Fact-filled accompaniment to the TV series Lost. It's nice to have some of the connections implied in the series made explicit, and the authors try really hard to make that mess of an ending make sense. They even go along with introduction-writers Damon Lindelhof & Carlton Cuse in pretending that There Was A Plan All Along, And It All Made Sense.

There wasn't, it didn't, and Demon & Curse's smirky “If you're looking for answers, you won't find 'em here!” introduction just grates.

Needed some copy-editing—lot's of sentences missing a word here or there or repeated sentences. Irritating. ( )

Well, I can't believe I finally finished this encyclopedia. One more thing to cross off my bucket list...mwahahaha.

The [b:Lost Encyclopedia|7857480|Lost Encyclopedia|Tara Bennett|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1276568902s/7857480.jpg|10996291] is a book for that hardcore LOST fan...which from clever deductive reasoning, you can guess that I'm one of them. It even comes with a test! There are a number of errors in the book, both grammatical, and relating to the mythology of the show. Although these errors aren't so numerous, they are enough to be noticed by any real fan of the show and be a bit annoying. But the good thing is if you realize that there are incorrect facts as soon as you read it, then that will pretty much tell you if you are indeed a true fan!

There were a few revelations in the book that weren't necessarily revealed in the show, at least not directly. But nothing that's too mind blowing. On the other hand, there were still a few mysteries that I wanted cleared up, and I unfortunately hoped that this book would provide those answers. Um...no.

And don't you dare call me crazy for reading an encyclopedia about LOST, of all things. First of all, it took three months. This is a behemoth of a book! Also, the show (and consequently this book) has bountiful literary merits, and can lead to hours of discussion if you wanted to talk about it with me. Hey...people have degrees in Literature where all they do is analyze the shh* out of books, and I believe this is no different.

Anyway, I'd recommend this book to any die-hard fan of the show. Otherwise, I'll keep it on my coffee table as a conversation starter (or maybe mood killer?).

LOST ( )

I've been dipping in and out of this for months, and, lo, I have finally finished with it!

This is pretty much exactly what the title might lead you to expect: an encyclopedic guide to the various characters, places, and events of the TV show Lost. I, like a lot of people, got pretty hooked on this show, and I was less put off than many by the ending, even if it didn't remotely come close to tying everything up with a neat little bow. So I thought this might be a fun way to revisit the world of Lost for a bit. And, while I wasn't foolish enough to expect this volume to provide any answers that the show didn't or to make any more sense out of anything, I did think perhaps it might provide some interesting little "hey, did you notice?" trivia and maybe draw some interesting connections that I'd missed or forgotten. But, while there was a little of that, there really wasn't much, and the text was mostly not particularly well-written or interesting. It also wasn't terribly well organized, with some characters being listed under their first names and some under their last names, without a whole lot of rhyme or reason It does look really pretty, though. It's a big, heavy, oversized book with lots and lots of color pictures on nicely laid-out pages. If you're a die-hard Lost fan who really wants something to look nice on your coffee table while proclaiming your love for the show, this is probably the book for you. Otherwise, with the much more detailed and interesting Lostpedia available online for free, I'm not really sure this one is worth it, no matter how much of a fan you are. It's certainly not worth the hefty $45 cover price, which is probably why I never did see it selling anywhere for more than about half that. ( )

This massive tome contains nearly everything there is to know about Lost, as it should since it's from the show's official bible. It's well-organized and the high quality photos are a treasure. And yet, there's very little here that isn't already available from watching the show in its entirety. I was hoping for a little more background or a little more history from Lost's more interesting mysteries. ( )

Okay - I fully admit it - I am a die hard Lost fan. But, I never watched it on television. (Lots of channel switching, avoiding articles and covering my eyes and ears...) Instead, I always asked for the latest season on DVD for Christmas. And Christmas 2010 brought the final chapter to this intricate addictive show.

But - I will be starting from the beginning again - yes one of the few shows I will re watch. And accompanying me this time will be the Lost Encyclopedia.

It's the ultimate reference for fans - a 400 page coffee table book filled with over 1500 glossy colour photos and very, very detailed information...

Each and every character that appeared, however briefly, is profiled - including all the passengers on the original flight. Some of them, I didn't even realized appeared on all seasons, such as Cindy the flight attendant. Of course, the main characters are covered in great detail, their connections on and off island and just about anything connected to their story. So many connections that I had forgotten or overlooked on my first watch.

It's not just the people covered either. Each of the Dharma stations is profiled as well as the other settings such as the camps. As someone who works in a library, I was always fascinated by what Sawyer was reading (I think my favourite was Are You There God, It's Me Margaret by Judy Blume) and the book references. All covered, as is the music, the Dharma Initiative food brand, the animals, the nicknames Sawyer used for everyone, the meaning of the hieroglyphics at the temples and of course those famous numbers. (Can you list them?) And soooo much more! Lot of obscure minutia to be found - the ingredients for those Apollo candy bars include yak butter and mouse toes.

Quoting the executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse:

"What you saw on television, the show itself, was the ten percent of the iceberg above the water. But the majority of our time in the writer's room was spent constructing the part below it. The details. The timelines. The intricate backstories of the passengers of Oceanic 815, not to mention the people who inhabited the island long before them. Then we put them altogether and let what happened, happen.

Now that the show is over, there has been great curiosity in our process...a desire to see those details in 'offical' form....And so now you hold the first and only official LOST ENCYCLOPEDIA."

Definitely the definitive guide to own for fans of Lost. And now if you'll excuse me, Season 1, Disc 1 is waiting..... ( )