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Loading... The Tough Guide to Fantasylandby Diana Wynne Jones
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. 1   bikyclist | May 30, 2009 |  A send-up of tired cliches and tropes from decades of fantasy novels. It's written as a tourist guide, if tourists could go to the world where all fantasy books are set. And if that world were a single place run somewhat like Disneyland, only deadlier. It's cool to see Jones developing the ideas that would later lead to her two novels set in a Fantasyland-type world--The Dark Lord of Derkholm and Year of the Griffin. Both of those books, as well as this one, are highly recommended. (  ) m.c.wade | Feb 12, 2009 | This is quite a delightfully humorous guide to fantasy tropes. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it . . . it was a bit like being able to peek inside an actual copy of The Hitchhiker's Guide, only for a fantasy land. If Jones' other books have the same wit, I'm eagerly looking forward to reading some of them. (  ) jfcameron | Nov 30, 2008 | A full representation of satire and cynicism at their very bust, The Tough Guide to Fantasyland serves as a guidebook to authors and readers alike as they progress deeper into the realm of fantasy. Part guidebook, part encyclopedia, the Guide introduces the stereotypical "Hero's Journey" characters, races, and situations that are found in most fantasy novels, movies, television series, plays, and games with a helpful dose of acidic humor. Authors should consider using the Tough Guide to Fantasyland as a source of inspiration and as a warning to stay away from paths that have been traveled too frequently, while fans of the genre can appreciate the guidebook's humorous approach. ( )1 meggie | Aug 26, 2008 | There are two ways to enjoy this book. The first is to be a fan who has read fantasy for years who doesn't mind their favorite genre being skewered and lampooned with savage wit. The second is to be a writer of fantasy who needs a very concise collection of all the most trite, overused plot devices of fantasy put together in one place. This is not a book to be read cover to cover since it is written with the voice of a guidebook, but organized liked an encyclopedia - each entry alphabetized. Instead, flip through it randomly and enjoy the satirical jabs at this relatively new genre. Even with all the savaging of the trite and mundane in fantasy, this is not an unkind book. The author, Diana Wynne Jones, earns her bread and butter by the very genre she is roasting. The commentary on mystifying economies, cliche character types, and the elements of typical fantasy adventures is all the more insightful for it... http://thesplinteredmind.blogspot.com... (  )1 darkstream | Aug 17, 2008 |  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com (ISBN 0142407224, Paperback)Suffering from a bit of deja vu after reading your umpteenth fantasy trilogy? Seen too many magic swords, musical elves and warring wizards? Then you're ready for the funniest and most complete "tourist's" guide to Fantasyland's standard character types, plot elements, and settings ever devised.Diana Wynne Jones describes (starting, of course, with a map) every sword-and-sorcery cliché in wickedly accurate detail, arranged alphabetically. Elves sing in beautiful, unearthly voices about how much better things used to be. Swords with Runes may kill dragons or demons, or have powers like storm-raising, but they are not much use when you're attacked by bandits. You can only have an Axe if you're a Northern Barbarian, a Dwarf, or a Blacksmith. Jones also tackles hard-hitting questions: how does Fantasyland's ecology work when there are few or no bacteria and insects and vast tracts of magically irradiated wastelands? Why doesn't the economy collapse when pirates and bandits are so active and there is no perceptible industry? The Tough Guide to Fantasyland (U.K. Edition) was a 1997 Hugo and World Fantasy Award nominee. It's a good companion to Jones's Dark Lord of Derkholm, a fantasy about what happens when your land is turned into a theme park for questing tourist parties. Fans of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books will enjoy both. --Nona Vero (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:12 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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Wikipedia in English (1)
It takes nothing seriously, and if you have even just read one fantasy novel in your life, you will still find yourself amused by the observations made.
As a side note, The Dark Lord of Derkholm, followed by The Year of the Griffin, both also by Diana Wynne Jones, were written to contain as many of these ideas and cliches as physically possible, and are two of the funniest and well told stories you will read anywhere. (