“Map-making had never been a precise art on the Discworld. People tended to start off with good intentions and then get so carried away with the spouting whales, monsters, waves and other twiddling bits of cartographic furniture that they often forgot to put the boring mountains and rivers in at all.”
Terry Pratchett
In my debut novel, New Gillion Street, I took you to the forest world of Neo-Yuthea, where humanity founded a small, one-street colony. It was named after their home world, Yuthea, where Gillion is a country. In that book, Yuthea, Gillion, and other countries/continents are loosely discussed regarding cultures, habits, etc. However, most of the inhabitants have never been there – most but not all, wink wink - so the story doesn’t visit the Resident’s erstwhile home.
But all that is about to change in my upcoming short story collection, The Strange Tales of Gillion.
Of course, since it says as much in the title, you’ve probably realised that the vast majority of the stories are set in Gillion itself. Still, a few will visit other parts of Yuthea via the Gillionite traveller that the story centres around. So, I think a small, simple introduction to the setting might be in order.
In an ideal world where I make a lot of money from selling books, I would commission someone to create a fancy world map, but, alas, dear reader, I cannot! I do have some very rough maps, but they are not really fit for purpose. I use them as reference points more than anything, so it would be best if no one sees them.
Despite their rudimentary nature, I still find those maps help me visualise the world of Gillion, which, in turn, gives me ideas. A country or county’s location can influence how I think and help me build backstories. For example, if you have a country in the far north, you instantly understand the climate, how the seasons will work, or even how the people might be. It’s a beneficial – and cheap – form of inspiration. In the modern parlance, it’s very much a writer’s life hack.
At some point in the past, I found a website that generates these maps. They can be edited and changed depending on what you want. They are random, but they do follow the standard rules of how a planet actually works. You can also generate fantasy city maps from the worlds, which, as you can imagine, is also very useful for visualisation. I expect to use this tactic when I start this sword and sorcery fantasy book I’ve been pondering for a while now. I also recently found out that you can view the map in 3D.
I’ve exported a picture of a completely random one to show you what I’m banging on about, which, as you can see, produces a workable map, even if there are some funny elements… I would LOVE to write a novel set in the Kingdom of Honk – just imagine the possibilities! A country ruled over by a malevolent Elephant King, which is overthrown by the downtrodden peasantry. The story writes itself.
If you are interested in the map website, click here.
So, anyway, for now, you’ll just have to make do with my half-arsed description – in my defence, I don’t want to overdo it. I do need you to read the short story collection, and if I give it all away now, there’ll be no reason for you to buy the damn thing… but I digress.
Anyway, let's get back to the reason why this blog exists! The world of Yuthea and Gillion is another universe, very much like our own, but a shadowy reflection. Gillion, also known as the Fair Isle, is a small island nation that sits between Ecrium, a large continent toward its east across the narrow Gillion Strait, and Westria, a scattered islands region to its west over the Atlas Sea…
Is this starting to sound familiar?
Simply put, you should consider Gillion as an alternate United Kingdom, with a Europe-like continent and an Americas on either side – although the Americas are not one unified continent but many separate islands.
Further north and east, past Ecrium, you come to Etros, a cold, tundral continent, and a separate landmass – loosely translating to the northern portions of Asia. That comprises the whole of the northern hemisphere.
The southern hemisphere is dominated by one single enormous continent called Qathana, which is a bit of a mash-up of Africa and parts of Asia. This, like here on Earth, gives Yuthea a tilt and explains the diverse temperatures and climates.
The Moon is different, too. It has a cracked and fissured face. It still works in the same way, controlling the tides and whatnot, but it would look unfamiliar to someone from our world. (And entirely different to the triple moon cluster, The Three Sisters, which circles the world of New Gillion Street… I seem to like coming up with new variations on a moon, apparently.)
So, that’s the world of Gillion. It’s very much like our own, but in subtle, and in some cases, not so subtle ways… most notably the odd, supernatural events and entities that haunt its margins and hidden places – more of that to come in another blog – and, of course, because of the Beings of Chaos. (Oh yes, Mr Zand wasn’t the only one!!)
Anyway, maybe one day I’ll get those maps and pictures made so I can show you for real, but for now, welcome to Gillion!
Thanks for reading.
Elliot J Harper
Author of New Gillion Street, published by Fly on the Wall Press, and the upcoming short story collection, The Strange Tales of Gillion.
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