The House That Ivy Built Encyclopedia

Introduction


The House That Ivy Built is not your usual fantasy book. There aren’t any dragons or wizards or magic to be found here, and no one in this book is a dwarf, a hobbit, or an ELF (thank-you-very-much). It’s set in modern times, not the middle ages or some approximation thereof, and it does not contain any great archetypal quest or ultimate showdown between good and evil. It does, however, have one thing in common with other fantasies, and that is a wealth of details.

It’s an established fact. Fantasy books are full of details. Whether it be the in-depth descriptions of terrain or the complex multiple languages spoken by its characters, the span of many different worlds or the dozens of unusual critters, fantasy books are carved out of imagination and enriched with a lush flavor all their own. Fantasy is a successful genre because it appeals to creative people by making the unusual so undeniably real.

This book is an encyclopedia designed to gather up some of those details for the curious and lay them out in an appealing format. In these pages, you will find facts and figures, interesting trivia, diagrams, lists, extra reading material, and, of course, pictures. The text may paint its own pictures, but there is no substitute for a visual aid. With these extra features, you may just find that you understand the world of Ivy a little better, and enjoy the books more because of it. Questions will be answered as well as raised, and the details will find a home.

The House That Ivy Built is mostly a character-driven series, so you will find that most of the details contained herein are somehow character-related. Plots, places, and history are touched upon, but it is the characters who carry this story, so it is mostly the characters who get the spotlight. It has been said that even the first book in the series “reads like a sequel,” and that is because the first book was simply a starting point for a story, not the starting point for the characters’ existence. Their lives began at their births, not with the stroke of a pen in a different world, and each character had been living for quite a while before the story began to tell of it. As a result, each is a complete person with a history—a history that is not necessarily important to the plot of any story. Nevertheless, trivia enthusiasts and fans of particular characters may enjoy getting to hear more about the characters’ backgrounds, in addition to seeing their attributes laid out in an organized fashion.

This encyclopedia also functions as something of a “series bible,” as it gives plot points. Though it includes very little text from the novels, these timelines and story arc descriptions do contain spoilers, so it is recommended that the reader skip those sections if unfamiliar with the story while still being desirous of a surprise. Beyond that, it is a character-oriented collection of fun facts as well as an organization of the Mess That Is THTIB. You will see much that you know and learn much that you didn’t know, and hopefully you will enjoy the original art and extra material. The encyclopedia’s first edition contains information about THTIB Books 1-4, as well as information from the series prequel known as “Book 0” and from the in-progress THTIB 5.

Here’s hoping you don’t get lost.


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