Books
Harry Potter: The Creature Vault Review
Author: Jody Revenson
Harry Potter fans feeling starved of late can take solace in this lavishly designed book devoted to creatures, crawlies and all manner of things that go bump, hop, gallop, straddle and creep in the day or night.
The book seeks to guide you from one form of being to the next with its chapters that divide the creatures up. These you will find are devoted to Forest Dwellers, Lake Dwellers, Sky Dwellers, Trespassers, Shape-Shifters, The Working World, Dark Forces, Companions and The Green House.
Within each of these chapters there are a variety of beasts – each presented with various photo designs of the actual creature effects from the films, paintings, sketches and figures as well as accompanying text.
What is admirable about the book is that it relies heavily on sketch designs of each creature. There are some, but few, actual shots from the films, or even behind the scenes shots of them. These seem to be only used where necessary which keeps the book its own entity which makes for a much more pleasant, and dare we say magical read for anyone looking to explore what has been created here.
With its lovely purple imprinted design cover this makes for quite the eye candy. The page background design keeps in with a fairy tale look with its leafy imprint, and keep your eyes peeled as you leaf through the Owl section for an extra little surprise within. There is even a removable “Beastiary” poster included as well.
This one isn’t likely to extend much beyond the Potter fan-base, but it does its job just fine for those who do decide to pick a copy up.
Steven Hurst