Encyclopedia of Mythological Objects (McFarland Myth and Legend Encyclopedias)

I have used many of Bane's books as references in my writing, including this informative and comprehensive resource. If you're looking for compelling plot and character ideas or interesting details to enhance a story line, or if you're just a curious fan of mythos, Bane's books are fantastic!

There's a lot of information in this book, which is wonderful. But if you're purchasing the ebook version, you'll find the book's organization to be severely lacking. The index of terms is just a complete list of all the terms used in the book, from A-Z. Now in a print book, this would be accompanied by page numbers. In an ebook, the terms should link to where they can be found in the book. That's not the case. Ideally, it would be wonderful if there were lists separating the items by type, culture/country of origin, with links to the different entries. But this book doesn't even separate the entries by letter. The table of contents lists Cover, Preface, Introduction, The Encylopedia, Bibliography, and Index. If you were looking for the entry on Mjolnir, you can't click the table of contents, choose M, and then search through. No, you have to flip through EVERY SINGLE PAGE until you get to M in the ebook. To put this in context, imagine you had a print encyclopedia and you wanted to find a specific entry. The index doesn't list the page number, so you would physically have to turn each individual page until you could find what you're looking for. I might excuse this level of disorganization for a book that only cost $3. But for $18, I'd expect at least a modicum of effort to be put towards formatting.

For those who like pictures, be forewarned there are none. However, if you're into a brief, concise descriptions of various mythological objects, including weapons and ships, even the Fountain of Youth and more, this is great book. It would do well in providing a basis for creating your own objects for roleplays and/or stories. Also be forewarned, however, for those who like a grueling essay on objects, this may be too bareboned for you, such as its fellow Encyclopedia of Imaginary and Mythical Places, which is way too brief and short in every description. I get brevity, but that was just ridiculous. This book, on the other hand, serves its purpose as a refence and guide well, in my opinion.

So, I’m a software developer and I’m looking for some inspiration for a game and this book, is pure gold. It’s a wonderful tome of ideas and themes and symbols in the form of mythical objects. Behind each one, interesting and wonderful descriptions and stories. This is absolutely worth the money. I’m in love with this book. It’s worth it. Get it. Seriously.