I just finished reading Stephen Slater's 2023 work,
The Complete Book of Heraldry, and it was quite a beast to get through!
I say that because this book was cumbersome, not so much in terms of the subject matter as in its physical construction. Being just over eleven inches tall and almost nine inches wide, you wouldn't think this hardcover was too unwieldy. But its two hundred fifty-six pages are all glossy, which makes them far heavier than you'd think. Throw in that it has one of those dust jackets that's not attached to the book, and so slides up the covers when you're holding it, and I found myself repeatedly having to wrestle with this thing as I was trying to read it.
I swear, it's going to be books like this that get me back into the gym.
As far as the subject matter goes, however, I feel confident asserting that this book has no equal. While I haven't read Shaun Hately's
A Guide to Heraldry for Roleplayers (affiliate link), I can't imagine that it—or any other work on heraldry—approaches what's here. Even putting aside the sheer number of pages devoted to the subject, and the staggering number of illustrations and photographs, the fact that the author is himself a Council Member of the Heraldry Society of England (and apparently has written several other works on heraldry, as well as lectured) serves to assure prospective readers of his expertise in this field. As one point, Slater actually uses
his own crest as an example of the various components of heraldic symbology!
Nor does this book limit itself to a mere dry recitation of facts. Slater opens with a long section about the history and development of heraldic devices, overviews the various ways in which they're displayed, talks about the professionals (both ancient and modern) who oversee their design and assignment, and that's just the beginning. Then we get the breakdown of the various aspects of a particular design, including esoteric subjects such as hatchments (i.e. funerary presentations of heraldry), alterations for illegitimate children, the rules of how heraldic symbols were altered for a woman who was married versus one who stayed single, etc. Nor is that all, as then there's a long section covering the heraldic traditions of various countries and how they differ (which are mini-history lessons in and of themselves). It's an incredibly vast amount of information, most of which can be hard to keep straight as more terms and definitions are introduced (thankfully, there's a glossary in the back of the book).
All of which is to say that this isn't a casual read, but the book has a saving grace that makes it much easier to handle: the layout.
Arranged in a format that
Shadowdark fans will find familiar, this book uses a two-page spread for each subject that it covers. There are several instances where this isn't enough space, so the book uses a four- or even six-page spread, but these are distinctly in the minority. It helps to break up what would otherwise be an overwhelming amount of information into a much more manageable series of smaller, clearly-delineated chunks.
I should also mention the incredible amount of illustrations and photographs here. Virtually all of these are presented as examples of something in the text, and each has a caption denoting what it presents. These are ubiquitous to the point where, if I recall correctly, there's not a single page without some sort of picture on it.
I'll close with a personal anecdote: I bought this book just shy of a year ago at Ollie's, back when I (and many other gamers) were hunting for discount D&D products. It's funny how it always seems to come back to gaming in the end.
