Product Description Strange beasts of all kinds have crawled, run, swam, and flown through humanity's imagination and travelers' tales since the dawn of time. From Gryphons and Unicorns, to Dragons, Mermaids, and even more bizarre and fantastical animals, A Wizard's Bestiary takes you on a magical journey through the ages and around the world, to discover elusive creatures of myth and legend. Beware--here be Monsters!
The first section lists over 1,000 fantastic creatures from every land in an encyclopedic, alphabetical glossary format, from Aatxe to Zyphoeus. Each entry includes a small illustration, as well as cross-references to other related beasts.
Next, the authors present more in-depth features on some of more interesting of these legendary beasts, such as the Sea Serpent and the Man-Eating Tree of Madagascar. History, myths, and legends of each creature are presented, with particular emphasis on identifying real-life origins of mythical creatures in actual living animals, such as the link between the Kraken and the giant squid. This section is divided into these categories:
*Creepers
*Walkers
*Swimmers
*Flyers
*Demi-Humans
*Animate Plants
Expanded cryptozoological entries include the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, Mokele-Mbembe, El Chupacabra, Mothman, and other mystery monsters reported by eyewitnesses but not yet confirmed by science. They are grouped into the following categories:
*Primates and Hominids
*Bipedal Monsters
*Carnivorous Mammals
*Herbivorous Mammals
*Sea Serpents and Lake Monsters
*Birds
*Reptiles
*Amphibians
*Living Dinosaurs
*Mystery Monsters
A Wizard's Bestiary is profusely illustrated with old woodcuts, engravings, and other images from historical sources, as well as interpretations by modern artists, including the authors. No other bestiary has been so well-illustrated! Hand-drawn medieval-style maps by Oberon Zell-Ravenheart show purported locales of different beasts on all continents and seas.
Art Plagarism Is A No-Severely Disappointing. October 28, 2008 1 out of 2 found this review helpful
At least two artists' work were used without permission or credit for the illustrations in this book (there may well be more that are as of yet ignorant of it). It's sloppy and deceptive authorship, both the author and the publisher need to be taken to task for it. Unfortunate because the author's other work tends to be at least reasonably researched and credited to my knowledge. Using an artists' work and asking to be retroactively informed is nonsense on the internet and *shameful* in a published work.
The best treste on mythical animals I have ever found October 23, 2008 This book is simply the best on its subject out there. Unlike most New Age books of this sort it does not simply claim that all mythical beasts are "astral entities" but actually RESEARCHES the subject. For example, it points out that most mythical beasts were based on real animals: the griffon being the bearded vulture for example, and have nothing to do with airy fairy new age blather. It also takes a hard look at cryptozoology claims pointing out that many sightings are most likely mistakes. My favorate chapter is that on the American Fearsome Critters, full of obscure trivia (such the bogus scientific names)that can be found elsewhere only in hard to find out of print volumes on folklore.
As for declairations of plagarism, if the reviewer had bothered to actually read the book he would have found a list of picture and text source credits.I bought my copy when the book first came out and all of it was there- no missing chapters, so there must have been a printing mistake in that case. All in all my only complaint is Oberon's claim that there can be no aquatic marsupials: he forgot the yapook also known as the water oppossum.
Stolen art and plagerism! DON'T BUY THIS BOOK! September 27, 2008 2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Purchasing this book will allow Oberon to believe that it's all right to regurgitate Wiki articles and take art that doesn't belong to him.
What a bloody plagerizer. June 21, 2008 5 out of 12 found this review helpful
Do not purchase this book- if you do, you support plagiarism in one of its most hated forms: art theft. This author is even gathering a reputation, if not already officially garnered, for stealing art and who knows what else from other people and claiming them as their own. DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK.
Where to begin May 21, 2008 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This shows a number of mythological creatures, the cultures they came from, and what fossil, animal, etc, most likely helped spawn their creation in the minds of man.
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