Monday Maps and Diagrams 12/24/18
Sometimes a map tells a story…. Sometimes a series of maps reveal the evolution of a story. C. J. Cherryh’s sequence of six maps of the same location in Forty Thousand in Gehenna (1983) tracks the evolving relationship between settlers, azi clones, and native caliban lizard creatures.
A careful eye might be able to discern the general trajectory of the novel’s plot — if you haven’t read it yet, than perhaps (if you can tear your eyes off of MAPS) proceed no further….
Enjoy!
The Maps:
Citation: Maps from the 1984 DAW Books edition of C. J. Cherryh’s Forty Thousand in Gehanna (1983). [click to enlarge]
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 peeked 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 
I loved the book – thank you for sharing these maps and reminding me of a cracking read:). Happy holiday!
Thank you for stopping by. I seem to remember reading this particular Cherryh novel… I was obsessed with her fiction for years in my late teens.
Did you find the maps added to the novel? What did you think of the visual progression of the changes in the colony?
Yes – and the reason why I was so delighted to see these maps is that I pretty much ignored them at the start of the book, but by the time I was three-quarters of the way through this remarkable book, I was flipping back to the maps, which were a subtext to the unfolding story itself. There are rarely books where the maps aren’t helpful – but this is one of those where the progression adds another strand to the story…