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Summary: Astute advice for writers; a hoot and a half for readers
Review: Jones relentlessly skewers lowest common denominator (LCD) fantasy novels in a form of a travel guide to the generic Fantasyland that LCD fantasies are set in. Everything from bad worldbuilding to bad cliches are shown in meticulous detail.A fun exercise is to take a best-selling fantasy of your choice and count how many entries apply to it. The more that do, the less original (and thus less imaginative) the author has been. If you want to write fantasy, read this book first. It will show you all the mistakes that everyone else has been committing (how to avoid them is your own problem).
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Summary: this is the only fantasy book you will ever need...
Review: Okay, campers, here it is: Conan, Tolkein, Mercedes Lackey, Stephen Donaldson, Moorcock, and all the rest are trashed at a go! All the standard schticks are exposed, maliciously and hysterically, from Stew and Tavern Brawls to Magic and Swords. You will never need to read another fantasty novel -- everything is already here! Combined with The Book of Weird and Fieldguide to the Little People, this is an invaluable guide for all interested in the world of fantasy but fed up with all the pot-boilers. Might I especially recommend the PanCeltic Tour...
Rating: 
Summary: Funny, and possibly useful
Review: Read the latest Robert Jordan, David Eddings or Terry Brooks door-stop and decide that you could write a fantasy soap opera just as well? Or maybe those authors drive you insane and you want to turn the fantasy genre on its head? The solution to both of these tasks can be found in this strange book from Diana Wynne Jones, better known for writing original children's fantasies of her own. Her secret, contained herein, seems to have been a long study of fantasy literature, and noted what has become cliched. In this book, all the tropes are dissected and cross-referenced. A better title would have been "A Writer's Guide to Fantasy Schlock, with annotations." As a book to read straight through, it is not as rewarding. The entries are listed alphabetically, with small caps indicating a term with its own entry. Little icons appear in the margins--these don't mean anything per se, but are usually little graphic jokes on the text. The text itself is quite amusing, especially if one is familiar with the subject being pilloried. I wouldn't recommend this book to all, but fans of fantasy should find enough here for their monies worth of chuckles. Would-be writers will find this an indispensable reference work.
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Summary: The funniest thing in a very long while
Review: The taking-the-mickey from the fantasy genre has been done before, mroe than once; but DWJ has gone one better, by writing a guidebook to the cliches of formula fantasy. The result is ragingly funny - from the nine or ten types of sword, all of which have magic powers, to the breeding habits of horses, the absence of bacteria, and the fate of barmaids' unwanted offspring. All fantasy writers should read this book before setting pen to paper.
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Summary: Hilarious.
Review: The Tough... lost one star because I have hardly ever seen some of the "cliches", and some of the cliches that we often see are not listed. Common plot twists that we predict easily are not to be found here either. Some entries aren't that funny, and some are a little lewd, but this is still THE BOOK for fantasay lovers and fantasy authors. If you can't enjoy most of the book, you must be dreadfully boring. Read it!
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Summary: I laughed so hard the tears ran down my cheeks.
Review: This book captures the all the cliches of epic fantasy novels and distills them into concise definitions that capture the essence (OMT) of the Fantasy Experience. This book should definitely be in the hands of every writer and reader. It should also be considered the companion volume for Diana Wynne Jones' "The Dark Lord of Derkholm".
Rating:
Summary: Mildly amusing.
Review: This book is mildly amusing, but I found it annoying in spots. I haven't seen some of the things put forward as cliches done more than once--maybe I just don't read enough bad Tolkien imitations--and there are a couple I haven't read at all. Some of the choices of things to mock seem rather arbitrary, too--is a book about a strange land supposed to be improved by not having a map? I also note that certain people writing reviews don't seem to understand that the first time a thing is done, it isn't a cliche.
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Summary: A Look at Cliches
Review: This book looks at the cliches from the fantasy genre. I bought it because, as a fantasy author, I figured it could help me steer clear of cliches. It does offer laughs, and I was glad to see that I'm not the only one who has noticed that caravans in fantasy literature are ALWAYS ambushed early on. But I thought it could have been more complete. There's no entry for 'love', and that's usually part of any fantasy novel. So, my main complaint is a lack of important entries. Also, the entries that do exist often just point out a cliche and move on. Yes, we all know that the 'slender youth' is usually a girl in disguise. Is it really that entertaining to just read that fact? It's the clever comments accompanying the cliche that are entertaining, not just the cliche alone. The entries too often just list the cliches and are dull because of it.
Rating:
Summary: Great at first, but wanes.
Review: This is a good guide for fantasy authors and I bought it with this in mind. It serves well, letting me know what ground has been covered without having to trawl through shelf after shelf of mediocre fantasy, but for entertainment purposes it's lacking. Others have already said that satire requires more than pointing out a cliche, and I will second it. Another disappointing aspect is the way Jones covers all her bases. On many occasions she claims a certain cliche will follow a certain pattern, then adds a disclaimer at the end. This may be so that no cliche goes unpunished, but it also seems a little unfair to me. However, she gets it bang on with the fantasy economy, insects, industry, ecological system, and the princesses of certain authors. (CoughEddingscough.) Also with the farmboy-is-a-king-really plot, Armies, Armour, Bandits and most especially, the Dark Lords. I was also quite amused by the ENDLESS QUEST.
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Summary: Delightful skewering of every cliche
Review: This is excellent--the more fantasy you read, the more authors and their foibles you will be able to identify (Tolkien, of course, but also on Elves, Lackey and Emma Bull); Norton (see the topic EYRIE CLANS), Eddings (see the topic CHILD), Robert Jordan (see the WHOLE BOOK, particularly IMPERIOUS FEMALE, LARGE MAN, etc.). Suitable for most fantasy fans from age 10 up, and even educational for the younger ones, who will have to look up some of the Official Management Terms in the dictionary. Some parents of younger readers may have concerns about a few entries, but even the GAY MAGE entry (Lackey) is written primarily in terms of aromatherapy.
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