And 20% more predictable than all other references |
The Elements of Harmony makes a very good first impression: it's a quite solidly-built hardback that is satisfying to hold. The cover design is the perfect choice, too: at least, it is once you've removed the slip cover sporting the inevitable but rather unoriginal "20% cooler" reference. The book was designed by Charles Kreloff, and he can certainly give himself a pat on the back. This is the sort of thing you want to start with when you're desperately hoping for a great tie-in, rather than a cheap cash-in.
What are you, a dictionary? |
The Elements of Harmony contains ten chapters, dealing with characters, places and concepts — in particular the book's namesake artefacts, which deservedly get a chapter all to themselves. After an episode guide comes a full lyrics listing for the show's songs (oddly excluding the main theme!) and finally a short chapter about MLP's wide appeal. This isn't entirely successful because it sometimes seems to be trying rather too hard to avoid talking about bronies: actually, the B-word isn't used once in the book, surely a conscious decision.
The book's one and only glimpse of Derpy: unnamed and eyes closed |
Sprinkled moderately through the book are little nuggets of information from Lauren Faust and the show's current creative team. These are well worth reading, and although some are straightforward (McCarthy's cutie mark would be a typewriter) some are real eye-openers: who knew that an early draft of "The Cutie Pox" included a Scootaloo/Sweetie Belle rap? Also included are a number of pieces of concept art, mostly drawn by Faust. We've seen many of them before, but they do make a nice inclusion in a book like this.
If this section doesn't interest you, you're in the wrong fandom |
The least interesting part of The Elements of Harmony is also the longest: the inevitable episode guide. This allots a two-page spread for each of the 65 eps we've seen so far, each of which get a potted write-up and a couple of pictures, usually one screenshot and one vector. Oddly, the pilot is listed as The Magic of Friendship rather than the more familiar Friendship is Magic. I can only assume that this was done to avoid confusion with the name of the show itself, but I don't recall ever seeing the episodes given this new title before. Mind you, "Art of the Dress" is listed as "Stitching it Together" in the lyrics section, so what do I know?
This seemed an appropriate choice for a book review |
It's not always entirely clear who this book is aimed at. As already mentioned, here's not a single use of the word "brony", and nor do we hear about cons and the like even in the short chapter dealing with FiM's wide appeal. On the other hand, the reading level of the book is way above that of the show's target audience, making use of words like "dysfunctional" — though to be fair, the show itself consistently aims high in these matters too. My own view is that this is very much a book for the older fanbase, but that Snider (well, probably Hasbro really) shied away from making that too obvious.
Probably not Fluttershy |
Yays
- Very nicely designed and satisfying to hold
- Real nuggets from Faust and the show team
- Well illustrated, with well-reproduced drawings
- A mostly reliable reference guide for checking facts
- Sensibly priced
- A few surprisingly sloppy errors, especially in the episode guide
- Not a real "behind the scenes" book
- The song lyrics section feels a bit bare
this is great!
ReplyDeleteOh, I agree: it's an excellent book. Every MLP fan should have it. :)
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