Fictional guidebook

Some fictional universes feature useful guidebooks which assist the hero and friends through difficult situations.

Features of a great fictional guidebook: Such books are ideally compact enough to carry on even the most strenuous adventures, yet detailed enough to contain exactly the information the reader needs at that particular point in the plot.

Many guidebooks are electronic in nature; some can access relevant information through a wireless connection.

A few guides to fictional places have also been published. The Dictionary of Imaginary Places, by Alberto Manguel and Gianni Guadalupi (Macmillan, 1980; Expanded Edition, HBJ, 1987), is a comprehensive survey of fictional places mentioned in fantasy and other literature. The 1996 book Paris out of hand, by Karen Elizabeth Gordon, Barbara Hodgson, and , is a guide to a fictionalized version of Paris. There are guidebooks to the fictional countries of Molvanîa: The Land that Dentistry Forgot (2003), Phaic Tăn: Sunstroke on a Shoestring (2004) and San Sombrèro: A Land of Carnivals, Cocktails and Coups (2006), written by Tom Gleisner, Santo Cilauro, and Rob Sitch.

The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynne Jones (Vista Books, 1996; Firebird Books, revised and updated 2006) is real book about high fantasy fiction cast as a tourist guidebook. It may be considered fantasy, or parody or criticism of fantasy, or a reference book. The U.S. Library of Congress calls it a dictionary (LCSH). The Internet Speculative Fiction Database calls it non-fiction, as did the administrators of some genre awards.

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