I will admit that I only just got excited about Kalamar and this product was part of the reason. I was impressed with the detail of the sourcebook, but wasn't grabbed by the setting overly much, and so it sat on my shelf for almost a year until I saw an advertisement for this product and was forced to dig it back out and reassess. I am very happy I did. Partially because it gave me an excuse to buy this wonderful book.
This is a fabulous resource. The map-makers made excellent choices in making the maps topographical and using dotted lines to show forests, so that the underlying terrain is easily visible. You can see the hills, gorges, valleys, and plateaus. Rivers fit the landscape and the effects of their erosion is easily seen. Mountain passes are more than just dotted lines through a stylized range. All in all, it brings the setting to life... geographically. They also went through painstaking detail to put every settlement with over eighty people on the map, so that the populated areas are, indeed, populated, with small villages every few miles. Also, roads are differentiated by quality and upkeep. This offers a lot of use to any travelling party and the GM trying to describe their journey.
As if that isn't enough, the appendices are filled with smaller maps showing grain production, industry, trade, winds, and other useful information. There are also pronounciation guides, a wonderful language tree showing the interrelation between all the dialects and sub-dialects, a short but meaty glossary of terrain types, and a list of population centers. In fact, the easy format and well-presented information reminded me of what I hoped Gary Gygax's World Builder would be. The book is packed with material, even considering that some of the pages are just blank blue maps of open sea (included for completeness but not terribly useful).
There is really only one area where the book comes short and that is in the naming of geographical features. Mountain ranges and hills are all named, of course, and woodlands. Islands, valleys, passes, and other minor features, however, are often passed over and this was a little disappointing. Given the bounty of physical features shown, it would have been nice to have a lot of these oft-overlooked bits recognized and it would have added a lot in terms of travel descriptions ("You want to head over Kergar Ridge, be sure to give Orc Gully a wide berth, though."). Also, while the mountains and hills are named as ranges, few individual peaks were named (and several noted in the sourcebook weren't labelled on the map). Again, I would have liked the added detail.
Overall, though, the reference is fantastic and while the price may seem steep for some maps, given the detail, quality, color, and usefulness, it is well worth the money.
Review Summary