Myths & Magic: The Complete Fantasy Reference.

by Terry Brooks (Introduction)

Genres: Fantasy, Reference

288 pages, Paperback

First published April 8, 1999

About the author

Terry Brooks was born in Illinois in 1944, where he spent a great deal of his childhood and early adulthood dreaming up stories in and around Sinnissippi Park, the very same park that would eventually become the setting for his bestselling Word & Void trilogy. He went to college and received his undergraduate degree from Hamilton College, where he majored in English Literature, and he received his graduate degree from the School of Law at Washington & Lee University.
A writer since high school, he wrote many stories within the genres of science fiction, western, fiction, and non-fiction, until one semester early in his college years he was given The Lord of the Rings to read. That moment changed Terry's life forever, because in Tolkien's great work he found all the elements needed to fully explore his writing combined in one genre.
He then wrote The Sword of Shannara, the seven year grand result retaining sanity while studying at Washington & Lee University and practicing law. It became the first work of fiction ever to appear on the New York Times trade paperback bestseller list, where it remained for over five months.

Reviews

[Dark-Draco · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a slightly disappointing book - as a quick reference guide it works ok, but when reading it in one go, it lacks...something! It is supposed to be a reference guide for the fantasy writer, but a lot of it is firmly rooted in our world. For a writer of suedo-medieval fantasy, I can see that it is helpful, but the sort of stuff I like to read doesn't really get covered. Still, as a history book, it was quite interesting and I did learn some stuff about castles and armour that I hadn't known before. The chapters on mythical creatures and races, which I thought I would enjoy the most, didn't really cover anything new, although the one on magic is quite a good springboard for reading more. Overall, a book I will probably keep just to check facts, but not one I will read as a whole entity again.