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Summary: A must-read for fantasy fans
Review: Fantasies are full of cliches - even the best ones usually contain one or two elements that have been beaten to death in the genre. "The Tough Guide to Fantasyland" is the best book I've read making fun of these ubiquitous cliches. I laughed out loud at least once on every page. From the generic map on the first pages, to the explanations of why most fantasyland names have to contain apostrophes, to the *real* story of horse reproduction, nothing is safe from DWJ's clever wit. Prepare to venture into fantasyland with this guide - and don't forget to look out for the REEK OF WRONGNESS (Official Management Term)!
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Summary: So you want to to write fantasy, do you?
Review: For god's sake, read this book first! As a fantasy author, I laughed and occassionally cringed over this excellent send up of our beloved genre. As a creative writing teacher, I'm making this required reading. Need I say more?
Rating: 
Summary: Little bites make a meal of fantasy
Review: Have you ever rolled their eyes at yet another peasant boy turning out to be the long-lost High King, or wondered how knights who ride in full plate for days go to the toilet? This cruel little book is for you. Cliches are dissected with a placid demeanour and a small, sharp knife. You'll never look at a David Eddings book the same way again. The "Tough Guide" is best read in little bites, interspersed with your favourite epic fantasy series, or its tremendous wittiness becomes a little overwhelming. Read. Enjoy. Develop a mean smirk.
Rating: 
Summary: Was she in a hurry?
Review: I expected to laugh, because I enjoy parodies and I like Jones. The most this book engendered was a small smile. As a previous reviewer noted, it is not enough to point out that there is a cliche--if we read that genre, we already know, and if we don't, the entry is meaningless. To make it funny you have to add more of an explanation--and there were too few of those.Obvious omissions, too, as another person noted: how can you not list "love" in a cliche list for fantasy books? In addition, what a lot of typos! Someone was said to have made made a "camero" appearance (not a lot of other mentions of cars in this book), a "y" at the end of some adjective was changed to a v--mostly things a spell checker would have gotten. (Although with the strange spellings of things in fantasy land I can see where a spell checker might waste time. ) It actually got to be more interesting searching for the typos than reading the entries. The two stars I give are for use as a reference tool. You will write better fantasy and avoid cliches if you are aware of what's out there, and for that, this is a good book.
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Summary: Oh My! Oh My!
Review: I Laughed Till I Cried (OMT). THE book for readers of fantasy -- every definition brings to mind five or six examples. How I would love to read a series where every cliche mentioned was turned on its head! But it would have to be Truly Epic (OMT), a regular Saga (OMT). I'm sure I'll find myself in Throes of Laughter(OMT) in inappropriate places!
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Summary: Lighten up! This book is F-U-N-N-Y!
Review: I think most of the negative reviews are from people whose tongue is not inserted properly in their cheek.Really, guys, who goes around COUNTING cliches and who can really catch every single one when it all comes dowen to it. This book is full of wicked humor and a skewering look at fantasy not to be missed. True fans of any genre are the ones that can laugh at it. This book is great because it tells writers exactly what cliches to avoid and points out funny facts. (Come to think of it, when HAS a fantasy character, a serious heroic one, mind you, ever worn socks? Tell me if you know!) Read it, be prepared for initial indignation, then laughter then get on with your life and for heaven's sake don't count how many times these tired cliches have been used! It spoils all the fun
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Summary: this is FUNNY
Review: I would not recommend reading this book straight through, which can get a little tedious. Instead, flip through it and read when something catches your interest. Pretty soon, you will have read all the entries. I have read these entries over and over, and they never pale for me, probably because each time I look at the Guide, I am thinking of the latest fantasy book I have read, which made use of a different cliche than the one before. I love fantasy, I enjoy the Epic Doorstops, but I sure can laugh at them. Yes, this book does not include absolutely every cliche, there is no "love" entry (though there is an entry for "sex"). However, I do not see that it has to include everything- maybe the problem is that some people are expecting this to be a real reference book, not just something to amuse you. And to those reviewers who do not recognize all the cliches Jones points out, you simply have not read enough fantasy. While I am not myself a writer, I could see this book being useful. I read this when I don't want to be drawn into an enormous book, and I love sharing it with friends. One reviewer thought it a trifle cruel to include a map as a cliche, it being genuinely useful and reasonable. But this book is about that typical fantasy book, and they do, without variance, have that map. At this point that map is not even useful, being all curlicued. I love the entries on Swords, Talented Girls, Color Coding, Gnomic Utterances...it's all so true.
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Summary: An Excellent Guide
Review: I'm sure the other patients at my chiropractor's office must have thought there was a nut in one of the rooms because I laughed loudly at so many entries. This is THE fantasy book to give to friends who don't want to read fantasy. They'll get the basic idea in fewer pages than most epics, and they'll probably enjoy it. (Just be prepared for smug looks the next time you're caught reading fantasy.) Ann E. Nichols
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Summary: Funny and Much-Needed
Review: If you like fantasy and have a sense of humor, get this book. Diana Wynne Jones knows whereof she speaks, and she hits many nails on the head. This is a delightful send-up of fantasy conventions and if you don't laugh out loud you will at least smile a lot. In view of the current resurgence of LOTR (thanks to the movie)this book should be sold in conjunction with Bored of the Rings by the Harvard Lampoon, which I hear is being re-issued after many years. The two would make a nice gift set. Like another reviewer, I am sorry that even more items were not included--such as Knights--but one author cannot think of everything and the book -is- 300 pages long. It is fun to imagine what particular authors Ms. Jones might have had in mind as she wrote the different entries (although I don't suggest she is always being "author-specific".) In my own case, I am as it happens finishing up Elizabeth Moon's DEED OF PAKSENNARION, and the entry for "Female Mercenary" really had me chuckling. Hello, Paks! I hope someone sends copies of this masterpiece to R.J., T.G., and several other people who badly need to read it.
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Summary: Outstanding Advice for Writers
Review: If you're writing that epic fantasy novel, this is one book that you should have on your shelf to make sure that your brilliant new plot isn't a rehash of the last 1,000 epic fantasy novels. If you read fantasy, you'll laugh as you recognize the truth of what Jones says. If you write fantasy you'll wince as you recognize places where you went down the easy, much-travelled path.
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