Wahoooo!! And author finally did it!

[Jess]

I know I've mentioned this before, I know I'm not the only one who's wished, hoped dreamed and then been frustrated by the fact that this does not exist. Finally finally! An author has added a glossary to the back of their book, With the definitions to explain all their made up words. I am so so excited right now! I hope more authors jump on this bandwagon because how many times you read an amazing book but have the hardest time figuring out what some of the words they're using mean you kind of get a rough idea but do you ever wonder if what you're thinking really is what they meant was that just me?

I don't know if any of you have ever read the book tank born by Karen Sandler if you have not I highly recommend it. I went to the library tonight to pick up the second book awakening that my library had just ordered in for me, I was doing my little flip through because there was some funny ink on the corner of the pages, And what did I find at the back of the book but a glossary. I am super excited to get clear definitions of some of the things I sort of wondered about as I was reading the first book.

Has anyone else read noticed or heard of authors who have added glossaries to the back of the book? I think this trend should grow in popularity very very quickly. I also would like pronunciation Guides. I have a hard enough time figuring out words that I'm familiar with let alone trying to figure out how to pronounce a made-up word. That's all thanks for reading my post I just had to share I was too excited to just keep it to myself it's really late here so everybody else in my house is asleep and they really don't care as much as I do LOL.

[Simon]

Finally? My ancient copy of A Clockwork Orange has such a thing (although I'm pretty sure Burgess didn't originally include one and I don't think it is needed), and if my memory worked better I'm sure I could think of even older examples....

[Jess]

Maybe there have been cases in the past, but I have yet to come across one. I noticed in The last year that the books I'm reading have a large amount of made up language. It gets confusing at times and I wish every time I read one of these books that there was a glossary to help me along. I was ecstatic to find a book that included a glossary.

[Bec]

It's not uncommon for fantasy books to have a glossary. Off the top of my head... Trudi Canavan often has glossaries in her books because she invents new animals, food/drinks and slang in the process of worldbuilding.

Similarly Tamora Pierce took advantage of a glossary in Terrier and its sequels because they have a lot more made-up slang than any of her other books.

The Naming and its sequels even have a pronunciation guide for the foreign names included therein.

Oh, and I think Eragon and its sequels might have had a glossary or translation index at the back.

Honestly I think it's rare that a glossary is necessary, because the author usually contrives to explain what their made-up words mean in order to avoid alienating their audience, and most of the time these made-up words and references aren't really important to the story anyway.

Also it seems to be quite unfashionable to fill a story with a lot of made up words. Take this XKCD comic, for example:

I expect that's because it's confusing or pretentious and often unnecessary, and it's very easy to overdo it. Perhaps a little of the stigma is due to amateur writers attempting to copy Tolkien (one of the most famous writers who incorporated conlangs into their works) or other famous franchises like Star Trek that sometimes include gratuitous alien words.

There are some related tropes that might prove interesting reading:
Call A Rabbit A Smeerp
You are the Translated Foreign Word
Hold Your Hippogriffs
Pardon my Klingon
Microts (fictional units of measurement)
Thieves' Cant
Future Slang

[Dee]

I see it quite often in paranormal romances/urban fantasy

[A book away from an episode of hoarders]

I'm pretty sure that J.R. Ward has this in all of her Black Dagger Brotherhood books, not that I needed it.

I'm good with context clues. :)

[Library Lady 📚]

I love the comic! I tend to agree with it. It would really take me out of a book to have to look up words all the time.

I've read a few with glossaries, but they were mostly for comic effect... Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging is one.

Also read it for a contemporary with a lot of British slang, though it's probably only in the American edition Lady: My Life as a Bitch.

[Aaron]

Glossaries in the back of books.

Basically every David Weber book does this, with a quick summary of every character and rank/title this is important because in a series like Safehold I believe there are around 1000 named characters(it is well known that his more prolific fans on sites and real life have had a character named after them) and probably around 100 fairly important ones. I think in the latest book the glossary was around 70-80 pages long.

[LauraW]

Foundling

Nearly half of this book is an Explicarium.

[Scott]

Anne McCaffrey's Pern novels had a "dragondex" in the back which included a glossary, list of characters, and other supplemental materials.

[Lou]

Some of the books by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller have glossaries. I don't know which ones off the top of my head, though.

[SparksofEmber]

The Crowded Shadows has a small one in the back.

[Steelwhisper]

All the Deryni books had a glossary of magical expressions, towns, names, characters etc. in the back. Some also had genealogy and explanations of how the magical ability got inherited.

[Karen]

Jonathan Stroud does it in his Lockwood & Co. series.

The first book is: The Screaming Staircase

I don't think he really needed it though. All his made up terminology is pretty understandable.

One book that was sooo hard to get through in terms of the made up lingo is Red Rising. My goodness, that book is so confusing at the beginning!

Doesn't G.R.R. Martin provide a breakdown of the Houses in the back of the books in the Asoiaf series?

[Gianna ⚔️]

Doesn't G.R.R. Martin provide a breakdown of the Houses in the back of the books in the Asoiaf series?
Yes!
Also The Silmarillion has an extensive catalogue of characters, maps, family trees etc, and the appendix on The Return of the King includes history, timelines and details on language and the various calendars across the cultures.

[Baked]

Not exactly the same, but many of Rick Riordan's books have glossaries of the gods and terms from the ancient cultures. As well as any Latin, Greek, Egyptian, and most likely Norse (though I have not yet read Magnus Chase) words.

[C.]

Lena wrote: "I love the comic! I tend to agree with it. It would really take me out of a book to have to look up words all the time.

I've read a few with glossaries, but they were mostly for comic effect... [b..."

Loved, loved, loved the Brit YA Romantic Comedy/Coming of age~ "Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging"! That included British teen slang.

I'm afraid I would not be interested in reading a book with a 'made-up' language!

[Karen]

C. wrote: "Lena wrote: "I love the comic! I tend to agree with it. It would really take me out of a book to have to look up words all the time.

I've read a few with glossaries, but they were mostly for comic..."

Did you know that the author of the series passed away very recently? I was a little sad when I heard because I grew up reading some of those books.

[Whovian27]

Ella Enchanted has one

[Jess]

I have never read Ella enchanted I might have to add that to my list thank you

[Wendy]

Glossaries are nice for some world building or books set in a foreign country with unfamiliar words/phrases. However, if I need a glossary because there are so many people in the book, you lose me. Especially if the character names are made-up names and look the same,

[Jess]

I agree I don't like books that require foot notes. I like story's that flow along without much thought.

[Wendy]

Several translated novels or historical based novels have notations or exclamations at the bottom of a page. It helps me understand the story.

[Deanne]

This is a little off the topic, but I'm wondering what folks think about chapter recaps at the end of a book?

[Jess]

I don't think I have ever run into that.

[The Lady Anna]

Watership Down has an explanation of rabbit words!

[Kat]

I read so many books that have appendixes and glossaries and whatnot, I first thought you were kidding when I read your post.

It seems to be more common in genres you haven't read much up to now, perhaps? I read a lot of fantasy, where maps and glossaries are common, and historic fiction, where also maps, and family trees and glossaries of historic events are common.

What genres do you normally read?