The DICTIONARY OF SCIENCE FICTION PLACES

Rating:
Summary: A good addition to any collecter
Review: I constantly find myself going back to this book and looking up odd facts about both books I have read and books I havent. This is a great book for any serious sciencefiction fan.!

Rating:
Summary: Very fun and informative
Review: I picked up a used copy of this book a week ago, and it has given me many hours of pleasure. I'm having a lot of fun reading about places I've "visited" in novels--Airstrip One, Diaspar, Jurassic Park, Soror--as well as places I'm only now learning about, like the Confederate States of America (see for yourself why it's listed), Darwinia, Hain, and so many more. This only encourages me to read more good science fiction. In that sense, the book succeeds admirably.

I know others have given this book lukewarm reviews, but I find the writing, editing, and illustrating in this volume to be very good. I have it on the shelf next to other important sci-fi reference works like Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials and The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Whether you are a casual or serious reader of sci-fi, I definitely recommend The Dictionary of Science Fiction Places.

Rating:
Summary: A casual coffee-table book
Review: The Dictionary of Science Fiction Places is near-completely useless if you use it the way it is intended - to develop your vision and understanding of a specific scientific locale. I can certainly say that the odds of you reading something that is described in the book are slim to nil (outside the obvious entries, like Pern, which was perfectly mapped out a long time prior). The art is completely inappropriate and does exactly nothing for the book's value. The only way the Dictionary of Science Fiction Places may prove useful is if you casually flip through it to find some long out of print and offbeat works of science fiction.

Rating:
Summary: A bit off target
Review: This is a fairy nice book, and it's fun to look through (though I'm not sure I agree with all of the artist's interpretations) but I found it a little unsteady. I would invest in the excellent "The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction", it's more general but oddly, it's also more in depth.