For the purposes of price comparison (especially for Canadian researchers),
you can also check out the similar listings in my Canadian library.
Think of this library as your source for further research into the varied continuities that have spawned the many timelines linked from my own site, if you wish to know more about those worlds and those histories.
The library is divided by medium, much the same way as the site that spawned it, with clearer subdivisions here for a few series with a great deal of source material. As such, you can peruse the categories being offered:
The Wish List provides reference material for series from every media category which I hope will produce an online timeline in the near future.
At the top of each category is The Bandwagon, a space reserved for those titles related to said category which are currently at the forefront of public attention--the most obvious, the most popular, for those of us who just want to jump on...the bandwagon.
Alternately, you can also search for what you want:
The Dictionary of Imaginary Places: The Newly Updated and Expanded Classic (hardcover), by Alberto Manguel and Gianni Guadalupi. What my site is to fictional history, this book is to fictional geography. More than that, it helped inspire the style of my site and its serious treatment of the subject matter at hand.
The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future, by Michael Okuda, Denise Okuda, and Doug Drexler. This is the most recent edition to date (published in October 1999) of the Okudas' definitive guide to the Star Trek universe.
Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual, by Rick Sternbach and Michael Okuda. Written as a guide to the workings of the Enterprise-D, I've always liked this book because it is written as if it came from the world of Star Trek.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual, by Herman Zimmerman, Rick Sternbach, and Doug Drexler. This more recent work does the same thing as a guide to DS9 and its nearby neighbours, as well as giving details about the Dominion War.
Tales of the Slayer, Vol. I Into each generation, a Slayer is born...and this anthology tells the stories of a number of Slayers from past generations.
Tales of the Slayer, Vol. II Like the first volume, this anthology offers various stories featuring Vampire Slayers of the past.
Fray, by Joss Whedon, takes the Buffyverse even farther forward with the story of future Slayer Melaka Fray.
Sunnydale High Yearbook, by Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder. I particularly like this book because it seems to come straight out of the Buffyverse...it is, literally, a surprisingly complete yearbook for the Scooby Gang's senior year of high school.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Monster Book, by Christopher Golden, Stephen R. Bisette, and Thomas E. Sniegoski. This essentially serves as a Buffy bestiary, which is greatly useful for a series that is defined by its monsters.
Firefly: The Official Companion (Volume TWo), which also includes the full shooting scripts and many other details for the episodes from "Jaynestown" through "Objects in Space."
Recruited: An Alias Prequel, by Lynn Mason, is the first in a series of prequel novels, telling the story of how Sydney Bristow was first recruited into SD-6.
The development of the "novel for television," Babylon 5, has been detailed in a series of five books by Jane Killick--one per season--each of which carries the title given to the season it deals with:
Jem: The Complete First and Second Seasons are available on DVD, showcasing what a surprisingly coherent and complex animated drama it was. Amongst other things, this set includes a detailed production bible, offering an array of information about the world of the series.
Transformers: The Ultimate Guide, by Simon Furman, also provides a wealth of material on one of the better animated series of the 1980's, including maps of Cybertron and details on the major wars in the history of the Transformers.
The most thorough guide to The X-Files is a series of books published under the collective banner The Official Guide to the X-Files. These books do far more than simply offering episode synopses, providing many background details about the world of the show which aren't easily visible onscreen throughout the series. Each book was published as the series progressed:
There is a plethora of books out there related to Star Wars, of course, dealing with almost every conceivable aspect of the movie series and its various spinoffs. Here, I've tried to include those that are the best guides to the history and internal workings of the Star Wars Universe.
A Guide to the Star Wars Universe (3rd Edition), by Bill Slavicsek. The previous edition of this work is often considered definitive in the study of Star Wars pseudohistory. (For one, it was the origin of the BSW4/ASW4 dating system now used by historians of things that never were.) This latest edition incorporates information through The Phantom Menace.
Star Wars: The Essential Chronology, by Kevin J. Anderson and Daniel Wallace, would seem to be perfect for listing here, but I don't like the narrative format they chose very much because it is (quite deliberately) lacking in specifics.
Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary, by Dr David West Reynolds, James Luceno, and Ryder Windham, covers all six live-action feature films in detail. Archaeologist Reynolds studies the Star Wars Universe in the Visual Dictionaries as if it were a complete culture from another place and time...which is right in keeping with the goals of this site. If you prefer to look at episodes separately, however, the individual volumes are also available:
The Godfather DVD Collection, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The description of the various features on this release of Coppola's masterpiece includes the promise of a Godfather Timeline.
James Bond: The Secret World of 007, by Alastair Dougall, with illustrations by Roger Stewart. Although James Bond timelines are to be found in the Books section of my site, this details the world of the cinematic James Bond, in a similar style to the Star Wars Visual Dictionaries listed above.
With the filmed adaptations of The Fellowship of the Ring,The Two Towers, and The Return of the King now out on DVD, you can visit The Lord of the Rings Store at Amazon.com for a wide variety of merchandise related to the films and the fantasy classic that spawned them.
J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth has been expounded upon in so many ways, it is no surprise that any number of works relating to the inner workings of that realm have been written by Tolkien and his successors. Despite the relative lack of fictional timelines online, there is certainly no shortage of written material on the subject.
By far the most definitive guide to this world is The History of Middle-earth, the twelve-volume series by J.R.R. Tolkien's son and literary executor, Christopher Tolkien, who undertook an epic task of his own by bringing together his father's unpublished stories and notes on Middle-earth to greatly expand what we know of this world.
The Book of Lost Tales 1 begins the story of Aelfwine's voyage to the Lonely Isle and the true history of the Elves revealed to him there.
The Book of Lost Tales 2 continues these early accounts, as well as providing background information on the Elvish languages.
The Lays of Beleriand centres on two crucial stories of Middle-earth, The Lay of the Children of Húrin and The Lay of Leithian.
Sauron Defeated: The End of the Third Age concludes this examination, including a different version of the Scouring of the Shire and the unpublished Epilogue to The Lord of the Rings.
The Peoples of Middle-Earth traces the evolution of the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings, and concludes the History of Middle-earth with The New Shadow, an abandoned story set during the Fourth Age, and The Tale of Tal-elmar, another unfinished story set in the Dark Years.
The Lord of the Rings: Weapons and Warfare, by Chris Smith, seems (at first glance) to be focussed on the film adaptations, but it actually treats all of the materials at hand as if it were a true archive, presenting a full historical account of the War of the Ring.
The Hobbit Companion, by David Day, with illustrations by Lidia Postma, is actually not a companion to The Hobbit proper, but rather a guide to hobbits as creatures, making it much more appropriate to this site.
The Bandwagon: Resident Evil: Outbreak
The latest installment in the Resident Evil saga, for the PlayStation 2.
(N.B. This title can only be shipped within the US.)
You can, of course, jump straight to the Game Timelines.
Please note: Unless stated otherwise, all CD-ROM's, PC games, and video games can only be shipped by Amazon.com within the United States.
Dungeons & Dragons is the original roleplaying game, and as such, it has the most elaborate history to its name. Since the license to D&D went to Wizards of the Coast, the three core rulebooks for the game have been released in new editions:
Metroid: Zero Mission, for the Game Boy Advance, is kind of a "special edition" of the original Metroid, with new levels and material tying into the overall Metroid continuity--something I really appreciate.
24: The House Special Subcommittee's Findings at CTU, compiled by Marc Cerasini, is a very detailed look at Jack Bauer and his world, in the form of a Congressional investigation into the events of the series' first season.
The World of Austin Powers, by Andy Lane, has everything you could want in a guide to that groovy International Man of Mystery, including a shagadelic Austin Powers Timeline. Yeah, baby, yeah!
The Exile, by Rick Sutcliffe, is the latest in his alternate-history series, The Interregnum. The first book in the series, The Peace, has been released both on CD-ROM and in paperback.
Creating a Simpsons Timeline is probably all but impossible, even though The Simpsons is, of course, filled with continuity references, as these guides prove so well:
The Sopranos: A Family History, by Allen Rucker, would seem, at first, to be a normal episode guide, but it is actually structured like a true crime exposé of the family that never was, making it an excellently subtle example of fictional history.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, directed by Jonathan Mostow, has a number of inherent continuity problems when compared to the other two films, so it would be interesting to see how the Terminator Timeline promised on the DVD is laid out.
Terminator: Dawn of Fate, for the PlayStation 2, is a prequel story, where your mission is to make sure Kyle Reese can successfully travel back to 1984 in order to save Sarah Connor's life. (N.B. Like all other video games available from Amazon.com, this title can only be shipped within the United States.)
Terminator: Dawn of Fate is also available for the Xbox. (The same limitation for video game shipping also applies, unfortunately.)
Dark Futures, by Russell Blackford, is the first book in "The New John Connor Chronicles," and picks up where Terminator 2 left off.
T2: Infiltrator, by S. M. Stirling, also picks up after Judgment Day, but it is unknown if this novel is consistent with either Dark Futures or Terminator 3.
T2: Rising Storm, also by S. M. Stirling, continues the story started in his first Terminator novel.
With the filmed adaptations of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King now out on DVD, you can visit The Lord of the Rings Store at Amazon.com for a wide variety of merchandise related to the films and the fantasy classic that spawned them.