Customer Reviews

The Encyclopedia of Fantasy

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WARNING: THIS REVIEW IS ANECDOTAL

I had coveted this book for quite some time before I ordered my copy. Aside from being a longtime and irredeemable fantasy geek, I am also an English teacher at a small independent school, and our reference library has a copy. This fact has enabled me to waste many happy free periods rifling through the _Encyclopedia_ instead of, say, grading papers or thinking deep, serious thoughts about the state of pedagogy in America. But before you write me off as a disgrace to my profession, hear me out:

_The Encyclopedia of Fantasy_ is a remarkable book, and any time I have spent with it in lieu of more mundane tasks is time very well spent indeed. I can even justify this frivolous perusal academically, because what really makes the _Encyclopedia_ a great resource isn't so much its exhaustive listing of authors or titles (much of which information is available elsewhere anyway), but the fact that Clute et al. have managed to accomplish nothing less than a rigorous, consistent, and phenomenally well cross-referenced taxonomy and analytical vocabulary for fantasy. I know, I know, that sounds awfully dry, but it isn't.

I'm a word junkie, so I love learning apt new terms for things, especially if those nameless concepts have gone begging for far too long. When Clute coins the term "thinning" to describe any fantasy world that, over time, loses its magic [Middle-earth, anyone?], you cannot help (assuming you're an aficionado of the genre) but say to yourself, "Aha! Now I know what to call it!" Furthermore, the fact that this vocabulary is employed consistently throughout the _Encyclopedia_ allows for thematic and formal juxtapositions of specific works, combinations and comparisons that might not occur even to the serious fantasy buff. Who needs hypertext when you've got such meticulous cross-indexing?

I recently received an Amazon.com gift certificate from thoughtful in-laws, and decided that even though I have access to a copy at school, I had to have an _Encyclopedia of Fantasy_ at home, both for reference while reading/writing and for couch-sprawl browsing.

I splurged and bought the $75.00 hardback. I had a hunch it would get a lot of use, and I wanted it to last. Money very well spent, as far as I'm concerned, and if you're a fantasy partisan, a literary theory wonk, or just someone who gets off on thousands of pages of really, really small type, you'll probably agree.

Like the companion volume, "The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction," "The Encyclopedia of Fantasy" tries to include everything within its thick volume. Finally, readers can find the name of every single book ever published by their favorite authors. This is not the kind of book one reads from cover-to-cover; the sheer staggering amount of detail alone would prevent any useful retention. Rather, it is the perfect playing ground for encyclopedia tag: pick a page, read a topic, then follow the bouncing references until you get hopelessly, wonderfully entangled in ideas and authors you've never encountered before! My only minor complaints are the too-brief biographies for the authors, and the occasional over-opinionated discussion of an author's works. But even then, the book sparks curiosity by leading a reader to want to know more about an author or idea. An excellent gift for readers who constantly have a fantasy novel in their hands (and for whom you're afraid to buy a book for fear they've already read it).

Winner of both the Hugo and Nebula awards---and deserving---as every other reviewer has stated, this work is indispensable for anyone interested in fantasy fiction, whether scholar or casual reader. Comprehensive would be an understatement, as the authors have collected almost every reference, author or subject pertaining to the genre in one weighty volume, ranging from the Dolorous Stroke of Arthurian Romance to the influence of opera or film upon the fantastic imagination. Writers both influential and otherwise are included, and cogent examinations made into the conventions, tropes and history of this aspect of speculative fiction. True, as often happens with all efforts to compile an encyclopedic reference, this work reflects a certain cultural and Euro American bias, with certain, perhaps crossover, authors from the third world absent, as well as the burden imposed by the rapid passage of time, that demands constant revision, newer (at least for European and American audiences) and significant authors, such as the Australian writer, Sara Douglass, missing mention. Hopefully a new and updated edition will soon be forthcoming. But these quibbles are petty and unavoidable compared to the monumental accomplishment this volume represents, and I find myself continually referring to its pages for additional background upon authors and thematic elements that catch my interest, often individual entries leading to further study and references, as well as authors whose work I was not previously acquainted with.

As varied and vast as the world of fantasy has become in recent years, this work will surely open up new vistas for any reader, as well as firmly root the history, influence and contributions of the genre in the larger perspective and traditions of our literature. The first of its kind, and a worthy addition to the companion volume by the same authors for science fiction, this work is invaluable, one of the most significant works ever published in fantasy, and deserving of a place of prominence on the shelves of anyone interested in fantasy or the writing of fiction.

I've never encountered a book of this scope and excellence on fantasy. Any reader of even mild interest in fantasy or horror should blow the $$$ and not give it a 2nd thought.

At the very least, you will find 3 dozen fantasy works you've never heard of that you will be compelled to investigate. At most, new vistas will open on how fantasy is done.

This is the most exhaustive Fantasy reference available.

All of the contributors are concise, probing and informative. Even if you don't know the author or work being cited, it is as revealing as its arguments are persuasive, which can lead you to the library to learn more.

For anyone who gets lost in the sea of jargon used throughout, the book is a glossary in itself, so don't fret! It includes the definitions of common Fantasy terms such as "Swords and Sorcery", "Fairy", and esoteric terms, like "thinning".

Basically, if it's not in here, it's not worth reading -- or at least according to the authors. They said that they've only excluded authors who they consider relatively unimportant.

A long entry indicates the importance of the author, so of course Tolkien's entry takes up a few pages. Get books by those authors if you want to read the groundbreaking genre-defining stuff.

John Grant's movies reviews are very inciteful and comprehensive. Without giving ratings, he often hints at what made one either good or bad, which can help you decide whether to see it or not.

If you want to get more interested in Fantasy, but can't pick the good books and movies from the bad, this should enlighten you. I find it a great means of escape.

Lawrence

First off, I'd like to tell you a bit about what you WON'T find in this hefty volume filled with small print: you won't find pictures - no photos, no illustrations, no book covers, no maps. You won't find entries on fantasy characters - no Bilbo, no Thomas Covenant - and only a few of the most common kinds of fantastic creatures (like dragons). You won't find endless pages of geeky details about Tolkien; you won't find Harry Potter at all (the books had only begun to be published when this encyclopedia was last updated). So be aware of what this is NOT before you make an effort to get it - several other reviewers apparently expected something quite different.

What you WILL get though is the best reference work covering the major authors, books, films, countries with fantasy writing traditions, comics, magazines, and themes and concepts in the field. The authors have said that it will not be updated in print again -- it will be online only. That's a shame for paper-lovers like me; I cannot tell you how many hours I have spent in the company of this, paging back and forth between entries. Sure, clicking through a website is easier in some ways, but thus far that hasn't materialized. Virtually every writer and novel that I've ever heard of that could be considered part of the genre is in here; the authors seem to have missed nothing. People like Tolkien, Peake, Dunsany not surprisingly receive several page entries apiece, but it's rare to find any figure at all - at least any writing in English, I think the coverage outside of the language is a bit sparser - who doesn't get a fairly thorough bibliographic listing at the least.

You can probably get both this and its science fiction companion quite cheap now, and I would highly recommend them if you have any interest in the byways of the fields. One thing I really like is that neither book discriminates against the more "literary" figures (Angela Carter, Salman Rushdie, etc) who sometimes are given short shrift in genre-geeky references. The writing is generally serious, and I like the fact that "objectivity" isn't always the highest goal; no matter how popular a book or author may be, Clute et al are not afraid to cut them down to size, though never maliciously. And on the other hand they always seem to find something nice to say about even more marginal figures in the field (e.g., Dennis McKiernan). They are in short enthusiastic supporters of the genre as a whole, and I can't think of many writers who have done half as well at grasping the enormity of this gigantic and wonderful field of literature.

Fantasy Geeks can't complain any longer--not with the addition of this volume to their already heavily burdened bookshelves: their readerly fetish is now fully indexed, glossed, and cross-referenced.

On the face of it, this text represents nothing less than the advent of fantasy literature as a serious field of cultural production; it can not be slighted any more, within reason, for being fluffy, inane, or without serious intellectual interest, for we now have a proper academic book--and a weighty one at that--to substantiate fantasy literature's claim to "high art" instead of kitschy irrelevance.

One of the most useful innovations here is that Clute and Grant develop an interpretive lexicon for use within the field of fantasy production. Ever felt the need to explain the "polder"? How about an application of the "seven samurai" model? the "pariah elite"? "Thinning"? An excellent set of critical tools here--but be sure to supplement them with more modern developments of literary & cultural theory.

Don't buy this one unless you have lots of time to spend flipping through its comprehensive coverage of the field.

This is a fantastic reference for anyone who is a lover of fantasy and trivia! The entries are very detailed and although some entries seem a little extraneous (there's one for Latin America), this is an invaluable resource for fantasy readers. St. Martin's Press has certainly fulfilled its promise of producing a volume worth of following The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.

This wonderful book will give great enjoyment to anyone who loves fantasy. It is amazingly comprehensive, well-written, carefully edited and proofread, and as fair and objective as it's possible for such a book to be. In addition to the extensive coverage of authors (including those not known primarily for fantasy), it also includes a great deal of information on movies and TV. As an opera lover, I was delighted to find 24 pages on that topic. A few of the most curiosity-piquing entries are Cauldron of Story, Timeslips, Thinning, Recursive Fantasy, Rationalized Fantasy, Crosshatching, Into the Woods, Instauration Fantasy, Godgame, and Taproot Texts. Read this book to find out about all these and much, much more.

Like its companion volume of Science Fiction published a few years before this one, this exhaustive text not only provides a whole treasure trove of history and bibliography, and ephemeral knowledge, but also an extensive vocabulary and theory with which to think about fantasy literature.

Easily one of my favorite reference works. It is informative, surprising, and often dryly humorous. A must have for any fan of fantasy, myth, folklore, etc.