The Inside Scoop on Gaming

This book is an excellent attempt at an overview of the fantasy genre. While it is far from comprehensive, it does contain more than enough for any fan of the genre.

The book itself is about 10 inches wide by 11 inches tall, and the pages are slick, high-quality paper. It is in full color, with artwork throughout.

The art is a lot like what you'd expect to find in a book of ths nature; photos from film and television, as well as artwork taken from books, and some related folk pieces as well. All in all, it does a very good job of showing the wide variety of fantasy imagery.

The book itself is laid out in a pleasing, two-column fashion, easy to read, with captions on almost all the artwork. It opens with a brief, entertaining foreword by Terry Pratchett (of Discworld fame), and then dives right into the material.

The first chapter is actually an introduction that attempts to trace the roots of fantasy back to the myths and legends of classical greece, doing its best to define just what fantasy is. While it does its best, people have been trying to define just what is and isn't fantasy for years; it is small surprise that in the end the fallback sounds a lot like Orson Scott Card's definition of Science Fiction ("Science Fiction is what I point at when I say 'This is Science Fiction'").

The next chapter breaks fantasy down into nine subcategories, covering the classic fairy tale, heroic fantasy, magic realism, and others. his chapter ends up defining fantasy more effectively than the introduction does, as it narrows the field. It is explained that while these are hardly the only categories, and can cross over, they establish a fairly solid guide as to just what falls within the realm of fantasy.

The next two chapters cover fantasy in Film and Television, respectively, offering capsule summaries of almost every major film and TV show that has dealt with the fantasy genre. This is probably the best section of the book, as it provides an excellent resource for fantasy fans to track down the films and TV shows listed. The list is chronological, presumably to trace the development of the genre within these media. There are one or two glaring omissions (most notably "Quantum Leap" which is clearly fantasy, despite its sci-fi trappings, gets a mention in another entry, but doesn't have an entry of its own) but on the whole it does a very adequate job of covering fantasy film and TV.

Then we have a "Who's Who of Fantasy" chapter, which lists a significant number of fantasy authors. Once again, there are some authors omitted, but this can be chalked up to space considerations. A listing of all "fantasy" authors would in itself make a book of this size. Most notably (in my mind) Harlan Ellison is not listed. While he isn't exclusively fantasy, his fantasy works have been among the most celebrated and influential writings of the present day.

Next comes an "A-Z of Fantasy Characters and Entities" which, like the other chapters, does a good job of giving an overview of the major personages that populate the realms of fantasy. Once again, there are omissions, but with such a wide scope of material to choose from, these can be forgiven.

Chapter 7 is a brief write-up of the evolution of the fantasy gaming, touching briefly on RPGs, computer games, and even collectible card games (like Magic: The Gathering). The most influential products are discussed, and others are mentioned, but this chapter is inadequate compared to the others. Once again, however, this can be forgiven, as even a brief overview of fantasy gaming would take up a great deal more space (this reviewer suggests the excellent "Fantasy Role-Playing Gamers Bible" by Sean Patrick Fannon for more on the subject).

The next chapter is entitled "Fantasy Worlds" and gives an overview of some of the most popular and enduring "secondary worlds" of fantasy including Tolkien's Middle Earth, Howard's Hyborian Age, and Pratchett's Discworld. This chapter does a good job of giving an overview of the worlds it covers, but once again there will probably be one or two that individual readers feel should be included but aren't.

Chapter 8 is a chronologically arranged list of "Fantasy Magazines" starting at around the turn of the century. The listing is (like the other chapters) far from complete, but once again, this can be forgiven due to space considerations.

Finally, there is an excellent glossary and index.

In all, this is a fantastic book (if you'll pardon the pun). It does an excellent job of collecting a wide variety of information on a very expansive genre. While it is far from comprehensive, it provides a wonderful jumping off point for people who want to explore the fantasy genre in more depth. In addition, the book itself is extremely attractive in layout and design, with extensive artwork and colored bands at the top of the page to make finding the various chapters easier.

Any fan of the genre should track down a copy of this book and at least take a look at it. Like me, you should find it a wonderful addition to your bookshelf.

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy
Author: David Pringle (General Editor) Category: Reference Book Company/Publisher: Overlook Press Line: Reference Cost: $35 Page count: 256 ISBN: 0 87951 937 1 Capsule Review by Josh Harrison on 05/14/99. Genre tags: Fantasy	This book is an excellent attempt at an overview of the fantasy genre. While it is far from comprehensive, it does contain more than enough for any fan of the genre. The book itself is about 10 inches wide by 11 inches tall, and the pages are slick, high-quality paper. It is in full color, with artwork throughout. The art is a lot like what you'd expect to find in a book of ths nature; photos from film and television, as well as artwork taken from books, and some related folk pieces as well. All in all, it does a very good job of showing the wide variety of fantasy imagery. The book itself is laid out in a pleasing, two-column fashion, easy to read, with captions on almost all the artwork. It opens with a brief, entertaining foreword by Terry Pratchett (of Discworld fame), and then dives right into the material. The first chapter is actually an introduction that attempts to trace the roots of fantasy back to the myths and legends of classical greece, doing its best to define just what fantasy is. While it does its best, people have been trying to define just what is and isn't fantasy for years; it is small surprise that in the end the fallback sounds a lot like Orson Scott Card's definition of Science Fiction ("Science Fiction is what I point at when I say 'This is Science Fiction'"). The next chapter breaks fantasy down into nine subcategories, covering the classic fairy tale, heroic fantasy, magic realism, and others. his chapter ends up defining fantasy more effectively than the introduction does, as it narrows the field. It is explained that while these are hardly the only categories, and can cross over, they establish a fairly solid guide as to just what falls within the realm of fantasy. The next two chapters cover fantasy in Film and Television, respectively, offering capsule summaries of almost every major film and TV show that has dealt with the fantasy genre. This is probably the best section of the book, as it provides an excellent resource for fantasy fans to track down the films and TV shows listed. The list is chronological, presumably to trace the development of the genre within these media. There are one or two glaring omissions (most notably "Quantum Leap" which is clearly fantasy, despite its sci-fi trappings, gets a mention in another entry, but doesn't have an entry of its own) but on the whole it does a very adequate job of covering fantasy film and TV. Then we have a "Who's Who of Fantasy" chapter, which lists a significant number of fantasy authors. Once again, there are some authors omitted, but this can be chalked up to space considerations. A listing of all "fantasy" authors would in itself make a book of this size. Most notably (in my mind) Harlan Ellison is not listed. While he isn't exclusively fantasy, his fantasy works have been among the most celebrated and influential writings of the present day. Next comes an "A-Z of Fantasy Characters and Entities" which, like the other chapters, does a good job of giving an overview of the major personages that populate the realms of fantasy. Once again, there are omissions, but with such a wide scope of material to choose from, these can be forgiven. Chapter 7 is a brief write-up of the evolution of the fantasy gaming, touching briefly on RPGs, computer games, and even collectible card games (like Magic: The Gathering). The most influential products are discussed, and others are mentioned, but this chapter is inadequate compared to the others. Once again, however, this can be forgiven, as even a brief overview of fantasy gaming would take up a great deal more space (this reviewer suggests the excellent "Fantasy Role-Playing Gamers Bible" by Sean Patrick Fannon for more on the subject). The next chapter is entitled "Fantasy Worlds" and gives an overview of some of the most popular and enduring "secondary worlds" of fantasy including Tolkien's Middle Earth, Howard's Hyborian Age, and Pratchett's Discworld. This chapter does a good job of giving an overview of the worlds it covers, but once again there will probably be one or two that individual readers feel should be included but aren't. Chapter 8 is a chronologically arranged list of "Fantasy Magazines" starting at around the turn of the century. The listing is (like the other chapters) far from complete, but once again, this can be forgiven due to space considerations. Finally, there is an excellent glossary and index. In all, this is a fantastic book (if you'll pardon the pun). It does an excellent job of collecting a wide variety of information on a very expansive genre. While it is far from comprehensive, it provides a wonderful jumping off point for people who want to explore the fantasy genre in more depth. In addition, the book itself is extremely attractive in layout and design, with extensive artwork and colored bands at the top of the page to make finding the various chapters easier. Any fan of the genre should track down a copy of this book and at least take a look at it. Like me, you should find it a wonderful addition to your bookshelf. Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy