Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy [Hardcover]

David Pringle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 6, 2006

Fantasy is the most prominent of all the major fictional genres. It dominates the world of popular fiction, has spawned major industries in role-playing and trading-card games and has resulted in some of Hollywood's best-loved movies, from "The Wizard of Oz" to "The Lord of the Rings" and "Harry Potter and Narnia" have introduced yet another generation to the genre. This book is the most detailed, well-researched and attractive of its kind, detailing everything the layman needs to know about fantasy and everything the well-read fan is calling out for. It is edited by leading fantasy expert David Pringle and fully updated for 2006 to include the hit books, movies and games of the past three years. It is a beautifully detailed, informative, up-to-date and useful guide to everything in the world of fantasy, from "Tolkien" to "Constantine".

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Pringle was editor and co-founder of the internationally acclaimed fantasy and SF magazine, Interzone. Tim Dedopulos has been a fantasy researcher, game designer and writer for many years and is an expert on the subject.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Carlton Publishing; 2nd edition (November 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844421104
• ISBN-13: 978-1844421107
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 9.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,514,282 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

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun, informative, and a visual pleasure, April 20, 2000

By 

Sheila L. Beaumont (South Pasadena, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy (Hardcover)

Though "ultimate" is an overstatement, there is much to enjoy here. This book is nowhere near as comprehensive as Clute and Grant's Encyclopedia of Fantasy, but it does have its own virtues. It is lavishly and colorfully illustrated (note especially the stunningly beautiful full-page painting opposite Terry Pratchett's foreword). It has entries for most well-known fantasy authors of the past and present. There are sections on types of fantasy (fairy tales, animal fantasies, Arthuriana, humorous, heroic, etc.), movies, TV, fantasy characters and entities, games, and fantasy worlds (Middle-earth, Narnia, Discworld, Earthsea, etc.). This is an entertaining, informative and visually appealing book for anyone who enjoys fantasy.

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Overly critical, June 27, 2001

By 

Colt Hangen (Santa Cruz, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy (Hardcover)

Though the effort, layout and content are commendable I find one key problem with the book as a whole; it's just *FAR* too negative in it's mini-reviews of fantasy material (particularly film and t.v.). The amount of negative comments is so pervasive that I wondered, at times, if the authors even enjoyed fantasy, period. Virtually every fantasy classic is bashed for being anything from contrived to tawdry to banal. Yes, it's a work of opinion but (and I feel this is obvious) anyone who would pick up an Encyclopedia on any specific genre and to read so very much negative review was extremely off putting to me.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not Free SF Reader, December 28, 2007

By 

Blue Tyson "- Research Finished" (Legion clubhouse) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy (Hardcover)

A recent update of this publication, it seems.

Taking a slightly different approach to the Science Fiction version of this that I have seen (which admittedly is older), this book takes a broad media look at the fantasy genre, and covers movies, television, books, role playing games, and computer games.

I think for a reasonably shallow, graphics and pictures heavy book this is a pretty good idea, and being reasonably familiar with a lot of this it appears to be done pretty well.

If you are looking for literature heavy bibliography, look elsewhere.

Being of the pommie variety there are a few digs at American junk (admittedly some of them well deserved), and probably less at cheesy UK equivalents, particularly as far as movies and tv goes.

There are also sections on famous fantasy characters, and famous fantasy plaes - e.g. Conan, Middle-Earth and that sort of thing.

All in all, rather well done, and should be interesting to most, and really useful for someone coming in brand new to get some ideas of where to start.



4.5 out of 5