''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' is a 1997 reference work covering

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

fiction, edited by

John Clute John Frederick Clute (born 12 September 1940) is a Canadian-born author and critic specializing in science fiction and fantasy literature who has lived in both England and the United States since 1969. He has been described as "an integral part ...

and John Grant. As of November 2012, the full text of ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' is available online, as a companion to the online edition of ''

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (''SFE'') is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. It has won the Hugo Award, Hugo, Locus Award, Locus and BSFA Award, British SF Awards. Two print editions appea ...

''. Other than adding death dates, there are no plans to update the encyclopedia''.'' The book was well-received on publication, receiving the

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...

, and

Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine '' Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. Originally a poll ...

in 1998.

Format and content

The ''Encyclopedia'' was published in a format that matches the 1993 second edition of ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction''. It is slightly smaller in terms of content, containing 1,049 alphabetical pages, over 4,000 entries and approximately one million words, the bulk of which were written by Clute, Grant and Ashley. A later

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains computer data storage, data computers can read, but not write or erase. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold b ...

edition contains numerous revisions. The ''Encyclopedia'' uses a similar system of categorization to ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'', but does not include an index of theme entries. A theme index was later included in the online addenda: see "External links" below. One of the major differences is that there are no entries related to publishing.

Reception

Characterizing the book as "an excellent and highly readable source for fantasy", the industry publication ''

Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...

'' described ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' as "the first of its kind". Rob Latham writing for ''

Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts (IAFA), founded in 1982 is a nonprofit association of scholars, writers, and publishers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror in literature, film, and the other arts. Its principal ac ...

'' called it "a sprawling map of the field's major authors and texts and an extraordinary cohesive argument", "an indispensable work of reference" and "perhaps the most substantial critical analysis ever to focus on fantasy literature and art".

Awards

* 1998 –

Hugo Award for Best Non-Fiction Book The Hugo Award for Best Related Work is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for primarily non-fiction works related to science fiction or fantasy, published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The Hugo Awards have bee ...

. * 1998 – World Fantasy Special Award: Professional. * 1998 –

for Nonfiction.

Editions

* Clute, John and Grant, John. ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' (1st UK edition). London: Orbit Books, 1997. . (

Hardcover A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as casebound (At p. 247.)) book is one bookbinding, bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other clo ...

) * Clute, John and Grant, John. ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy''. New York: St Martin's Press, 1997. . (

) * Clute, John and Grant, John. ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' (2nd US edition). New York: St Martin's Griffin, 1999. . (

Paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, ...

)

References

External links