List of fictional guidebooks
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.
| Fictional guidebook | Universe |
|---|---|
| The Encyclopedia Generica | The Simpsons |
| Encyclopedia Galactica | The Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov |
| The Philosophy of Time Travel | Donnie Darko |
| The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Encyclopedia Galactica | Hitchhiker Trilogy (in five parts) by Douglas Adams |
| The Junior Woodchucks Guidebook | Donald Duck comics by Carl Barks and DuckTales |
| Encyclopedia Frobozzica | Zork |
| All Of Them Witches | Rosemary's Baby - book by Ira Levin, movie by Roman Polanski |
| The Book of Origin | Stargate Universe - priors of the Ori |
| The Book of Rules | The Dancing Gods series by Jack L. Chalker |
| A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer | Neal Stephenson's novel, The Diamond Age |
| Necronomicon Ex-Mortis | Evil Dead Series fictional Sumerian book, series created by Sam Raimi |
| Planetary Guides (annual) | Planetary by Warren Ellis |
| Pokédex | Pokémon games and animation |
| Highly Unpleasant Things It Is Sometimes Necessary to Know, Things That Are Not Good to Know at All | John Barnes's novel, One for the Morning Glory |
| The Mrin and Darine Codices | David Eddings' Belgariad and Malloreon |
| Ferengi Rules of Acquisition | Star Trek |
| Marcoh's Notes (AKA: Tim Marcoh's Guide on Baking Desserts - A guide written by the alchemist Tim Marcoh on the Philosophers' Stone, it is thought of as a cookbook, but is actually an alchemy reference written in code.) | Fullmetal Alchemist |
| Roylance Guide (of Secret Societies and Sects), Tobin's Spirit Guide, Spates Catalog (of Nameless Horrors), Spengler's Spirit Guide |
Ghostbusters |
| The Spells of Astoroth | Bedknobs and Broomsticks |
| Handbook for the Recently Deceased | Beetlejuice |
| The Code of Masked Wrestling | ¡Mucha Lucha! |
| The Slayer Handbook | Buffy the Vampire Slayer |
| The Messiah's Handbook and Reminders for the Advanced Soul | Richard Bach's novel, Illusions |
| The Necronomicon | The Hound by H. P. Lovecraft. See 'Other Appearances' under Necronomicon for more. |
| A Really Useful Book | MirrorMask |
| Da Rules | Fairly Odd Parents |
| The Guide | Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide |
| Orange Catholic Bible | Frank Herbert's Dune series |
| The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch | Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman |
| Thievus Racoonus | Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus |
| Hogwarts, A History | Harry Potter series |
| The Code | Pirates of the Caribbean series |
| The Uselessness of Everything | Moomin series by Tove Jansson |
| Voyager Guidebook | Voyagers! |
| Space Core Directive Manual | Red Dwarf series |
| The Tome of Eternal Darkness | Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem video game |
| Lost in the Wilds By D. Croyle. This handbook is seen being read by billionaire magazine publicist Charles Morse (Anthony Hopkins) at the beginning of the 1997 movie The Edge. It appears to be a guide to survival in the wilderness but was mocked up by the props department (the director's assistant was called Darragh Croyle.) | The Edge |
Real guidebooks to fictional matters
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 Nick Bantock, 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).[1] The Internet Speculative Fiction Database calls it non-fiction, as did the administrators of some genre awards.[2]
See also
References
- ↑ "The tough guide to Fantasyland" (first edition). Library of Congress Catalog Record. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
- ↑ The Tough Guide To Fantasyland title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Retrieved 2013-05-30.