The Mythic Bestiary: The Illustrated Guide to the World's Most Fantastical Creatures [Hardcover]

Tony Allan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 7, 2008

Dragons and firebirds, fairies and orcs: these are just a few of the residents of The Mythic Bestiary. A whole menagerie of make-believe beings from the earth, water, and air inhabit these stunningly written and eye-catching pages, from Japan’s Yukki-onna, a beautiful but deadly spirit who appeared to stranded travelers, to the two-headed venomous snake Amphisbaena, which hailed from the imagination of the Greek poet Nicander. Many are hybrids such as the Quetzalcoatl, the Aztecs’ gorgeous combination of serpent and bird; others, more monstrous, tested the mettle of ancient heroes. A few, like the gigantic winged lion, lammasu served as guardian angels, warding against evil spirits.
This guide gives not only a taxonomy of size, appearance, habitat, and powers, but also provides vivid descriptions of the cultures that produced them.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Duncan Baird (October 7, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844834840
• ISBN-13: 978-1844834846
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #264,848 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Featuring over 100 color illustrations and line drawings, November 13, 2008

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mythic Bestiary: The Illustrated Guide to the World's Most Fantastical Creatures (Hardcover)

Featuring over 100 color illustrations and line drawings, The Mythic Bestiary is an illustrated guide to fantastic creatures from worldwide folklore. Each entry features several pages that summarize the legends and history of a given mythic animal, told in an eminently readable prose style. What distinguishes The Mythic Bestiary is that equal time is given not only to well-known fantasy monsters like the dragon, minotaur, phoenix, and so forth, but also many more obscure creatures of worldwide legends, from the winged shedu & lammasu spirits of ancient Mesopotamia and Persia, to the tupilak devil-dolls of the arctic circle, to the cynocephali dog-headed people of medieval legend, and much more. A handy index rounds out this welcome reference book, highly recommended especially for fantasy authors and game master searching for an untapped lode of new ideas!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent Mythical Beast Illustrations, January 11, 2009

By 

Magickal Merlin "Wizard" (Death Valley-SoCal) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mythic Bestiary: The Illustrated Guide to the World's Most Fantastical Creatures (Hardcover)

Stunning book on most of the awesome mythic beasts of folklore and legend.The historical significance and literary explanations are rather brief. Yet,it's still an excellent pictorial collection of beastly creatures of lore and epic tales.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not for young children, April 7, 2009

By 

Another reviewer (Near Seattle, Washington United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Mythic Bestiary: The Illustrated Guide to the World's Most Fantastical Creatures (Hardcover)

A very interesting book, but this was a gift for my 7 yr old son and, unfortunately, it's not appropriate for young children. While I was prepared for some mild nudity in depictions of mermaids and sirens, I was not prepared to explain why succubi "visited men (particularly monks) at night, giving them impure thoughts and wet dreams." (p. 180) Still, with the appropriate audience, it's an interesting read that explains who all these creatures are the keep popping up in both classic and modern literature.