In Hild, both digital and print, there is a map. And pronunciation guide. And glossary. And note about Hild-the-real-person. And family tree. ALL RIGHT THERE IN THE FINISHED BOOK (though not the galleys). You just have to look for them.
For those who are reading on Nook or Kindle or Kobo or other app, and don’t like popping in and out of the narrative to look at the extras (I’ve tried it; it’s a bit of a chore) I recommend downloading PDFs of said extras (available here) and keeping handy on another device or–gasp–as print-outs.
Obviously if you have a hardcover you don’t need to do any of that, because you can just flip to the map and family tree (at the front) or the biographical note, glossary, and pronunciation guide (at the back). Thumbs + print = radically efficient technology. Though digital is cheaper and much, much lighter…
But whether you’re reading print or digital, you might also want to check out the 140+ character list, or Dramatis Personae, which I put together last week.
Enjoy. And, seriously people, I do not want to hear, ever again, that “There should be a map!” or “a glossary might be a good idea” or “the author should at least have indicated how to pronounce all those names…” I have, I did. Go look.
Note for readers of Hild: Extras!
7 thoughts on “Note for readers of Hild: Extras!”
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Nicola Griffith 
I'm enjoying flipping back and forth to the map. I might print it out to make it a little easier to reference.
I (usually) prefer reading on my Kobo e-reader, because it fits in my purse and a hardback doesn't. Alas, that meant that I didn't discover the glossary until I had finished the book. Having found that it existed, I hunted around, and I couldn't find any links in the ebook that would have let me pop back and forth between where I was in the text, and the glossary. If I'd realized a PDF was available, I'd definitely have used it!
I've only looked at the Kindle version but, yes, in a perfect world everything would be linked internally. (This is much, much easier to do using an iThing than the actual Kindle, FYI.)
The versions in print and ebook are of no help to those of listening to the audio book. Please simply put the glossary on a web page. And because of archaic spellings they cannot be easily looked up in a dictionary.
Richard, if you follow the link (“available here“) above you’ll see that I’ve made available as PDFs many extras. In case none of this is clear enough, here’s the link:
https://nicolagriffith.com/2014/02/25/hild/ — scroll down to “Extras”).
Extras include:
– map (my original; the final map, by Jeffrey L. Ward, includes roads)
– glossary
– pronunciation guide
– family tree
– dramatis personae
Yes, it’s free. Out of the goodness of my heart. And it’s been available for two years. You’re welcome.
Links to the maps and pronunciation no longer lead anywhere. Nor are they in the paper version of the book. Very frustrating.
@Susan, the links on the main Hild page are viable.