One of my favourite reference books is The Book Of Imaginary Beings, by Jorge Luis Borges.
If I have a problem with the fantasy genre at the minute, it is that, on occasion, it does not embrace… erm… fantasy. It can be quite conservative in the imagination department, and I wonder where the fantasy has gone. Well, this book is chock-full of great creatures that can be referenced. It is a bestiary of mythical creatures, including ones I’ve used, banshees, garudas and sirens, covering locations all over the world, and their origins. It’s not even that big a book, so it really is something worth picking up for any connoisseur of weird stuff, especially for writers, and then there really is no excuse for having standard fare!
One reply on “Borges’s “Book Of Imaginary Beings””
Yeah, it’s a great concept for a book and one that I’ve flicked through many a time when browsing but never actually read. I should get round to it and soon.