The Discworld started out as fantasy, but now it's all real. The seasoned Discworld traveller knows exactly how to get from Madams' Gardens to the Mended Drum (left up Easy Street, right onto Welcome Soap, fork left onto Filigree Street and the Drum is on the left, just opposite the Short Street turn). Travelling around a world so well-defined, but dangerous, without a guide, could be a courageous choice.

Since the last revision to the The Discworld Companion, new areas of the Disc have been explored, new characters discovered. We've trembled under the chandelier at the Ankh-Morpork Opera House, we've flown with vampyres over the mysterious country of Überwald, we've sliced through time with the History Monks and we've marvelled at Mr. Wintler's humorously shaped vegetables.

Stephen Briggs is the Discworld's cartographer, historian and herald. It's rumoured that in certain specialised but nevertheless legal areas he knows even more about the Discworld than Terry Pratchett. Together they have produced a new, revised edition of their best-selling guide to the world's most famous fictional world: its flora and fauna, its outstanding personalities, its customs, its institutions.

Comes complete with illustrations and highlights of Discworld heraldry.

Although I really enjoyed the original Discworld Companion I found it a little repetitive as it seemed to quote almost verbatim from the novels. However, as the blurb indicates, with the Discworld being such a huge, populated place to spend time having some kind of reference tome is a great idea. I'll probably wait until I've read the most recent books before reading, as the last Companion did have a tendency to contain spoilers!