Some say it was a demon who took off his left big toe.' The first entry of the chapter is OMT, or, Official Management Term, which has the icon for CLICHE next to it. The 'O' chapter begins with this quote, 'Onions much attracted the Sage Algeron, who used to declare that onions were like the eyes of demons. Each chapter, which corresponds with a letter, begins with a quote from the 'Gnomic Utterances,' citing the author and era, and they tend to be more humorous than helpful. There are the traditional, like icons for money, building, person, lodging and landmark, as well as less common, like fish, clan, magic and evil, which gets a 'thumbs down' image.

Like any good travel guide, there are 'identification elements,' or icons next to the entries for quick reference. And, while it is possible to read The Tough Guide to Fantasyland : The Essential Guide to Fantasy Travel it's almost more fun to peruse it, opening to any page and reading an entry, especially sinc e the Management te lls the reader that the map is useless. A very funny, 'How to Use This Book' chapter at the start of the guide instructs the reader to 'Find the MAP,' (words in ALL CAPS indicate entries in the Tough Guide) 'Examine the map,' 'Find your STARTING POINT.' From there, the reader must 'set about finding an INN, Tour COMPANIONS, an meal of STEW, a CHAMBER for the night, and then the necessary TAVERN BRAWL.' In a way, Jones is encouraging the reader to pursue this book as a 'choose your own adventure' venture, if you remember those books. Although encyclopedic in nature, The Tough Guide to Fantasyland : The Essential Guide to Fantasy Travel is laid out like a guide book (I almost typed 'rough' instead of 'tough' so many times while writing this review).

The tough guide to fantasyland