Advertisement

Non-fiction writing in the fields of fantasy and science fiction comes in many forms, most of them familiar to a mainstream audience. There are also non-fiction works in the genres that are fairly unique to the field, to the point of looking like oddities to an outsider. Two recent works of non-fiction, Ancient Rockets by Kage Baker, and A Dictionary Of Made-Up Languages by Stephen D. Rogers are good examples of two different types of non-fiction, both devoted to increasing our appreciation of the fantastic.

During the last year of her life, Kage Baker wrote a series of reviews, first published on tor.com, covering all the science fiction and fantasy she could find from the silent film era. To anyone who is only aware of classics like La voyage dans la lune, that's the one with the image of a bullet-like spaceship in the man on the moon's eye, the sheer number and range of the films reviewed here is astonishing. The next revelation is Baker's own sense of humor, which shines through in almost every piece in the collection. Ever since the heyday of Siskel & Ebert the standard for good film reviewing has been to be both knowledgeable and witty, pointed in criticism and effusive in praise, with the understanding that experiments that fail are sometimes still worth a look. Kage Baker's reviews have all those qualities, plus a genuine affection for these early films and where they led. Each review also includes tips on where to find the films, making Ancient Rockets a highly entertaining and useful guide for anyone interested in the origins of fantasy and SF in film.

With A Dictionary of Made-Up Languages, we're in a different kind of non-fiction, a reference work devoted to a fictional subject. These kinds of things appear from time to time, The Dune Encyclopedia, Barlowe's Guide To Extraterrestrials, and all the various Star Trek technical manuals and spaceship guides are good examples, and they're a reflection of reader's desires to know more about what lies behind a favorite book, movie to TV series. At their best, they also serve as a look in to how this thing is done, and can serve as valuable references for those inclined to take a shot at doing it themselves.

As with Ancient Rockets, the first impression from A Dictionary of Made-Up Languages is that there are a lot more of these than the average person is aware of. There are over a hundred languages listed in the dictionary, from full-blown invented languages intended to be spoken by humans like Esperanto and Lojban to languages invented for alien species and imaginary cultures. Each entry includes the source of the language, its derivation and characteristics, examples of words and use, and. where possible, a translation of either The Lord's Prayer or The Babel Text. Rogers fills out the entries with quotes and observations on the use and meaning of language. The dictionary concludes with sections on creating your own language and a guide to language games. That makes the dictionary not only an entertaining reference, but also a manual for writers or anyone else engaged in creating an imaginary world.

Non-fiction works like Ancient Rockets and A Dictionary Of Made-Up Languages play into our desire to discuss and judge the works of each other's imagination, and feed our curiosity as to just how something is done in the first place. Whether read as entertainment or used simply as reference works, both of these books are worthwhile additions to the ever-growing collection of factual guides to fictional subjects.

Reviewer Greg L. Johnson keeps looking for a language he can call his own. Greg's reviews have appeared in publications ranging from The Minneapolis Star-Tribune to the The New York Review of Science Fiction.