Book excerpt: This is the first comprehensive encyclopedia of the fantasy field. It has proved to be the definitive guide to the genre, offering an exciting new analysis of this highly diverse and hugely popular sphere of literature, from precursors such as Shakespeare and Dante, through Lewis Carroll, George MacDonald and L. Frank Baum to J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and their modern successors, like Ursula Le Guin and Stephen R. Donaldson. With over 4,000 entries, and more than 1 million words, it covers every aspect of fantasy - in literature, films, television, opera, art and comics. Written and compiled by a team of editors with unparalleled collective experience in the field, it is an invaluable reference work not only for fans of the fantasy genre, but also for anyone interested in how elements of the fantastic are used in the imaginative arts.