The Mythic Bestiary features creatures from folklore and mythology globally, with illustrations and detailed descriptions. It separates them into three classifications: beasts of the air, earth, and water.

The bestiary has some very exotic beasts and references from authors like Pliny the Elder and Jorge Luis Borges. ( )

Review by Stuart Mayne

The human mind is a strange and wonderful beast in and of itself. Story-tellers the world over have, for millennia, brought to life a cornucopia of bizarre and terrifying monsters to keep us awake at night and to ensure our good behaviour towards our relatives and siblings. Tony Allen has once again (he is author of other well researched general histories) presented the reader with a book of depth and interest.
Expertly divided into elemental sections, Allen begins each bestial entry with five short and basic headings to give the unfamiliar reader the low-down: appearance, size, lifespan, powers and habitat are enough to introduce each beast. Then comes a detailed history and explanation of the beast, accompanied by excellent illustrations. This is an easy book to dip in and out of, and to use as research material, both for strange and unfamiliar creatures but also for what each creature can highlight in the human psyche. After all, mythological beasts are as much psychological metaphors, as gatekeepers on a hero’s “road of trials”.