Joseph Nigg

Very scholarly and at times that kills how much fun this book could be. Nigg knows his maps and his monsters but he really needs someone to better edit his work. This was not an easy book to read. When he was talking about the history of monsters it was okay but his writing style is just not very easy to read. I wanted to really get into this book and geek out over the beautiful map and the cool monsters but that was just not happening. That say if you have a more scholarly bend than I do you should really like this book. Nigg's research is good with notes and other references to help learn more about the map, monsters, and others maps in general. He just needed someone to help him edit his work for a more general reader.

I give this book a Three out of Five stars.… (mere)

The Book of Dragons and Other Mythical Beasts is a bestiary of animals so incredibly rare some people don't even believe they exist. Some 50+ creatures get summarized and each one is given a big, colorful, full-page illustration, which is the only reason I checked it out. They are super bright and remind me of children's book illustrations, and the best part is the book was found in the adult section of my local library so there was minimal shame involved in checking it out. Mostly.

Unfortunately it pretty much feels like you are reading...well, an encyclopedia. I'm sure flipping to a specific entry and reading it works fine but reading it straight through isn't exactly thrilling. Also, with all the pretty art in the book I don't know why they made such a hideous cover.… (mere)

Very interesting book.... I'm not very interested in dragons or griffins, so I didn't read the parts specifically devoted to them. However, the history at the beginning... wow!! What a comprehensive study! The author explains the role of "Wonder Beasts" in history, mythology, popular culture, and even royalty, citing specific as well as general examples. Reading the sections on the unicorn and the phoenix, I was very interested to learn about all the variations throughout history, all the different names for the creatures and the differences in discription from culture to culture. VERY interesting book!… (mere)