Description

When the sky breaks apart and an earthquake shatters the seaside city of Sharis, cartographer Rukha Masreen is far from home. Caught in the city’s ruins with only her tools and her wits, she meets a traveling companion who will change her course forever: the wizard Eshu, who stumbles out of a mirror with hungry ghosts on his heels.

He’s everything that raises her hackles: high-strung, grandiloquent, stubborn as iron. But he needs to get home, too, and she doesn’t want him to have to make the journey alone.

As they cross the continent together, though, Rukha and Eshu soon realize that the disaster that’s befallen their world is much larger than they could have imagined. The once-vibrant pathways of the Mirrorlands are deserted. Entire cities lie entombed in crystal. And to make matters worse, a wild god is hunting them down. The further they travel from familiar territory, the more their fragile new friendship cracks under the strain.

To survive the end of their world, Rukha and Eshu will need more than magic and science—they’ll need each other.

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Praise for The Map and the Territory:

Gripping, vivid, and magical, this fantasy adventure from Tuomala (Drakon) has a power to enchant its readers… // This impressive fantasy packs the punch of a much longer epic. —Publishers Weekly, starred review

…Magic, stories, and cartography mix with romance, adventure, and philosophy. // A stellar start to a new fantasy series, this book is highly recommended for all fantasy collections. —Lynnanne Pierson, Booklist, starred review

I loved the intricate world-building and the unique magics, but most of all I loved the characters, facing the end of their world with compassion and the determination to—somehow!—find a way forward. —Melissa Scott, SFF forerunner and pioneer, winner of numerous awards

With worldbuilding reminiscent of LeGuin, Tuomala has constructed a rich and exciting story of survival and friendship. —Jo Graham, author of the acclaimed Numinous World historical fantasies and Calpurnian Wars space operas

Tuomala’s writing is excellent and lyrical; hir characters well-drawn; and hir plot compelling; but it is the deep dive into how what we ‘know’ to be true can shape (or reshape) reality that makes A. M. Tuomala’s The Map and the Territory a work not to be missed. —Kelly Jennings, Interzone Digital

A.M. Tuomala’s picaresque Map and Territory follows the footsteps of the best traditions of secondary world fantasy travel narratives like that of Jack Vance, C.J. Cherryh, and K V Johansen. —Paul Weimer, SFF book reviewer and Hugo finalist

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The Map and the Territory
by A.M. Tuomala
Published by Candlemark & Gleam, December 2022
364 pages
ISBN: 978-1-952456-12-1
eISBN: 978-1-952456-13-8
Cover artist: H. Won
Series: Spell and Sextant #1