Customer Reviews

The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Given that this book spans nearly two centuries -- from the beginning of the Gothic in 1765 to the end of Victoria's reign in 1901 -- and the fantastic output of a dozen countries and eight languages, what editor in the world could comprehensively edit Nevins for content? I caught precisely one notable factual lacuna out of possibly 200 entries I was qualified to judge -- perhaps three or four more have slipped in somewhere else. Likewise, Nevins' literary and editorial judgements are sharp and sound, saving only the (admittedly serious) failure to properly index or organize these vast charts of wonder. Razor-keen analyses of general topics -- e.g., "The Edisonade," "Proto-Mysteries" -- complement the litany of names from Captain Nemo all the way down to the Denver Doll, from Axël to Kim to Natty Bumppo.

This level of sheer bull-headed quality is simply unheard of in these debased times, when sloppy, hamfisted graphics (complete with unneeded color illustrations) or cowardly, modish trend-watching are more the order of the day. Both ladled out, of course, at the expense of completeness, forthrightness, and authorial judgement. This is not Jess Nevins' way. His way is that of Inexhaustible Vril and Undaunted Pluck. If something is worth doing, it is worth overdoing; we must err on the side of prolixity, capacity, and emphasis. These are the watchwords that seemingly guided Nevins through the moldering stacks of far-flung archives, across unexplored jungles of foreign newsprint, through the smoky dens of the Mysterious East and the stygian reaches of Subterranean Paris. And the results of his travels, his researches, and yes, his blunt opinions, have been brought back to civilization and once more exposed to the light of modernity. These heroes, villains, monsters, fiendish devices, and lost races -- the dubious shards and priceless finds alike from our graveyard of gods and heroes -- have been comprehensively collected, labeled, annotated, classified, lined up in rows, introduced, prefaced, and put in their place with the satisfying "thunk" that can only come from good hard covers and clean black serif fonts.

In short, Jess Nevins' Encyclopedia is itself a glorious exercise in the Victorian fantastic. Explore it in that same spirit.

Jess Nevin's Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana covers the protagonists, both heroic and otherwise, of an incredibly innovative era in fantastic literature. Here you will find the roots of concepts in Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror literature that are still being explored today.

The book does have its drawbacks. It's a handsome volume, and the production values are high. However, this is a subject that cries out for interior art from the period to break up an otherwise very dry layout. The book also lacks an index. However, the chapter headings do list the characters covered in each chapter.

I would recommend this book to those with an interest in Victorian literature and early science fiction. It is particularly useful for fan fiction writers and Role Playing Gamers interested in incorporating Victorian elements into their work.

Fatter than Elvis, smoother than Sinatra and far, far, more erudite than either one, this big honking book, nay 'tis a TOME, is staggering (heavy & detail obsessed) and stunning (one can use it to fend of muggings or to dramatically increase one's own trivia knowledge base). It needs its own zip codes and should only be approached on weekends, when one has lots of time to spare swimming in its golden amber depths. For Western Pop Culture Mavens and Dilettantes, this is the veritable source of the Nile, a thorough mapping of heroes, rogues, adventurers, she-demons, science devices and ancient civilizations.

And better yet, Mr. Nevins has a Pulp volume on the 2007 horizon and a Golden Era Superhero volume to come.

If you're a fan of this era, of of genre fiction, comics, scifi, fantasy, League of Extraorinary Gentlemen, you will fall for this encyclopedia like a ton of bricks.

Though no encyclopedia can claim to be truly exhaustive, this fantastic work by Jess Nevins is incredible in its breadth as well as in terms of incisiveness. Despite Nevins'somewhat apologetic note regarding being subjective, it is my opinion that that is the only way by which the Victorian literature can be made vivid enough to oversome the fog and gaslight. This work is magnificient in all aspects. Enjoy it.

What can I say? The book covers all the Victorian Fantasy areas I thought I knew and then some. I can't believe the author admits he left some out! This is a very comprehensive listing of Victoriana Fantasy fiction. I am very happy with the purchase and consider it money well spent. Indeed, I would have been prepared to pay a few more dollars having seen what I was getting. I can only wait for his Pulp Heros volume with eager expectation!

This is a page turner for the web generation.

Nevins' prose has the flavor of reading one
of the better blogs: it is clear, opinionated,
and peppered with the print equivalent of links
(in this case, bold-face references to other
entries in the Encyclopedia).

I can't imagine anyone reading this book sequentially.
Almost every entry refers to another entry, making
the reader eager to "follow the link", either forward
or backward, rather than simply turn the page. An
entry for Ayesha can thus lead the reader to Alan
Quartermain, or a discussion of the "New Woman"
literay type, or to a fuller discussion of the
Lost Race and Yellow Peril genres.

The current edition is handsomely bound, but
since it reminds the reader of a blog or web
site frozen on the page, it cries out for a
second edition peppered with period illustrations
to complement each and every entry.

I agree that this volume is fantastic, but the lack of any illustrations or photos leaves it a little dry. Hopefully in further editions this could be solved with some beautiful Victorian Era style illustrations.

The breadth and scope of this book is staggering. It's an exhaustive tome on pretty much all the genre fiction of the Victorian age, and not limited to the UK fiction of the period either. It's a must read for fans of steampunk, Victorian science fiction, the pulps... But what it really is is an unbelievable gift to writers - the story concepts stuffed into every page of this tome are unbelievable. There is years and years of amazing inspiration here. The book is sold out, but track down a copy however you can.

This thing is a brick. Hardbound, weighing in at just over a thousand pages, this book could stop a bullet or cause serious damage if dropped on the toes. And all those pages are crammed full of entries describing Victorian era novels. All of my favorites are here, plus hundreds of books I've never heard of. All nations and genres are represented, not just
Sci Fi and the Brits. Better still, Nevins is not afraid to editorialize. It's shocking, but not altogether untrue, when he claims that The Wizard of Oz "can easily be interpreted as a horror novel" or that Ivanhoe is superior to Sir Walter Scott's other works in that it "is readable." If you like Victorian fiction, but find its offerings uneven, Nevins can be an invaluable guide. My only complaint about this amusing and informative tome is that it's all but useless as an actual reference work. Entries are organized alphabetically by the names of central characters or settings, rather than by title or by author. To find the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, you would have to look under Sherlock Holmes or Sir Nigel. There are decent see-also references, but no index. Still, I am mostly content to browse its oddly organized pages, in search of the good stuff. This book represents a serious investment in both money and shelf space, but if you enjoy Victorian era fiction, you can't really afford to be without it.

This was given as a gift. The person who received the book enjoyed it very much. It is a good reference resource for writers and artists.