Once upon a time, nearly thirty years ago a book called the Monster Manual was published by a company called TSR and legions of Dungeons & Dragons fans were pleased. Now we fast forward to 2007 and Wizards of the Coast publishing imprint, Mirrorstone, has released a Practical Guide to Monsters, sort of a Monster Manual Light although it isn't a role-playing game book. What it is a guide to all types of legendary creatures, good and evil (mostly evil) that has its roots firmly in the old D&D lore. The book is really a companion to Mirrorsone's line of juvenile and young adult fiction series of Dungeons & Dragons books such as the Knights of the Silver Dragon series. And while I haven't been a "young adult" in many a year, I've read several of these books and really enjoyed them. They're light, quicker, and action-oriented and don't have the pretensions that a lot of adult fantasy fiction has.
The book is sectioned by type of monsters: Creepy Crawler, Flying Fiends, Viperous Villains, Sneaky Shapeshifters, Gruesome Goblinoids, Mammoth Monsters, Unsightly Undead, Outworldly Outsiders, and Awful Aberrations. Fans of Dungeons & Dragons will recognize all of these monsters, some of which will not be common to many people. There's the terrible Bulette which bursts forth from underground to grab its prey. The Yuan-Ti is a race of half human and half snake creatures which are all evil. The Behir is a dragon-like creature that has a dozen legs and can breath out lightning bolts!
The Goblinoid section introduces us to goblins, Hobgoblins and Bugbears, while the mammoth monsters section covers Trolls, Giants, Ettins, and Ogres. Each listing provides a table of that monsters characteristics including their height, weight, habitat, society, diet, language, attack methods, and best defense. Find out the difference between a ghoul and a zombie, or between a Frost Giant and a Fire Giant. Along the way there are little notes on the pages written by the mage Zendric (One of the main characters in the Knights of the Silver series) recording his own remarks and observations. The illustrations in the book are simply gorgeous and produced by the same artists who do the work on the other Mirrorstone books.
This is a book that kids will really love. Who doesn't like monsters? But I think even old-time fans of D&D will enjoy looking through its pages to remind them of RPG days gone by. A lot of Fun! Look for the companion book, A Practical Guide to Dragons.
REVIEWED BY TIM JANSON