This is the Monarchies of God map I illustrated for the Spanish edition of The Monarchies of God (Las Monarquías de Dios), the fantasy saga by Paul Kearney, published in Spain by Alamut Ediciones. It is another of the maps I have drawn to accompany a whole series of novels.
Monarchies of God map
What the Monarchies of God map shows
The map covers Normannia and its neighbouring territories, the continent where the saga unfolds. It includes the kingdoms of Hebrion, Almark, Perigraine, Fimbria, Astarac, Torunna and Gabrion, the Merduk lands of Ostrabar to the east, and places further away such as Finnmark, Kolchuk, Calmar and Punt, along with seas, mountain ranges, rivers and cities.
Stylistically, it is a black and white map framed by a braided border, with a title banner, a compass rose and a scale in leagues. The lettering and the hand-drawn mountains give it the feel of an old document from the world of the novels, while staying clear enough to print well inside the books.
About The Monarchies of God
The year of the Saint 551. Normannia is a continent divided. In the east, the news could not be worse: the city of Aekir, spiritual centre of the Monarchies of God, has fallen to the Sultan of Ostrabar and his fierce Merduks. The legendary commander John Mogen has died in its defence, and the Pontiff of the Ramusian faith has disappeared and is presumed dead. All that remains is to regroup the scattered defending forces and choose where to make a last stand.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the continent, the religious repression of the Inceptine order spreads terror through the prosperous maritime kingdom of Hebrion. Its victims are those who practise the arts of magic, considered enemies of the true faith. In the midst of this chaos emerges Richard Hawkwood, an experienced sailor chosen by the King of Hebrion to captain an extraordinary mission: to sail to the far west of the world in search of the fabled Western Continent, with a cargo of exiled mages on board.
The saga is made up of five novels, beginning with Hawkwood’s Voyage, and combines epic fantasy with a world inspired by early modern Europe, with gunpowder, sailing ships and religious wars.
About Paul Kearney
Paul Kearney is a fantasy author from Northern Ireland, known for gritty, grounded epic fantasy with a strong military and historical flavour. Besides The Monarchies of God, he is the author of the Macht trilogy, beginning with The Ten Thousand, another series for which I also illustrated a map.
Why this saga needed a map
The Monarchies of God moves between a besieged east, a maritime west and an unexplored ocean. Kingdoms, faiths and armies are constantly shifting, and a clear Monarchies of God map helps readers understand where each front is, how far the fleets have to sail and why every border matters. That is the job of a good book map: to make the geography of the story easy to follow without slowing the reading down.
Where this map has been featured
The blog Artifex wrote about this map when the Spanish edition came out.
Monarchies of God map: frequently asked questions
Is this the map of the Spanish edition of The Monarchies of God?
Yes. I illustrated it for Alamut Ediciones, which published Paul Kearney’s saga in Spain.
Can you illustrate a map for my own fantasy saga?
Of course. I work with publishers and self-published authors. Take a look at other projects such as The Witcher map, the Tigana maps or the Shadowmarch maps, visit my map illustration page, or get in touch to tell me about your project.
