BOOKS BY TITLE Note: Titles beginning with articles of speech ("The XX") will be listed as "XX, The" A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z AUTHORS BY LAST NAME e.g.: Larry Niven will be under "N" A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z YEAR OF RELEASE Pre-1950 MAIN MENU HOME GREETING from T. M. Wagner FAQ THE RATINGS AWARD WINNING BOOKS LINKS LETTERS OF COMMENT THE TOUGH GUIDE TO FANTASYLAND Book cover art by Tony Sahara. AUTHOR'S SITE DIANA WYNNE JONES The Tough Guide to Fantasyland takes its one joke — that it's a spoof of the "Rough Guide" series of guidebooks, done over as a glossary of fantasy tropes — and cudgels it to death long after the initial chuckles have worn out. Sure, it does have its value. If you're an aspiring writer, as Neil Gaiman points out in his blurb, this is an excellent one-stop shop for all of the clichés you want to avoid. I personally think it's optimistic of Neil to assume newbie writers will avoid them so much as pick and choose their favorites to include, much in the same way newbie gamers use the "Oh, what a cool card!" approach to assembling Magic decks. | |
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