I posted about this a while ago on r/books, but was hoping to find some more suggestions. I don’t know if anyone else is into this, but I am fascinated by a genre I have loosely dubbed
“fictional guidebooks.” These are guidebooks/manuals/journals set in fictional universes, aka diegetic text. One of my favorites is The Jedi Path, which is basically a textbook for the Jedi in Star Wars, or Journal 3 which is a guide to the creatures and anomalies of the Gravity Falls universe. I prefer the ones which are canon in their respective universes, but there are also those which are just non-diegetic guides for fans like those for the Tolkien universe. I am looking to find and collect as many of these as I can, including any other books that exist in-universe, so if you know of one please put it in the comments so myself and others can explore this fun ‘genre’!
by account_name4
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The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynne Jones is sort of a guide to stereotype fantasy trope worlds. She also did The Dark Lord of Derkholm, which is set in a world that follows those conventions on purpose as a tourist trap