This book is dedicated to the A to Z Challenge bloggers of 2014. I was one of those people! So, though the author and I do not know each other, we have participated in the same (very large) blog hop, and in the same book tour. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review of it.

I enjoyed the book very much. I have a reference book out on a related topic (Preparing to Write Settings That Feel Like Characters), so I know quite a bit about this genre. The A-Zs of Worldbuilding is a very well written and comprehensive book. It's informative and has a strong author voice. And, because of the subject matter, it even covers the importance of diversity. I would recommend it to any writer who is building a world from scratch, and also to those who are writing a story using a setting with which they are not very familiar. The book has a definition of Speculative Fiction because that is the core reader audience.

Some of my favorite parts include:
"Is there any reason why a society would only construct square buildings, or even round ones?"

"The government's agenda is to spread their own versions of, well, everything. They will actively destroy knowledge that contradicts their agenda."
That's so true. It really hit home for me. My parents told me stories like that, how much of the Lenni-Lenape history was taken away.

"Additionally, in some cultures, receiving a name is a rite of passage, and people may change their names at different points in their lives."
This is another quote to which I could relate.

There's also a mention of how ridiculous revealing armor is, something which happens in fantasy, that made me want to high-five the author.

I read this book cover to cover, and will reread it, because it's well done and very useful. I feel the book is an excellent reference tool. I can use it when I'm writing fantasy stories. I feel that it's beneficial to the writing community.