Gave up on a 900 page fantasy epic after the map made no sense

I started this big series everyone raves about, but by page 400 I kept flipping back to the map in the front and still couldn't tell which kingdom was at war with which. The names all sounded like someone sneezed on a keyboard. I quit it last winter and picked up a 200 page mystery instead, finished that in 3 days. Has anyone else bailed on a book just because the geography was too confusing to follow?

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anthonykim19d ago

That first map was the thing that broke me too, I remember flipping back and forth like 50 times trying to figure out if the river was the border or the mountain range was, and finally just said forget it. The names were all like "Kralthan" and "Yzzmir" and I couldn't keep any of them straight in my head either. Good on you for putting it down, life's too short to force yourself through something that feels like homework. I've done the same thing with a few "classics" and never felt bad about it, honestly. A 200 page mystery sounds way more fun, at least you know where you stand with a body and a detective lol.