Hiding out Book

If you have read at least a handful of traditional fantasy books, no doubt that most of the tropes found in this mock A-to-Z Fantasyland encyclopedia/travel guide (for a hypothetical tour of a Generic Fantasyland, organized by a sinisterly capitalized Management) will be familiar to you. You can read this book in a traditional way - front to back cover, or just pick up any entries at random - it's just as entertaining. It's hilarious and so true, and yet not condescending or malicious, and does not ever degenerate into ridicule.

The Guide touches on everything you expect to see in your generic fantasy epic adventure - from STEW ("what you are served to eat every single time") to HORSES ("It therefore seems probable that they breed by pollination") to MISSING HEIRS ("At any given time, half the COUNTRIES in Fantasyland will have mislaid their Crown PRINCESS/PRINCE") to BANDITS ("employed by the Management to make the early stages of the Tour more interesting") to CLOTHING ("Here, the colder the climate, the fewer the garments worn") to SCURVY ("Despite a diet consisting entirely of STEW and WAYBREAD, supplemented by only the occasional FISH, you will not suffer from this or any other deficiency disease") to WORK ("is seldom done as such in Fantasyland. When it is inevitable, it is always known as Toil") to COMMON COLD ("This is one of many viral nuisances not present. You can get as wet, cold, and tired as you like, and you will still not catch cold. But see PLAGUE").

Anyone who has ever thought about writing fantasy should become very familiar with this book. So should fantasy fans who don't take themselves and the genre too seriously. I also highly recommend it to all my fellow Terry Pratchett fans out there - since we already laugh at fantasy clichés.