An Interview with AVANT NOVIS MAP MAKING

Fantasy maps are a key part of any good fantasy novel and their creation is one of the funnest parts of the world building process. To that end I interviewed Avant Novis, a map maker and good friend of EPIC.

One of Avant’s current works in progress.

1. Hi Avant tell us a bit about yourself and what inspired you to make maps?

I remember being 10 and pulling the “hobbit” from a library shelf fascinated by the old 1980 cover. I distinctly remember opening the book up and getting myself lost in Murkwood. From that point on I was hooked. I started drawing my own maps in my school notebooks and never looked back. The maps in the “Hobbit” and the “Lord of the Rings” gave us the modern language and symbolism of the modern fantasy map that are used to communicate locations and ideas that are universal in the genre.

2. What appeals to you most about the fantasy genre?

The first thing that appeals to me is the analog that fantasy makes to the real world. Most of the time life is all about the shades of grey. However, in times like we live now, there is a definite black and white. Fantasy books, in their way, help define what is right and what is wrong. The works of Prachet, Butcher, and Moorcock springs to mind. In this stark contrast that we all are experiencing, hope remains. This hope is a common thread in most fantasy books. Individuals placed in extreme events shape their world and are fueled by this hope.

3. Tell us a little bit about your latest project and the challenges you have faced putting it all together?

I'm currently working on commissions by indi authors. I love bringing the author's worlds to life in the form of maps. My own personal projects include two different gazetteers that describe in depth two different fantasy worlds. Also a completely new tabletop role playing game. The latter is an all-encompassing project that has become a monster that I'm loving working on.

4. What is your favourite map making tool and why?

Oh wow now that is a complicated question. A pen and paper sketch, an outline, the tool that the author first conveys their world, it all starts there. A rough sketch of an author's vision of their world. There is so much love and hope in those sketches and outlines. There is so much excitement in the first few moments of collaboration with an author. It all evolves from there. A lot of novels only cover a fraction of a fantasy world but there is a whole story behind what the author sees in their maps. That vision is all wrapped up in that first image.

5. For any wannabe map makers out there, what's the most useful thing you’ve learned?

Recorde what you are doing and how you are going about creating a map. You're only as good as your last project. Just winging it might work once in a while but if you are looking to be a professional, you must make your own standards. Those standards must be based on the work that you have done in the past. The ability to look back in time and see how you approached a project is an invaluable tool. The projects that you have created in the past are how you are going to get work and how your work will be judged. You must be able to produce the same quality or better. The only way to do this is to look back on how you accomplished your previous project.

6. What tricks do you utilise to hit your deadlines and keep your maps on track?

A schedule. In an interview Steven King described his work ethic and the same trick can be applied to map making. Set aside a specific amount of time each day, to work on maps and only on maps. I have a 4-hour period each day that is specifically set aside for maps. Either working on a commission or practising and refining my process.

7. How important is author feedback to the mapmaking process?

Communication is king. You can never have enough of it. Having an author set expectations for the work you are commissioned is critical. Write down everything so you can refer to it in the future. Remember the world that you are working on is not yours; it's a world that someone has lovingly crafted. Let the author tell you about it, the history, the current events, how the character of the story changes the world.

8. What plans do you have for the future?

Get to Beta testing for my table top Role Playing Game. We are in a closed Alpha right now and it has taken years to get to this point, now things are moving FAST and i’m trying to keep up with the monster I've made. I wonder if this is how Authors feel about their works.

9. With the world the way it is at the moment what sort of tales do you prefer?

Ones with heroes where good triumphs over evil or ones that take a darker approach? I love grim dark and I love hope filled stories. I feel that these two extremes are symbols of the zeitgeist of our current world. We are all trying to find where we fit in a changing world. Authors have an amazing ability to fill their stories with the distilled essence of our current times and problems. Two points of view are necessary to understand who we are and where we're going; and most importantly how we need to change things. Hope is only as powerful as the actions you put behind it.

10. What’s better, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings or Star Wars?

Wow, you don't mess around with the questions. Ok opinion here, all of these series in the last few years have received a black eye by their authors or others connected to them. Which has been most successful in overcoming these challenges? Right at this moment, the Lord of the Rings. Not too morbid but the author is dead, and their work still stands alone. I'm going with Lord of the Rings.

Thanks for taking part!