This page contains maps of Highmoor and beyond! There are no plot spoilers here: knowing the layout of the world won’t undermine any mysteries or suspense.
The World Map
The world in which the Highmoor series takes place is large enough that the story cannot visit every corner. A good portion of this map is foggy, with borders and coastlines only vaguely defined. These are the places that the story never visits, and as their precise geographical layout has no bearing on the plot, I hope you’ll forgive the relative lack of detail. The point of this world map is to provide broader context: to provide you with some idea of the land area, and of the number of countries, cities and resources.
The Central-Western Region
(Book One – Highmoor)
The events of the first book take place strictly within Highmoor and its southern neighbour, Nettlewick, with some references to places further afield. Our characters are driven from their home by the spiraling complexities of a long-running border dispute, and as such, the focus of the first book is on the border region:
The Central Region
(Books Two and Three)
In the second and third books, our characters travel further afield. They cross the entirety of the Central Region of the world, which is largely controlled by the Sandmarch Empire – an amalgamation of several former kingdoms that bordered the desert.
Interpreting the maps…
All the maps presented here use the same key:
I’ve included a scalebar in each one, and north is always to the top of the image, as indicated by a little compass.
Useful links:
All map posts can be found here: https://cwclaytonauthor.co.uk/category/maps/. Each post contains detailed information about the history and geo-politics of the countries on the associated map.
Main Highmoor series page: https://cwclaytonauthor.co.uk/highmoor/. Here, you’ll find descriptions of each book, and links to buy them on Amazon.
I also have a blog post which is all about fantasy maps, including why we make them, how we make them, and the enduring influence of Tolkien:
https://cwclaytonauthor.co.uk/2023/05/28/making-maps/.
And if you’re wondering about modes of transport in fantasy novels, and how this determines fictional geography, plot, and narrative pacing, you might be interested in this old post, too:
https://cwclaytonauthor.co.uk/2023/03/06/marching-onward/.
Finally, if you have any questions regarding maps or geography, you can get in touch using the dedicated contact page. Any new maps will be announced in blog posts, so if you want to stay up to date, feel free to subscribe to the blog (there should be a button on the right).
Happy reading!
C. W. Clayton 