Other reviewers have complained about the incompleteness of this book. Let me clarify: If the editor had named it "The Writer's Fantasy Reference," few would be complaining. The book is filled with material to trigger the imagination of any writer, and fill out the details in their work. The problem is the word "complete." At under 300 pages, how can a book claim to be a complete reference to anything, let alone as rich and varied a topic as "fantasy?" The chapter on fantasy races is 17 pages... more info
Well worth the price:
This book gives a great overview of world-building and the various things to consider. It covers no topics in depth, though it gives more detail than other reference guides I've seen. There is enough information on each subtopic to point the direction for more detailed research if you so choose.
A very basic and decent resource:
I will say right off the bat that this book is not for fantasy writers who consider themselves in any way experienced. It is well-written and interesting enough, but all of the information can be found very easily in other, much more detailed books and some of the information provided is something that most serious fantasy writers will find that they already knew to a point. That being said, the author has a good idea, and I do have it on my self for an occasional look-through...you never know what... more info
not appropriate for individual world-building:
The only thing I would add is that the book is limited in its scope. Sure, the book covers a very broad range of fantasy concepts and creatures/weapons/armors/cultures, but these things are all from the framework of the middle ages of Europe, Prussia and Britain and also what we can read in popular books. The book is nearly useless for someone who wishes to create as new fantasy world without Tolkien-like characters/animals/spirits/castles and so forth. This book was helpful to me because it helped me... more info
Privacy policy: we don't collect information
about visitors except for the standard technical server logs. We don't send unsolicited emails. We don't
sell the information that we don't collect about you to anyone. When you follow
links to other sites, their privacy policies apply. Thanks for visiting!
