An insider’s tour through the construction of invented dialects in the bestselling author and creator of dialects for the HBO series Game of Thrones as well as the Syfy series Defiance

From master vocabulary creator David J. Peterson comes a creative guide to language building for sci-fi and fantasy fans, writers, video game creators, and vocabulary lovers. Peterson presents a captivating summary of language creation, covering its history from Tolkien’s creations and Klingon to today’s about The Artwork of Language Invention: From Horse-Lords to Dark Elves, the Words Behind World-Building growing global community of conlangers. He provides the important tools essential for inventing and growing new languages, using examples from a variety of languages including his personal masterpieces, punctuated with referrals to from Celebrity Wars to Michael Jackson. On the way, behind-the-scenes stories lift the curtain on what he built languages like Dothraki for HBO’s Game of Thrones and Shiväisith for Marvel’s Thor: The Dark Globe, and an included phrasebook will start fans speaking Peterson’s built languages. The Artwork of Language Invention is an inside take a look at a fascinating lifestyle and an interesting entry right into a flourishing art form-and it could be the most fun you’ll ever have with linguistics.

**Includes Bonus PDF with diagrams, vocabulary dining tables, and visual helps.