The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures: The Ultimate A–Z of Fantastic Beings from Myth and Magic

I bought this book for reference and it didn't disappoint I also use it to male video game character names highly recommend

This book is really interesting. It's a full encyclopedia with decent amounts of information on more than 1,000 entries of cryptozoological creatures. Most books I've read, typically focus primarily on the Loch Ness Monster and the damn Sasquatch and that's about it. However, this book contains viable information for each of its entries. The ones that have more history behind them will have more information than some others, which offer only a short paragraph about it, but it will at least give you an "awareness" of some of the rarer creatures. So if you want more information on those, using the internet sometimes comes in handy. But you'll most likely not find much more information on them anyways as modern man does not know as much about them as the ancients did. This is by far the LARGEST and most comprehensive collection of mythical animals and creatures I have ever seen. It's THICK, too. with 643 pages of creatures, plus a bibliography and index. The print is large as well, plus there are big margins to write in notes if you like, with extra information you may have found about the beasts elsewhere (This is what I do). I only wished that it was illustrated. It does have a few drawings in there, but they are very random and not specified towards any certain creature, nor are they labled. I believe that a pronunciation guide for the names of the creatures would have been a nice feature as well as I struggle to pronounce the names as they are written, but overall, John and Caillin Matthews did a terrific job on compiling and writing this fantastic book, which has no equal or rival in my search for books like this. If I could rate it higher than 5 stars, I would. Pliny the Elder and Younger would both be very impressed with this excellent book.

I previously owned this book and hated parting with it. I had to purchase another copy. This is one of my favorite books in this style of format. Very informative and interesting, there are literally thousands of terms, characters, creatures, etc to glean from the pages. While not overly descriptive, I think the book does its job of covering the basics. I often use it as a great reference for particular creatures/beasts/characters and continue researching the subjects on the internet. This thick, heavy book may not have "everything", but it's certainly close enough. The reading style is simple, yet not childish. Youths with decent reading skills ages 12+ should find it easy to use. I recommend this book for anyone with an interest in mythology, folklore, legends, ancient religions, beliefs, etc.

I enjoyed going through this book as a reference to a variety of magical creatures across cultures. Some, you've heard of, others are obscure, all are fun!

I was looking for a book like this! There are soooo many creatures in the book and it was so interesting to read. The explanation of each creature was in depth and not short at all. It’s oil to see how many creatures I actually already knew about from watching movies and tv shows! I have purchased other books along these lines, but I was disappointed, so if you are looking to read about mythical beasts, I would get this one! There’s so many in there (like all the mythical beasts) so the book is a little heavy haha!

I'll just preface this by saying I used to check the book out repeatedly at my local library before I had the money to purchase it. As someone who loves delving into the myths and legends of yore, I thoroughly enjoyed this. While some entries have limited information on the entities they discuss, the only thing it did was give me the impetus to jump into further research. I do recommend it, whether you read it for reference while writing or just to enjoy.

Beautiful ✨ Beautiful ♥️

Wonderful book, full of magical details and information.

Alles bestens, gerne wieder!

This book is extremely useful for not only writing, but looking up things that I find in the media and it came quickly! Thanks!

I got this book because while in lockdown I have been reading a lot more than normal. That being said this book has been on my wishlist for ages and I finally jumped and got the book. This book is jam packed with information about all different magical creatures and is really interesting to read. If you are looking for a great book full of old folklore creatures then this is the book for you. Its really great to have in my book collection and I have really been enjoying reading them.

Great book, with a large variety of creatures described. As an artist I find it's a good source of inspiration for any creative person looking for an idea or for something to draw. It's also interesting for anyone if they just wanted to pick it up and read at random. It does lack pictures, and it would be nice if there were a few scattered throughout the book but I can't say this bothers me that much. It's good sometimes to not have your own imagination influenced by someone else's interpretation. Plus you could always do further research if you wanted to look some of them up in more detail.

We got this book for my son on his Kindle and he really likes it.