This Thread About All Of The Books With Intricate Maps Of Fictional Lands At The Beginning Is So Satisfying

For those of you who love seeing proper world building in fictional stories, there's nothing quite like seeing an expansive and detailed map at the forefront of the book you just picked up.

Thankfully, there are people out there with similar fascinations, so think of what's to come as a primer to suit your needs.

Writer Frank Cottrell-Boyce has an extensive list of writing credits. He's written such noted children's fiction as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Rides Again and Framed, and has been lauded for his collaborations with film directors Michael Winterbottom (The Claim and 24 Hour Party People) and Danny Boyle (Millions).

Cottrell-Boyce, luckily for us, also has a thing for maps and world building. He used Twitter to speak about his love for maps inside novels and shared some of his favorites.

Take this one, from Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea, for instance:

There's also this cool map from the Milly Molly Mandy stories written by Joyce Lankester Brisley:

And this one from Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island:

John Bunyan's Christian allegory The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Comeincludes this rather detailed map:

Matthaus Seutter was one of the most important German map publishers of the 18th century and his Siege of the Castle of Love is a work of art:

And then we have this rather simplistic map (drawn by Pauline Baines) for C.S. Lewis's The Voyage of the Dawn Treader:

And let's not forget this one from Alan Garner's The Weirdstone of Brisingamen:

And who doesn't love L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz?

He also gave a shoutout to the Selenographia, by astronomer Johannes Hevelius...

...and the instantly recognizable map of The Hundred Acre Wood from A. A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh books:

People soon chimed in with some of their favorites...

...including one fan who draws his own!

Let your imaginations run wild, friends!