Urrath, map for the novel Sidewinders by author Robert V.S. Redick

[ThomasR]

Hi Fellow mapmakers !

Today, I'm sharing with you the map I drew for author Robert V.S. Redick for his latest novel Sidewinders, the second installment of his Fire Sacraments trilogy (I drew the map for the first tome Master Assassins back in 2018 and you can find it here).

It was a delight to work with Robert as he is driven, demanding and knows what his story needs. Having lots of freedom as a mapmaker is nice but having a clear path in front of you can be relaxing some times.

Robert wanted a double page spread map, legible and evocative. The land being mostly desert, we decided to keep the terrain depiction at its simplest, focusing on conveying the important elements of the story.

Later, Robert needed a map more publicity oriented and we went for some burnt parchment feel reminiscing of the hot, dry and merciless mood of the novel so, torn parchment and warm colors on my end.

I also took a lot of pleasure depicting the Matoglin, an ornate dagger/short sword that was depicted in the first book (and I learned about it after the map was finished when I read the amazing story).

Now, I just want to learn what happens to the two main characters, two peculiar brothers. Robert is one hell of a character builder and I can only recommend you take a look at this story. In the meantime, here come the map !

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© Thomas REY - 2021 - All rights reserved

I hope you like it

Cheers !

Thomas

[Diamond]

Just started reading Sidewinders last night - I thought he was NEVER going to be done with it!

I knew your work right off the bat; good job again on the map. One thing I was slightly confused on - the dashed lines are caravan routes, right?

[Arimel]

Great to see another of your maps! I love the cleanliness as normal!

[ThomasR]

Just started reading Sidewinders last night - I thought he was NEVER going to be done with it!

I knew your work right off the bat; good job again on the map. One thing I was slightly confused on - the dashed lines are caravan routes, right?

Hey D. ! Yeah, Robert took some time to deliver the sequel but reviews seem to deem the wait worthy (cannot wait for my copy to arrive and discover what he's inflicting on those two brothers ).

Glad to hear you recognized the style The dashed liens are actually basins limits. We tried several things to show these particular areas and chose to use dashed lines and different opacities for the sands

Great to see another of your maps! I love the cleanliness as normal!

Thanks a lot Arimel, Robert wanted to clutter the map as little as possible to convey the desert feel without rendering the terrains too much hence the sparse details and clear impression.

[Ilanthar]

Nice! The desert is quite mesmerizing . And I really like that sharpy blade.

[ThomasR]

Nice! The desert is quite mesmerizing . And I really like that sharpy blade.

Thanks a lot Julien and apologies for this impolitely late response