Customer Reviews

A Wizard's Bestiary: A Menagerie of Myth, Magic, and Mystery

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

First let me say, A Wizard's Bestiary is probably one of the most informative books relating to cryptids, myths, and other supernatural beasties out there. It doesn't just focus on Greek or Egyptian mythology as most do, nor on north American cryptids. Instead, it delves into various countries and belief systems, shining a spotlight on well known and obscure creatures.

However, the information comes at a price. The editor must have been asleep at the wheel, because every couple dozen pages or so there's a misspelled word, a word omitted, a word the runs into the drawings on the pages, or what have you. Almost every error is in the first section, the Glossary titled "A Magickal Menagerie" and some of these problems are due to the positioning of the artwork. In the actual encyclopedic section, the creatures are split amongst groups and spoken about in an interesting and in-depth manner, some more than others of course (sea monsters alone have a VAST wealth on them). While a few sections have wording that might seem a bit ego-leaning, those are few and far between (the author for example, seems dead-set on lake monsters being slugs, and goes so far as to say something akin to "I refuse to accept them as anything else," as if it's their place and only theirs to deem what is acceptable or not. Perhaps this is just how it comes across to myself, I'll leave it up to the other readers to decide. Lastly, I think it's a bit unusual that many of the art pieces go uncredited. While some are from clipart or other sources and some DO have their artist given their do, the author states themselves that they "raided google" for many, and therefore quite a few go without credit (this could have been remedied either by asking around on the sites they were found, or by hiring a few artists to create new pieces for the creatures).

On a positive note, another area where the book stands out is at the end of each encyclopedic section, where it says how one can find media that star some of the creatures therein; particularly via film but also in book or even video game forms. The haiku at the start of each letter for the menagerie are a neat touch as well.

All in all the book is pretty good, but the editing mistakes, some of the near-hubris level of a few sections (luckily only a scant few), the lack of credit for many pieces, and the art getting in the way of the wording take away from what would be an otherwise GREAT book. Perhaps in a future publication these editing issues will be fixed, as this reviewer hopes. One suggestion could be perhaps to do the menagerie section in a column-form: one side of the page for the creatures descriptions, the other for the artwork. Although this would make the book slightly longer than usual, it's one of many possible ways to improve that section.

Earlier this year, I was asked if I would write an inside-cover blurb for a forthcoming book titled A Wizard's Bestiary by Oberon Zell-Ravenheart (with Ash DeKirk).

Well, at the time of the inquiry Oberon (a renowned wizard in his own right and the author of Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard) sent me a Word document of various sections of the book; and after reading them, I knew that this was going to be a good one, and so I quickly sent off my blurb.

And the book has just now been published. For a very reasonable price you get a 360-page title that is as magical as it is fascinating, and that is as informative as it is thought-provoking.

I don't joke or exaggerate when I say that A Wizard's Bestiary is likely to become one of the most talked about cryptozoological books of the next few years.

Not only that: Oberon's book is packed (and I do mean packed) with cool drawings, old woodcuts and ancient engravings on all things bizarre and monster-driven. Indeed, I'd say that the book averages about 5 illustrations per page. That's right: not 5 per chapter, but 5 per page.

Picking up and reading the book is very much like delving into some ancient magical tome of a type that would sit very well within the pages of a classic tale of Lovecraftian proportions.

So, with all that said, precisely what is the book about? Well, basically, it's an encyclopedic study of countless unknown beasts that range from the cryptozoological to the fantastic and the magickal.

The mainstream cryptozoologist will find much of interest here, including (A) detailed sections on such hairy man-beasts as Bigfoot, the Yeti, the Almas, and the Yowie; (B) a wealth of data (and great imagery) on sea-serpents and lake-monsters; (C) tales of mystery big-cats; (D) sightings of unidentified flying winged things of both a giant bird and pterodactyl-style; (E) reports of the devilish Black Dogs of old; and (F) encounters with still-living dinosaurs and much more.

Reports of magical entities such as Unicorns, Basilisks, Gryphons, the Phoenix, Satyrs and Centaurs are all addressed in-depth; as are the "Plantimals" - animate-plants, as the book describes them, and which yet again create wonderful Lovecraftian-style imagery in the mind's eye.

I could go on and on about this book all day long. But, suffice to say, this is definitely one of the most significant monster titles of recent years and one that, in terms of both its subject matter and its approach, is unlikely to be eclipsed.

Magical, informative, monstrous and engaging, A Wizard's Bestiary is one to read late at night, when the wind howls and the moon is full...

A Wizard's Bestiary is an amazing, encyclopedia-style reference describing over 1,000 fantastic creatures - far beyond the traditional phoenix, pegasus, unicorn, and dragons to legends such as the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, Chupacabra, and Mokele-Mbembe, to Aataxe, Zyphoeus, and just about every mythological beast in between. Black-and-white woodcuts, engravings, and other images from historical sources illustrate the accessible yet matter-of-fact text, accessible to readers of all backgrounds. A "must-have" for paranormal and magickal bookshelves, as well as anyone interested in expanding their knowledge of fabled creatures.

This is a great collection of information. It is PACKED full and that is its one flaw. In order to reduce space the publisher has used a very small font and run the lines tight to the art and photos. the margins are also small (1/4") this makes for tough reading for my old eyes.

This book has illustrations definitions geographic locations of more beast that are myths than most of the books I have ever seen. The author in my opinion did an awesome job. There is alot of reading in this book and a lot to be gained. It is one of my favorites.

This shows a number of mythological creatures, the cultures they came from, and what fossil, animal, etc, most likely helped spawn their creation in the minds of man.

This is in response to the rather nasty charges of art plagiarism by Ketsu, L. Hudson, and Kinjou Okumura-Ten.

Frankly, I feel that these are accusations, not reviews, and should have no place among reviews that actually address the content of the book (which all the other reviewers praise highly). It would have been far more productive if the three of you had contacted me directly regarding your issues, so I could respond to your concerns. As I stated in the Art Credits in the Appendix (p. 347):

"There are well over 1,000 [actually 1,590!] graphics in this book, as we've tried to illustrate every creature possible! Most of these are traditional representations taken from historical sources, for which the Dover Clipart series of books have been incredibly useful. Another valuable resource for images of actual animals, extant and extinct, has been Clipart etc., an online service of Florida's Educational Technology Clearinghouse, at: http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/index.htm

"For many of these creatures, it was impossible to find traditional or historic representations, and so we recruited a number of artist friends to draw pictures of them based upon the descriptions, utilizing their own artistic imaginations. Many of these appear throughout the Glossary, where there was unfortunately no space for credits. Foremost among these artists is the amazing Ian Daniels, who not only did the gorgeous cover art, but also about 40 of the black-and-white spot illos, most of the chapter headers, and all the full-page section illos. Co-author LeopardDancer did 23 spot illos of critters for the Glossary, and I did about 70--including critters, maps, diagrams, and all the capital alphabet letters. Here is a list of the contributing artists other than myself, and their illos drawn especially for this book:

[list of 11 contributing artists other than author, and which critters they drew]

"When we couldn't find traditional representations, and our commissioned artists had done all they could, I ransacked the Internet using Google Images. This valuable resource really helped fill in the blanks, but unfortunately, many of the graphics so obtained were unattributed. I apologize for the lack of attribution in such cases, and I would like to invite anyone who can provide such to please contact me so this omission may be rectified in a future edition: Oberon@mcn.org. If any illustrations so included are by living artists who may wish to decline permission for their use, again, let me know and I will create replacements for them in the future."

You three have written--and posted here for all to see--accusations of plagiarism because you could evidently identify two out of 1,590 illos that you claim were used without permission. That's not too bad, considering how many of these came from public sources! However, as I clearly stated above in the book itself, it is my intention to give full credit whenever possible. It is disingenuous of you to make your accusations without letting me know which illos you are referring to, nor giving me any contact info for the unattributed artists, so I can get back to them for permission and credits for the next printing--or replace their illos with others, which I would happily draw myself.

So I ask you, in all decency, to please tell me which unattributed illos you are referring to, and give me the names and contact info of the artists for corrections in the next printing. Without that info, I cannot make these corrections.

Blessings,
Oberon Zell-Ravenheart

I love bestiary compilations. Why? They're fun to read and I sit and often wonder "How did this lore come about?" It is all too easy to dismiss such things as pure fantasy or chalk them up to imagination. That is the skeptics way and not the only way. I'm sure some things are just totally made up to frighten kids around campfires in the early days of man but there's probably more of a kernal of truth than most warrant. Thus the idea of boggles, goblins, kelpies, loup-garou, sea serpents and dragons just fire the imagination to an incredible degree.

I tend to use these descriptions and images to make my Thralls with. As a practicing Sorcerer, I utilize everything including the kitchen sink (literally!) and for me, there is so much UNTAPPED POTENTIAL out there in folklore that I make use of as much as possible. Others however read these as charming tales to enjoy and coddle their childlike fascination of all things fantastic.

While I'm not your typical 'new age airy-fairy bubblehead' who reads Ann McCaffrey and then goes out to summon the Dragons of Pern to my beck and call, I have extensively practiced the art of Thrall (re: servitor) creaton and utilized many forms for various purposes. There are times when a Thrall made in the shape of cockatrice is useful or one made to resemble and griffon is ideal.

Another use for such a tool is for Occult Transformation especially on the Astral Planes. The idea is to create a body in similar shape and contour to the mythical beast and then implant your consciousness into it. Thus you travel with more anonymity and have something to frighten away anything potentially hostile.

This book is filled with a plethora of creatures from all over the world. The images are terrific and I was impressed with the Bibliography and Index. Far too often in such texts, an Index is left out. Thanks to the publisher for being wise enough to include this useful tool.

This goes up on my shelf next to my other useful resources to be used regularly. I know I will be referring to it along with the Element Encyclopedia of Mythical Creatures.

I rate this work a solid 5 out of 5 stars for completeness and the included illustrations. Well done!

At least two artists' work were used without permission or credit for the illustrations in this book (there may well be more that are as of yet ignorant of it). It's sloppy and deceptive authorship, both the author and the publisher need to be taken to task for it. Unfortunate because the author's other work tends to be at least reasonably researched and credited to my knowledge. Using an artists' work and asking to be retroactively informed is nonsense on the internet and *shameful* in a published work.

Do not purchase this book- if you do, you support plagiarism in one of its most hated forms: art theft. This author is even gathering a reputation, if not already officially garnered, for stealing art and who knows what else from other people and claiming them as their own. DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK.