This is Monsters of Myth and Legend III (1992), the final installment in the series. This one finally figures its taxonomy out, grouping both gods and monsters by ethnic group: Egyptian, Finnish, Indian, Oceanic, Persian, Roman, Slavic, Teutonic and Tibetan. It isn’t perfect, but it is way better than pretending there are meaningful mythological commonalities across the entirety of Central and South America the way volume two did. This is supplemented by a pile of new magic items and four spells.

Due to the number of entries, the book is art light and text heavy. Which is maybe for the best: the majority of Steve Fiorilla’s illustrations seem to be different views of the same lumpy-faced troll. On the other hand, more art of better quality and smaller size would help differentiate what is a collection of monsters of pretty deep variety.

Overall, probably the best in the series. I really enjoy how insistent the text is on hewing toward actual mythology rather than the fantasy genre’s accepted interpretations of that mythology. In light of that, it’s funny that they stick perytons in the Roman section without any mention of Jorge Luis Borges.