The Writer’s Complete Fantasy Reference (Paperback)

by Writers Digest (Author) "At the heart of most traditional fantasy milieux is a culture derived from that of the European Middle Ages, in large part the medieval societies..." (more)
Key Phrases: feng huang, castle architecture, fantasy cultures, Middle Ages, New Kingdom, Golden Dawn (more...)

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Writers Digest Books (November 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582970262
• ISBN-13: 978-1582970264
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #137,930 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

138 of 145 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book will stimulate your imagination., May 4, 2002

By	Victoria Tarrani "writer, editor, artist, des... (Betwixt FL and CA, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Terry Brooks' introduction to Fantasy Reference is a writer's guide in disguise. He learned from his editor of fifteen years that "It is harder to write good fantasy than any other form of fiction." Why? "The temptation to free-fall through a story chock full of incredible images and wonderful beings can be irresistible -- but, when not resisted, almost invariably disastrous." The book is worth the price just for this introduction, but there is so much more.

Chapter 1: Traditional Fantasy Cultures. These essays help writers get a sense of history for their fantasy tale to develop successfully. These include Feudalism, Christianity, Knighthood, Political Entities, and more. Each of the main topics is subdivided for ready reference. For example: Peripheral Cultures provides a brief history of the Mongols, Moors, Magyars, Normans, Picts, Saracens, Saxons, and Vikings.

Chapter 2: World Cultures are a critical backdrop in any story. "Nevertheless, many fantasy novels today seem to be set in an unending series of northern European countrysides..." (Michael J. Varbola) This chapter discusses science, art, military, economy, etc., to help writers make the places real and visual. There are great ideas here.

Chapter 3: Magic. The heart of a good fantasy is the magic that binds the world together or can rip it apart. Reading the history of magic helps writers understand spells, and know how the culture developed within Magic's realm.

Chapter 4: Witchcraft and Pagan Paths describes ways to recognize a witch, what witchcraft is, traditions and religions, and herbs. An example is "weik" is an Indo-European root word having to do with religion and magic.

Chapter 5: Commerce, Trade, and Law in Contemporary Fantasy begins "It is a misconception that the Middle Ages was broken into three factions: those who worked, those who fought, and those who prayed." (Sherrilyn Kenyon) This chapter discusses the infrastructure that made civilization work. It is filled with elements that any writer needs.

Chapter 6: Fantasy Races shows the physical similarity or differences between (e.g.,) elves and dwarves; these are the descriptions defined by myths and legends, and are, therefore, plausible. You will find many other topics within this chapter that can help your definitions. Years ago I read about a hero who was killed, and at the moment of his death, he called out to one of the mythical gods to save him. Instead of dying, he fell into a different land in the body of an elf. I laughed so much when this protagonist called himself a Vulcan.

Chapter 7: Creatures of Myth and Legend has an alphabetical listing of these creatures, the country of origin, the appearances, and magic. For example, a banshee lives in Irish legend, and wails when death is approaching. Lorelei is a water spirit of German legends.

Chapter 8: Dress and Costume is about the materials, designs, clothing, and more. Many drawings accompany the descriptions to provide a rich and fertile field in which imagination can play.

Chapter 9: Arms, Armor, and Armies provides writers an overview of ancient and medieval battle gear. In the dictionary, you will find, for example, that a javelin is a light spear; the pilum has a soft metal neck so that bends on impact and can easily be removed from a shield. The Gallic term is gaesum; the Roman is pilum. There are diagrams of a suit of armor (front and back), with the terms labeled so you know where a poleyn, cuisse, or greave is worn.

Chapter 10: Anatomy of a Castle is required reading for fantasy writers to create the look, feel, smell, vision, and every other aspect, of a castle. There are diagrams of different castles such as a typical medieval one, the Great Wall of China, or Himeji Castle. This information can help you build a castle. If you are using castles, be sure to draw them out so that you know where the catwalk, curtain walk, bastion, and other places are. That will help keep your characters moving in the right direction.

There is a flaw in the book is the binding, which breaks easily if you open it too far. To me, this is minus 1/4 of a star because I want my books to last, no matter how many times I read them. However, books can be replaced, the knowledge they bring cannot. Five stars.

Victoria Tarrani

169 of 183 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars incomplete, March 23, 2003

By	StalkingGhostBear "collecting dust" (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews

Every so often I am griped by the strange delusion that I am an author on the verge of writing a great novel. It was in one of these states that I ordered "The Writer's Complete Fantasy Reference. Upon receiving the book my first thought was that it was much thinner than I had imagined it would be. My worries that the book was less than complete were confirmed in reading just a few pages. I recognize that one book could not hope to fully cover the various worlds of high fantasy and the background necessary to create a viable fantasy world. Yet I had hoped for so much more than what was presented here.
The book seems to suffer from many problems the most prominent is that it has a very bad case of bad editing. The book is obviously a collection of articles that have appeared elsewhere and they lack any sort of overall cohesion.

The chapter on medieval Europe, the traditional fantasy setting, is severely lacking. It begins with a discussion of feudalism, leaving out the fact that feudal monarchies differed in structure and power from place to place. The feudal system of twelfth century Bavaria looked nothing like the system in place in England. Worse the book provides the impression that the singular kind of feudalism presented was the only governing system in use. The chapter includes a short list of titles of royalty but there is no indication of how these various personages would fit together to form a ruling class. What exactly is the difference between a Baronet and a Viscount? Who has more power a Marchioness or a Duke? What kind of social or economic benefits do these titles provide? None of these questions were answered. Additionally there is no indication of hierarchy among the nobles. Three is no indication of how nobles might interact with those of lesser stations. Would the lady of the manor speak directly to the goatherd or would she speak through an intermediary? Missing entirely is a discussion of day to day activities for peoples of various classes.

The chapter on commerce, trade and law contained NO information on trade or commerce. Information about goods and raw materials valuable enough to justify the cost of shipping them across a continent are sadly lacking. There is a rather extensive list of occupations characters might have in a fantasy novel, the list is in fact the bulk of this chapter. The discussion of law was limited to a list of possible punishments one might expect to endure. We are provided with no clue as to what crimes might be connected to these punishments. What was a flogging offense compared to what constitutes and death sentence? There exists no discussion of just who enforced the laws, what sort of court system existed and the like are ignored. Most disappointing of all is the lack of information on the connection between the religious sect of society and the legal system.

Orson Scott Card in his highly recommended book "How to Write Science Fiction &Fantasy" provided more information of magic and magical systems in one sentence than this book managed to provided in 67 pages. His one sentence was "What is the price of magic?" Novels of high fantasy are overrun with magical systems, many of them making no sense what so ever, yet the complete reference book does not address this issue in the least. In the sections on magic we are treated to yet another lengthy list of Native American power animals, forms of divination, possible magical powers your wizards could have and the like. In a book seemingly devoted to being a reference of high fantasy writing I had to pause to wonder why I was reading about the modern Neo-Pagan religion. There was page after page devoted to information on Wicca, Wiccan ritual structure, Gerald Gardner, the Church of All Worlds, Neo-Viking traditions and other modern Pagan organizations. What these have to do with sword and sorcery fantasy writing is beyond me. My only thought is that the editor's felt the book was to short and had this article just lying around.

The chapter on fantasy races seems more a half hearted run down of what famous authors have envisioned races such as Dwarves and Elves would be like. A discussion of history or mythology of these races would have been far more useful.

The chapter on creatures of myth and legend is yet another list of magical creatures. The list is neither informative nor very helpful.

The book is a collection of disjointed articles and their sum does not make a whole. The pieces are disconnected in style and substance.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful starting point for research!, April 12, 2001

By	Stephanie L. Letterson (Madison Hts., MI United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fantasy Reference is a dictionary of everything related to the Medieval Era of Europe and a bit more. This book is full of lists and descriptions of cultures, creatures, weapons, clothing styles, social titles, magic, and common structures.

While the information in this book is very good, it is not inclusive nor does it claim to be (in fact in the culture section, the authors' suggest further study). The book itself is meant as a desk reference and a starting point for ideas, studies, and reinventing.

What this book is good is for is when you can't remember the difference between a baron and marquess, the names of practiced trades, what the name is of a particular piece of armor on a full plate suit is called, the name of various cultures around the world, etc.

It will not be the only reference book on your shelf, but more of an index to the rest of your reference.