History Literature / TheToughGuideToFantasyland

* MagicAIsMagicA: It's stated the Rules of Magic rarely change, but some secrets often will be resolve to have a nasty surprise later on a "Tour". Additionally, usually at least three different kinds of magic will exist, all with their distinct Rules.

* FunctionalMagic: A number of different kinds are discussed, including a [[HermeticMagic ceremonial sort]], mental (which is like PsychicPowers), SympatheticMagic, [[EquivalentExchange costly]] magic (at times gained by [[DealWithTheDevil demonic pacts) and [[MagicMusic music]], plus more.

* AffablyEvil: Bad kings will generally be very polite (until of course they show their true colors on their generous offers to the heroes being refused). In fact, the more polite toward the heroes a king is, the more likely they're bad. The more polite in general the worse kings turn out to be.

* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: "Turncoat" is solely defined as someone who turns ''against'' the protagonist. People joining them are only doing what's right. Along with this, the {{barbarian hero}} is described rescuing a female slave from being kept in a harem, then has sex as a reward before abandoning them in the middle of nowhere (i.e. using them for sex much like their master would), yet remains a "hero" to people writing such a character.

* {{Bishonen}}: The "gay mage" tour companion.

* OurElvesAreBetter: They are, as per always, immortal (and always youthful), and wiser, more ethereal, more magical, better-looking and just generally better than humans. They have been in decline since humans turned up, and now most of them are passing West -- which here means they have been moving to the American Southwest, where they [[Creator/MercedesLackey wear punk clothing and ride motorcycles]].

* {{Scienceville}}: The City of Wizards, a coalition of good wizards gathering to live, study and debate together. It's usually a decent place to visit - give or take a bit of magical weirdness involving perspective and distances. The inhabitants can characterized as aloof AllPowerfulBystander-types, quarrelsome human wizards, or collegiate wizards who never agree on anything.

This piece of MetaFiction by Creator/DianaWynneJones [[AllMythsAreTrue pretends that pretty much all of the fantasy stories ever told -- well, most]] [[StrictlyFormula modern genre fantasies]], [[AllMythsAreTrue anyway -- took place in a place called "Fantasyland"]], and that the creators of the stories are the [[LiteraryAgentHypothesis "Management"]] who arrange for the audience to go on "tours". With this setup, an extensive list of fantasy tropes is presented, as if to a tourist visiting another country, and thoroughly {{deconstruct|ion}}ed. It also pretends that the stories are statistically representative of "Fantasyland", and thus concludes that the most common type of meal is stew, that cities are composed mainly of alleyways, and that the ecology and economy of Fantasyland are severely screwed up.

* BornIntoSlavery: Some kinds of [[AC:Slaves, Female]] of the second type, "Beautiful young women [...] Few seem to have been born to slavery."

* RomanticSpoonfeeding: In the entry for [[AC:Yogurt]]:
--> Yogurt is served [...] when you are raveneously hungry and would ''murder'' for a nice filling bowl of Stew. Nevertheless, you smile politely and make appreciative noises, because the person serving it to you is an attractive member of the opposite sex and, after the meal (if such it can be called), you plan to take a [[AC:bath]].

** [[AC:Slave, Female]], when discussing kinds 1 and 2:

* ThudAndBlunder: The Guide naturally discusses some of the Thud and Blunder tropes. In particular, barbarians and evil overlords make several appearances.

* AssassinOutclassin: This is the topic of the entry on Assassins -- that the tourist is attacked in an inn by a [[TheWorfEffect supposedly]] expert Assassin but manages to overpower and kill them, and the Assassin goes to his death complaining about the Tourist breaking the [[WeirdTradeUnion rules]].

* BeautyEqualsGoodness: A person's character can be easily discerned by their attractiveness.

* ButNotTooWhite: A character's goodness can be judged by their tan.

* PurpleEyes: In its dissertation on [[ColourCodedForYourConvenience color-coding]] in Fantasyland, the Guide says people with violet eyes may be royalty, or just destined to lead "uncomfortably interesting lives".

* LawOfConservationOfDetail: This law, applied clumsily, is responsible for many of the book's entries.

* FantasyWorldMap: One shows up in the front-piece of the book. [[spoiler: Take a look at the map ''upside down''. Run the place-names through an anagram generator while you're at it.]] In the book proper, various entries describe and satirize common staples of these maps, such as {{inland sea}}s, nations only being marked with their names without any borders visible anywhere, and so on.

* BornIntoSlavery: Somekind of [[AC:Slaves, Female]] of the second type, "Beautiful young women [...] Few seem to have been born to slavery."

* SexSlave: Different for male and female slaves:

* SexyDiscretionShot: Under VIRGINS:

--> '''ETERNAL QUEST''': See "'''QUEST, ETERNAL'''"
--> '''QUEST, ETERNAL''': See "'''ETERNAL QUEST'''"