The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy, Vol. 2: The Opus Magus (Paperback)

~ (Editor), Valerie Griswold Ford (Editor)
Key Phrases: shared world fiction, invisible clues, herbal magic, The Opus Magus, Asian Cultures, The Complete Guide (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A treasure trove at your fingertips—a perfect companion to The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy" -- Sheri L. McGathy, Author of Within the Shadow of Stone

"Jovial and practical, this is a fine 'companion' for any writer of fantasy." -- Michelle M. Welch, Author of Confidence Game

Product Description

Dragon Moon Press follows its highly successful title, The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy, with a second volume of advice, examples, and resources dedicated to helping you create your own epic fantasy adventure.

Featuring the writing talents of...

Campbell and Compton Crook Winner Wen Spencer, 2003 EPPIE Award Winner Jeanine Berry , 2002 EPPIE Nominated Tony Ruggiero, 1999 Blue Boa Award Winner Kim Headlee, Will McDermott, Michael R. Mennenga, Bob Nailor, Tina Morgan, Valerie Griswold-Ford

And introducing...

2004 Golden Heart Finalist Julianne Goodman, Evo Terra, Erik Amundsen, Lai Zhao

...with illustrations by Anne Moya and an introduction from Holly Lisle.

Get ready to take your work to a whole new level, and embark on a writer's adventure with The Fantasy Writer's Companion at your side!

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Dragon Moon Press; 1 edition (October 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1896944159
• ISBN-13: 978-1896944159
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #155,333 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stands above the rest, but how far?, March 2, 2005

By	the bookshelver (Roanoke, Virginia) - See all my reviews

The greatest compliment I can give this book is that I've owned it for less than a week and it's been borrowed four times. The first volume goes over general character and world generation--anyone with access to roleplaying reference materials knows general character and world generation--but this book won my heart because it describes other areas of fantasy fiction. High notes are Tony Ruggerio's chapter on horror fantasy and Tee Morris' chapter on Asian-based fantasy, and a few chapters concern editing and publishing specifically for the fantasy writing market. However, the rest of the book rehashes the same information laid out in the first volume, albeit with a few tweaks (like a full-blown "sex in fantasy" chapter instead of a few hints).

All in all, it's one of the better fantasy resources I've found in print. If you've got the cash to spare and you write offbeat fantasy, it's worth owning.

24 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than Volume 1 in series, February 27, 2005

By	David A. Olson "davidolson22" (WI, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

For all that this book rambles on about such "interesting" topics as the discussion on how to this book (not your book, but this book!), I found it better than the original volume in the series. There is once again wasted space, i.e. chapters about writing short stories, that don't fit well and are covered much better in other book on writing. Some somewhat useful sections on combining genres.

What makes this book shine is two of the sections are quite good. There is a detailed section on Asian culture (though I wish it had a reference section) and an intruiging chapter on government.

To summarize my thoughts on these books: I was looking for something that would overview a lot of information (which these do) in enough detail (which these sometimes do) and with good references (the references were spotty at best. Some chapters ended with suggestions on how to do an internet search.) If there were a better set of books that covered this information, I would recommend it, but I have yet to find any such thing.

Unless you want a detailed discussion on Asian culture, I recommend purchasing "The Writer's Complete Fantasy Reference" instead.

3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The book's great, but the binding isn't., May 1, 2007

By	S. Mcclanahan "Shaun of the Dead" (Ohio) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have to say that Vol. 2 is just as complete as the first book in the series. However, the first book was printed in the US, and the second book in Canada, so the second book is a little smaller (metric I guess), and the book was cut with a unsharpened blade, so the pages are not even and have blade patterns cut in them. Other, than the asthetics, the book is great. The publisher needs better QC, that's all.