaked at the first few pages… there could be a map!
Related Links:
Monday Maps and Diagrams 2/22/21: Cordwainer Smith’s Instrumentality of Mankind Timeline
Monday Maps and Diagrams 7/25/19: Greg Bear’s Hegira (1979)
Monday Maps and Diagrams 2/18/19: David Brin’s Sundiver (1980)
Monday Maps and Diagrams 1/21/19: Larry Niven’s The Integral Trees (1984)
Monday Maps and Diagrams 1/14/19: Alan Dean Foster’s Voyage to the City of the Dead (1984)
Monday Maps and Diagrams 12/24/18: C. J. Cherryh’s Forty Thousand in Gehenna (1983)
Monday Maps and Diagrams 12/17/18: Russell Hoban’s Riddley Walker (1980)
Monday Maps and Diagrams 12/10/18: Suzy McKee Charnas’ Walk to the End of the World (1974)
Monday Maps and Diagrams 11/26/18: Mark S. Geston’s The Lords of the Starship (1967)
Monday Maps and Diagrams 12/3/18: Jack Vance’s Trullion: Alastor 2262 (1973)
For a more detailed article on the visual and graphic elements of SF consult Charts, Diagrams, and Tables in Science Fiction.
For book reviews consult the INDEX
For cover art posts consult the INDEX
For additional articles consult the INDEX
Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations 
Maybe your SF map curiosity piqued too soon?
What do you mean?
Thanks for stopping by!
Mea culpa.
Intended pun.
Piqued/peaked/peeked.
I still do not understand the meaning of your comment. What is it in reference to? The fact I judged books based on maps as a kid? Explain. Context is missing! 🙂
Dear Joachim Boaz,
Peekaboo!
My original comment was intended as a humorous reference to your typo:
” When my reading interests shifted to science fiction, for years I still excitedly peaked at the first few pages… there could be a map!”
I too enjoy maps included in novels, but the most disturbing aspect of these is the often outlandish extremes used to create names for the places and features depicted on the maps.
As to place names (although not on maps), I found Cordwainer Smith always the creative genius, as with Norstrilia and Meeyameefla, for example.
Keep up the good work — I much enjoy reminders of past glorious SF, especially since my own collection has been in storage for many years now, and i miss them!
Ah, as I scheduled the post weeks ago the contents/word choices weren’t fresh in my memory.
Thanks for the kind words!
I actually found this map somewhat useful when I re-read the book recently. No doubt I’d have enjoyed the book about as much without it, but seeing the places’ relationships to each other was interesting.
My thoughts on the book this time around:
I weirdly enjoy that Sphere cover…. Unfortunately, I remember little of the book despite rereading my and your review! I remember the mood, and some of the plot, but that’s about it.
I don’t know if you or someone else has posted this, but I have copy of the “An Atlas of Fantasy” by J.B. Post – Ballantine 1979 Revised edition. It has over 100 maps from Fantasy, Science Fiction, and assorted other books.
Sounds cool! I think someone mentioned it on the first post in this series…
Have a favorite map from the atlas?
I like the Earthsea, the Dying Earth, and the planet Mongo maps. I really enjoy your site and you do a terrific job of running it. I collect science fiction paperbacks mostly for the cover art of the period you usually showcase and have several thousand now.
By the way, I have an extra copy of this book, and if you are interested, I would like to donate it to you and your site to use as you wish. If so, please contact me to work out details like where to send it, etc. No charge – an early Christmas present 🙂
Thank you for the kind words
I would normally decline as I have limited space…. but then I realized that I just moved! and have a house with tons of available shelves…. I know, a godsend to a couple with a History PhD (me) and advanced degrees in English (my wife) who collect books like no other.
Send me an email at ciceroplatobooks (at) gmail.com
Thank you for the gift (in advance!).
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Thanks for posting this map! The map in the Kindle edition of this book is blurry and illegible.
Thanks for stopping by!
One of many reasons I’ll never own a kindle….