jailala's review
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Good read/inspiration for anyone wanting to expand their creativity.
Would make a great gift for authors, artists and the like.
Would make a great gift for authors, artists and the like.
panda_incognito's review
3.0
This book presents writing advice in an unusual, immersive format, with lots of fantastical and surrealist illustrations, sidebars, and illustrated diagrams. Since I am a visual learner, I hoped that I would find this helpful, but the sidebars fragmented my attention, many of the diagrams were too cluttered for me to easily interpret them, and the larger, standalone images were sometimes so unusual and surreal that I remember them in place of the text. Overall, the idea of this book is good, but I found the format distracting.
The writing advice itself is excellent, and the author supplements his own perspective with interviews and sidebars with thoughts from other writers. There is a lot of good material here, especially for people who write fantasy and science fiction, since the examples are in their genre. My chosen genre is slice-of-life fiction, but I enjoy reading fantasy, and it was fun to see the different angle that these examples provided on familiar writing advice. Most books about craft analyze passages from either pretentious literary novels or melodramatic popular fiction, so I appreciated this change of pace.
This book ended up being a mixed bag for me, but it covers a lot of important general material and includes genre-specific topics that are rarely explored elsewhere. I would recommend this to anyone who finds the idea of this book appealing, but would encourage them not to have overly high expectations. The main value of this book is in the written advice, most of which is available elsewhere, and not in the illustrated diagrams or inclusion of other pictures. Writers should approach this book with the expectation that it contains useful written advice, and should not expect the fantastical or bizarre images to make it unique in a transformative way.
The writing advice itself is excellent, and the author supplements his own perspective with interviews and sidebars with thoughts from other writers. There is a lot of good material here, especially for people who write fantasy and science fiction, since the examples are in their genre. My chosen genre is slice-of-life fiction, but I enjoy reading fantasy, and it was fun to see the different angle that these examples provided on familiar writing advice. Most books about craft analyze passages from either pretentious literary novels or melodramatic popular fiction, so I appreciated this change of pace.
This book ended up being a mixed bag for me, but it covers a lot of important general material and includes genre-specific topics that are rarely explored elsewhere. I would recommend this to anyone who finds the idea of this book appealing, but would encourage them not to have overly high expectations. The main value of this book is in the written advice, most of which is available elsewhere, and not in the illustrated diagrams or inclusion of other pictures. Writers should approach this book with the expectation that it contains useful written advice, and should not expect the fantastical or bizarre images to make it unique in a transformative way.
jasminado's review
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
This book served as an ‘Illustrated Guide to creating imaginative fiction’. It contains everything that could be of possible interest for a writer from inspirations, the ingredients of a good story (narrative design, beginnings & endings, characterization, worldbuilding, to revision and writing exercises. Van der Meer uses examples taken from his own and other books. There are several essays by other authors included, as well as tips and tricks wherever your eyes take you. With this book you also gain online access to even more information.
(Personally, I haven’t used the online access yet at all as I found the information provided in this book are already quite a lot - I’ve been reading this for over a year on-and-off, and to me this is a book that I will open up every once in a while either to re-read certain elements or to do one of the many exercises provided). It was a great read from start to finish.
(Personally, I haven’t used the online access yet at all as I found the information provided in this book are already quite a lot - I’ve been reading this for over a year on-and-off, and to me this is a book that I will open up every once in a while either to re-read certain elements or to do one of the many exercises provided). It was a great read from start to finish.
rbz39's review
4.0
Packed full of useful information and tips for writing, supplemented with plenty of imaginative art to inspire the reader. I took my time with this one both because it was dense but also to get as much out as I could within the first reading. I’m contemplating buying a copy for my own reference since I got this from the library. I don’t think Wonderbook will work for every author, especially since the size is daunting and it wasn’t 100% engaging throughout but I felt prepared to return to the page after reading it and excited to expand my knowledge of speculative fiction.
personalcurio's review
I thought I would enjoy this, but unfortunately I actually find the artwork and interjected modules distracting. The text will often cut abruptly off mid-idea or argument, because the next page is actually a POV essay.
These essays can be interesting, but would be better suited at the start or end of relevant chapters. As the book is laid out now it feels like I have to stop every 3 pages to find out where to pick up the thought and then wonder if I should pause and read the next page, or maybe finish and go back, or maybe...you get the idea.
They also lay out a person's credentials when they are introduced (author, who's work has appeared in such and such review and so-and-so quarterly), which is kind! But is also awkward to repeatedly read.
Love a craft book. This is a pass for me.
These essays can be interesting, but would be better suited at the start or end of relevant chapters. As the book is laid out now it feels like I have to stop every 3 pages to find out where to pick up the thought and then wonder if I should pause and read the next page, or maybe finish and go back, or maybe...you get the idea.
They also lay out a person's credentials when they are introduced (author, who's work has appeared in such and such review and so-and-so quarterly), which is kind! But is also awkward to repeatedly read.
Love a craft book. This is a pass for me.
sawyerbell's review
5.0
Fantastic writing advice accompanied by imagination-stimulating art. Highly recommended for writers of fiction.