Atlas of the Land

Post by **slipperypick** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 4:06 am

I have a copy of Karen Wyn Fonstad's "Atlas of the Land." I'm curious if a.) Anybody else has it and how they feel it relates to their enjoyment of the Chronicles, and b.) If anyone knows if it will be updated to include new scenes and descriptions from the Last Chronicles (which I haven't read yet).

Thanks!

Post by **jwaneeta** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 4:10 am

dAN posted some scans of it here; they made me want to get the book myself. I can't say that the depiction of Revelstone sorted with my own mental image of it, though.

Post by **balon!** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 4:12 am

Some of the actuall pictures didnt really fit what i had in mind, but the maps were invaluable. Especially when it went through timeline overlays on the map itslef. Totaly Sweet!

Post by **matrixman** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 4:31 am

Every once in a while, someone invariably mentions the Atlas.

And well they should, too! It's a marvellous companion book to the Chronicles. I wish every TC fan had it.

I bought mine when it first came out years ago. To say I was ecstatic would be an understatement. It was like discovering one of Kevin's lost Wards, I tell ya. Karen Fonstad's careful dedication to SRD's vision was apparent on every page of the Atlas. It was clearly a labor of love. She certainly didn't get financial riches from it, because as SRD himself said in the Gradual Interview on his website, the book sold very poorly. Which is why it has never been re-released, and likely never will be, sad as that is. So no, there will not be any updated version that includes new stuff from the Last Chronicles. Well, not unless Last Chrons sales go through the roof, anyway.

There are already several threads about the Atlas around here. If you do a search, you should be able to find them all.

Post by **spacemonkey** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 5:43 am

Great, but where do i get a copy??????

Post by **Kil Tyme** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 9:21 am

I finely got my Atlas a few months ago from Ebay. You should see a copy avail every so often, or on some other auction site. I saw one try to sell for almost 100 bucks, but I got mine for 10ish. I think the Atlas adds greatly to my enjoyment and understanding of the Land and the various events. The author/artist worked with SRD in may parts of the book, so I'm sure lots of what is there is right from his head and as he sees things, too.

Sadly, the author of the Atlas of the Land, Karen Wynn Fonstad (a fellow Wisconsinite), who also created other popular fantasy series Atlases, died 11 Mar 2005 of cancer at age 59.

Post by **dlbpharmd** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 1:41 pm

I found my copy on eBay about 2 years ago. As I've said before, I consider it a "must have" for any fan of the Chronicles.

Post by **aTOMiC** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 1:50 pm

Got mine on Ebay as well. Definitely feel I've completed my Chrons collection what with my multiple versions of all the books (except Runes which I haven't yet bothered to buy a paperback etc. just to have) I think Fonstad's vision and depction of the Land is impressive. The book didn't always show me what I wanted in quite the way I wanted it but probably nothing will present visuals the way I'd want like a big budget film or a richly rendered 3d video game. All in all the book is fantastic.

Post by **A Gunslinger** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 1:55 pm

The Atlas kicks butt. I had it out the last time I read the chronicles so I could actually follow the travels and such. Yes Revelstone (by her vision) is fdeifferent from what I expect, but oh well. It is still a great tool.

Post by **slipperypick** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 2:28 pm

Thanks all! I'm saddened to hear of the author's death, though. She's written other Atlases; I have one called the "Forgotten Realms" Atlas which is useless to me because I don't have any "Forgotten Realms " books or D&D stuff, but I just LOVE maps so much... I'm wierd like that.

Post by **dlbpharmd** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 3:46 pm

I have Fonstad's "The Atlas of Pern" also, and if you're a fan of the Pern stories, you need that book as well.

Post by **Warmark** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 4:43 pm

I think i said in the last Atlas thread that i was going to try get it soon, still havent

So once again, ill try get it soon.

Post by **balon!** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 6:57 pm

Ebay's good, but I love the challenge of picking through backwoods bookstores. There's a bunch in Seattle, and If you look hard enough, youll find one. I got mine for like five bucks!

Post by **Usivius** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 5:54 pm

my recomendation would be to make sure you read the Chrons first, forming an uninfluenced (is that a word?) mental picture of everything, THEN get the atlas. It is interesting and neat, but much of it differs from my mental pictures ... which I like better.
<grin>

Post by **drew** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 11:01 pm

Maybe I'm biased because I've never even seen the Atlas (other than the few pages that were scanned here)--But I feel that a map can take away from the story...If you constantly have to go back and forth looking at the map, trying to figure out exactly where everyone is, I'd think it would take away from the reading flow.

Although I would like to look at it just once...since SRD says that the maps in the books aren't as acurate.

Post by **matrixman** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 7:18 am

True, SRD was never happy with the maps in the books. Which is why I trust the maps in the Atlas to be a much more accurate representation of the Land. Considering that SRD collaborated closely with Fonstad on the project, the Atlas is as accurate as anyone could hope for. Of course, that doesn't suddenly invalidate the reader's own imagination - yours or mine. The Atlas is still just an artist's conception of the Land, though the artist was a clearly devoted one. It is a work of Fonstad's imagination, too, not just Donaldson's. The rest is up to you the reader to interpret as you please, according to your imagination.

I view the Atlas the same way I might view Gilden-Fire: these two publications may not be strictly essential to the Chronicles, but since they do exist for the taking, it's a sweet bonus to have them. Especially since there is an absolute dearth of official Chronicles-related material in bookstores. (And I sure as hell am not holding my breath for the proverbial Covenant PC game, heh.)

As for the problem of constant map consulting taking away from reading flow...well, in my case that's not issue. I enjoy the Chrons on their own, and the Atlas on its own. As I'm reading particular chapters, I'll occasionally think about what I saw in the Atlas. As I'm reading the Atlas, I'll think about a certain passage I read in the books. It's a fun mental association game.

Finally, if readers - particularly those new to the Chrons - do fuss over the maps, so what? What's wrong with looking at interesting drawings?

If the Atlas helps them understand the layout of the Land better, isn't that a good thing? It sure helped me. I don't know about you, but I suck at visualizing geography. I need all the help I can get. In that sense, the Atlas truly is an essential tool - for me. I did not comprehend a lot of the geographical and architectural details that SRD described until the Atlas came along and I got the picture at last.

Post by **Wyldewode** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 5:06 am

Sweet! This sounds good to have. I'll see if I can track down a copy. However, I don't think I'll luck out like I did with Gilden-Fire--just walked into my local used bookstore and found it for $4. But anywho. . . thanks for the info.

~Lyr

Post by **Buckarama** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 1:07 pm

I did a search on amazon and came up with this

I hope these are real because I just ordered one!

www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0345314 ... dition=all

Post by **aliantha** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 8:23 pm

Hunh. The page wouldn't load for me. Maybe Amazon is having issues today.

BTW, I recently found out what happened to my copy of the Chronicles Atlas: the ex has it. Along with the Pern Atlas. And it's a little late to dicker over property, since the divorce was final in '97. Phooey.

Post by **Buckarama** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 9:38 pm

Cheaper than the two houses I bought,...

but I'm not bitter

Kevin's Watch

Kevin's Watch

Atlas of the Land

Atlas of the Land