- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Carlton Books Ltd; First Edition edition (25 Sep 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1858683734
- ISBN-13: 978-1858683737
- Product Dimensions: 28.4 x 23.2 x 3.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
-
Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
551,071 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #63 in Books > Music, Stage & Screen > Film > Encyclopaedias
| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Edited by David Pringle, the co-founder of the science fiction magazine Interzone, The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy contains a wealth of informative facts and fascinating background information and over 200 colour and black and white pictures.
Fantasy is one of the oldest and most enduring forms of fiction and today has a huge following. From Alice in Wonderland to Dungeons and Dragons, The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy surveys the whole genre. With a wide range of informative and entertaining sections covering every aspect of fantasy, this book provides an invaluable glimpse into other realms. It's also fully cross-referenced and indexed.
Product Description
The first of its kind, The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy gives the layperson everything they could possibly want to know about the major fiction genre of fantasy. A team of expert authors was assembled by the editor to write on the subject.'
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
We divide the field of fantasy fiction into as many categories as we want, across as long a period of time as we wish, from Medieval Dream Allegory or Renaissance Chivalric Romance to present-day sub-types as variously fashionable as Magic Realism or Urban Fantasy. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
We divide the field of fantasy fiction into as many categories as we want, across as long a period of time as we wish, from Medieval Dream Allegory or Renaissance Chivalric Romance to present-day sub-types as variously fashionable as Magic Realism or Urban Fantasy. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I loved the way the authors show the world of fantasy spanning from grand old heroic epics like "Odyssey" through transformations as in "The Golden Ass", following the works up till our time with greats like Pratchett.
Putting things into context works for me. I need to see things in a 1, 2, 3 ... order. This work does that for me. I get to enjoy the world of fantasy anew, this time pulling all of the threads together (or at least many threads).
Enjoy a history and encyclopedia of my favorite world, the world of fantasy.
Putting things into context works for me. I need to see things in a 1, 2, 3 ... order. This work does that for me. I get to enjoy the world of fantasy anew, this time pulling all of the threads together (or at least many threads).
Enjoy a history and encyclopedia of my favorite world, the world of fantasy.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
well-illustrated, is basically a list and review of fantasy films and books. I have discovered much media i have previously not heard of, and will certainly be hunting down DVDs of many of the films mentioned.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
12 reviews
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Fun, informative, and a visual pleasure
20 April 2000
Format: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
Overly critical
27 Jun 2001
Format: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
Not Free SF Reader
28 Dec 2007
Format: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
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
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
