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Book Review of The Adventure Time Encyclopaedia: Inhabitants, Lore, Spells, and Ancient Crypt Warnings of the Land of Ooo

Dex1138 avatar reviewed on + 26 more book reviews


I was very excited when I first heard this book was being made. I've been a huge AT fan since the show began and was hoping the book would be more like an actual encyclopedia of the Land of Ooo. I didn't get what I wanted but it's still pretty math!

I think I would have much preferred the book be written by a scholar/historian living in Ooo. At times Abadeer's personal point of view gets boring and repetitive. This is especially evident in the A-Z mini-bio section where some characters are described simply by how useless Abadeer thinks they are and not giving any useful info about them. Also, his choice of vocabulary will have many kids frequently running to their parents to find out what his words mean. That can also be a plus for teaching new words, though.

The sections I enjoyed most were the ones not written by Abadeer or sections where he isn't talking about the characters. BMO's manual is weird, but just the right amount. Ice King's hand drawn fan fiction and character cards are spot on. Abadeer's Novelty Spells and Curses is reminiscent of the ads you'd find in old comic books. Also, having Finn, Jake and Marceline's comments in the margins is pretty funny.

The truth is, if you're an AT fan you've probably already bought this book. While I would have liked a comprehensive guide book to Ooo with more detail, I think this book would be especially great for kids (as long as you don't mind helping them with the ten cent words) and fans that came to the show later who might not know as much about the setting.