Monday, 4 January 2010
I'm going to start with a review of The Writer's Complete Fantasy Reference by Writer's Digest Books.
I bought it partly because Writer's Digest is responsible for other books I've found useful and partly because the preface was written by Terry Brooks and boy will that teach me to fall for a good name and not try to check the book out more carefully before buying it. I cannot stress enough how much I would not recommend this book. Check it out from a library by all counts, but don't waste your money on it.
The first thing I noticed about it is that for something that calls itself a 'complete' reference guide, it's awfully slender...
Each chapter is written by a different person and deals with a different aspect of fantasy writing - arms and armour, castles, medieval history, magic, fantastic creatures and so on. Most of it assumes you will be setting your fantasy novel in a pseudo-medieval Northern European setting, so if you're not much of it is of no use to you at all and if you are, well, the information is very brief and superficial. It's not all that accurate either.
There is one chapter dealing with other civilizations you could use as a basis but trying to cover any civilization in a couple of pages, at most, or a couple of paragraphs in some cases, is a lost cause anyway. And if by other civilizations you mean 'other civilizations that didn't come from the Americas' you're even more out of luck as there is a definite geographical bias present in their choice of civilizations. It may be a good place to look for ideas but I can think of a dozen places on-line that would be more useful and are free.
The same goes for the bestiary. I actually liked this chapter, but it's the only one in the book I'd consider paying for and again I could find the same or better information on-line. That chapter is probably the reason I'll keep the book now I've bought it rather than donating it to a charity shop, because it is handy.
All in all I found the history to be sketchy or inaccurate and the other information to be not worth the price of the book. Definite thumbs down. Sorry.
And now, to make up for it, some recs. I'm going to pick sites that will give you the kind of information you might have hoped for from this book, but I won't be so arrogant as to call it a complete guide... (But feel free to check my delicious account, linked from the bottom of this blog, for more links). I'm going to make the same assumption they did and concentrate on Northern Europe for the historical links, but I'll try and focus on other civilizations in other posts.
Medieval weaponry and armour - the link goes to the first page in the section but there's an index at the bottom. This is a good place to start. You may need more detailed information if your characters are going to get into a lot of fights, but if they're not this probably tells you most of what you need to know.
Creating a credible fantasy army - I found the articles here really interesting.
Everything you ever wanted to know about the Vikings - I would strongly recommend this at least as a jumping off point for further research if your culture is going to be anything at all like the Vikings.
Vikings, Saxons, and Normans - Another starting point, but still good stuff.
Naming your Romans - I found this incredibly useful and the only guide I actually understood to how Roman names worked.
A guide to Roman life - I find the problem with researching Romans is too much information. This site is great for figuring out what you do and don't need to research.
Maps of the Roman Empire - Maps from all parts of the Roman Empire. We need more fantasy Romans if you ask me!
Food Timeline - the FAQs are the places to go here to find information and lots of links so you can figure out what kind of things you might want to feed your characters.
Creating a Fantasy World - recommending this does not mean I agree with everything she says. In fact I emphatically disagree in some cases but her arguments are well put and worth considering even if you eventually ignore some or all of her advice.
Questions for creating your world - a great guide to what you need to consider to make your world believable.
Medieval demographics made easy - How many people should your medieval city have?
Creating a fantasy language - even the author admits your reaction to this may be to wonder if he has a life, but the true geek will appreciate it.
Encyclopaedia Mythica - in my opinion one of the best places for researching mythology for use in your fantasy world. If this doesn't inspire you nothing will.
Godchecker - not as detailed as the previous site but has some good ways to search (want to see which Gods are associated with ravens? This is the site to start with.)
Monstropedia - Not sold on the appearance of this site but it is pretty interesting if you're looking for fantasy creatures or fairies for your world.
I bought it partly because Writer's Digest is responsible for other books I've found useful and partly because the preface was written by Terry Brooks and boy will that teach me to fall for a good name and not try to check the book out more carefully before buying it. I cannot stress enough how much I would not recommend this book. Check it out from a library by all counts, but don't waste your money on it.
The first thing I noticed about it is that for something that calls itself a 'complete' reference guide, it's awfully slender...
Each chapter is written by a different person and deals with a different aspect of fantasy writing - arms and armour, castles, medieval history, magic, fantastic creatures and so on. Most of it assumes you will be setting your fantasy novel in a pseudo-medieval Northern European setting, so if you're not much of it is of no use to you at all and if you are, well, the information is very brief and superficial. It's not all that accurate either.
There is one chapter dealing with other civilizations you could use as a basis but trying to cover any civilization in a couple of pages, at most, or a couple of paragraphs in some cases, is a lost cause anyway. And if by other civilizations you mean 'other civilizations that didn't come from the Americas' you're even more out of luck as there is a definite geographical bias present in their choice of civilizations. It may be a good place to look for ideas but I can think of a dozen places on-line that would be more useful and are free.
The same goes for the bestiary. I actually liked this chapter, but it's the only one in the book I'd consider paying for and again I could find the same or better information on-line. That chapter is probably the reason I'll keep the book now I've bought it rather than donating it to a charity shop, because it is handy.
All in all I found the history to be sketchy or inaccurate and the other information to be not worth the price of the book. Definite thumbs down. Sorry.
And now, to make up for it, some recs. I'm going to pick sites that will give you the kind of information you might have hoped for from this book, but I won't be so arrogant as to call it a complete guide... (But feel free to check my delicious account, linked from the bottom of this blog, for more links). I'm going to make the same assumption they did and concentrate on Northern Europe for the historical links, but I'll try and focus on other civilizations in other posts.
Medieval weaponry and armour - the link goes to the first page in the section but there's an index at the bottom. This is a good place to start. You may need more detailed information if your characters are going to get into a lot of fights, but if they're not this probably tells you most of what you need to know.
Creating a credible fantasy army - I found the articles here really interesting.
Everything you ever wanted to know about the Vikings - I would strongly recommend this at least as a jumping off point for further research if your culture is going to be anything at all like the Vikings.
Vikings, Saxons, and Normans - Another starting point, but still good stuff.
Naming your Romans - I found this incredibly useful and the only guide I actually understood to how Roman names worked.
A guide to Roman life - I find the problem with researching Romans is too much information. This site is great for figuring out what you do and don't need to research.
Maps of the Roman Empire - Maps from all parts of the Roman Empire. We need more fantasy Romans if you ask me!
Food Timeline - the FAQs are the places to go here to find information and lots of links so you can figure out what kind of things you might want to feed your characters.
Creating a Fantasy World - recommending this does not mean I agree with everything she says. In fact I emphatically disagree in some cases but her arguments are well put and worth considering even if you eventually ignore some or all of her advice.
Questions for creating your world - a great guide to what you need to consider to make your world believable.
Medieval demographics made easy - How many people should your medieval city have?
Creating a fantasy language - even the author admits your reaction to this may be to wonder if he has a life, but the true geek will appreciate it.
Encyclopaedia Mythica - in my opinion one of the best places for researching mythology for use in your fantasy world. If this doesn't inspire you nothing will.
Godchecker - not as detailed as the previous site but has some good ways to search (want to see which Gods are associated with ravens? This is the site to start with.)
Monstropedia - Not sold on the appearance of this site but it is pretty interesting if you're looking for fantasy creatures or fairies for your world.
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