La edicion de este libro no es Hardcover como lo ofrecen, es Paperback (estoy muy decepcionado).
A pesar de eso el libro es magnifico, lo mejor de fantasia epica que he leido. Esta es la primera de tres partes del Señor de los Anillos, en la que Tolkien nos narra la formacion de la comunidad del anillo (elfos, humanos, enanos y hobbits), quienes intentaran llevarlo a Mordor para destruirlo.

Don't be Fooled! This is not a hardcover!

Este libro de aventuras epicas nos revela una gran imaginacion de parte de su autor, en el cual poco a poco nos internamos en un mundo completamente nuevo, y sin sentirlo llegamos a ser parte de la aventura.

En verdad queda poco tiempo para desviarse de la lectura mientras uno tiene tiempo libre, pues la narracion es tan absorvente que quieres devorar literalmente hoja por hoja cada una de las aventuras de los personajes de esta historia.

Si te gustan los libros de aventuras epicas y mitologia, creo que estos libros te van a encantar

Definitivamente a mi entender el mejor libro de la Trilogia del Señor de los Anillos. Se devide en dos partes: la primera narra los acontecimientos de Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas y Compañia y la segunda narra exclusivamente de las aventuras de Sam y Frodo.

La edicion de este libro no es Hardcover como lo ofrecen, es Paperback (estoy muy decepcionado).
A pesar de eso el libro es magnifico. Esta es la segunda de tres partes del Señor de los Anillos.

Don't be Fooled! This is not a hardcover!

This book is the most interesting book I have ever seen.

Finally, a compilation of Howe's fantasy, and 144 pages, at that! I admit that this review is premature, but I am totally excited to snag this new arrival...

John Howe and Alan Lee are the indisputed masters of "Lord of the Rings" artwork. And this fantastic compilation of Howe's artwork, of all kinds, is a wonderful collection of artwork by an immensely talented artist. (And a cute part at the end has photographs of Howe in armor)

A great deal of the book is devoted to Middle-Earth and J.R.R. Tolkien's works. There are the creepily reptilian dragons, spiders chasing hobbits, the majestic Elves, several different incarnations of the Balrog and its battle with Gandalf, the black-armored and evil Morgoth, the dwarves dining in Bilbo Baggins' hole, a misty Treebeard, Smaug asleep on his glowing gold, the Dark Tower of Mordor with a hissing Fell Beast in front of it... all sorts of goodies. The pictures come from book covers, book illustrations, game boxes, and so forth.

But Howe's artwork is not just for "Rings" and Middle-Earth. Oh no. There are sketches (uncolored) and previously unpublished artwork. There are illustrations from picture books like "Jack and the Beanstalk," "Rip Van Winkle," Howe's fascination with armor and Arthuriana, which includes lots of solid horses, armor, and sword-wielding knights; his illustrations for books by Anne McCaffrey, Robin Hobb, Charles de Lint, Guy Gavriel Kay, Jan Siegel, Margaret Weis, a compilation of Merlin-related stories, and much more.

Howe's artwork has a lot of variety, and many of them look almost like photographs. While you can tell that they're paintings, they're frozen in one second, often in the middle of an action scene. So you almost expect them to start moving. He uses light and shadow expertly, such as in the pic where we see Smaug on his gold -- under his wings, the golden reflection of his treasure is lighting up his face and scales. Or when he is shown attacking Laketown, where everything is dark and shadowy except the fire.

When the "Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy was given the go-ahead, Howe (along with Alan Lee, ) was hired by filmmaker Peter Jackson to help with the sets and landscaping and other designs. Now Jackson has written a foreword to this book, in which he talks about what a fan he is of Howe's artwork (and was, even before the movies!), and how his artwork served as a guide of sorts to how certain things should look. (Such as Ian McKellen's "Gandalf" look, which was based on Howe's famed picture of the wise old wiz) And the afterword was by fellow artist and friend Alan Lee, who describes how they met in New Zealand in 1998, starting work on the movies, and praises Howe for his energy and skill.

This is a fantastic read for fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's works, not to mention people who enjoy good artwork and fantasy/SF pictures. A lush, fantastical book of dragons, halflings, Elves and suits of armor. Marvelous.

I shall just get right to the point: if you are fascinated by the world of Tolkien or just like to read books with some extraordinary fantastic art, this is the book for you.

This book shows you a collection of the art of John Howe, a well-known artist of fantasy art, and someone who designed a lot of visual aspects in the Lord of the rings movies. It contains lots of artwork that has to do with the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, but also some of Howes other work with various subjects.

I can really recommend this almost everybody,because it's just fun to have this for the pretty pictures. The impressive things are not only the detail, the design and the colorscheme, but also the fact that the work really seem to show a certain greatness and movement. They make you believe that those moments were keymoments in the history of some other world.

This a MUST-HAVE.

It is crazy that this book should be out of print. What are publishers thinking of? The verses are a delight, though they become increasingly tragic as the book progresses - "The Sea Bell" is a devastating account of something like clinical depression, yet like many of the rest it has a strange beauty. On the surface much is easy-to-read verse, but often has subtle allusions to deep matters. Many links with "The Lord of the Rings" for those who know where to look, and, I think, an unusually personal account of Tolkien's own struggles to find beauty, wonder and enchantment in the bleak modern world - it is only coincidence that "The Sea Bell" is the only one of his major works for publication written in the first person?

The art is fantastic the story is more complete than one would expect.

This is the trade paperback version of a 3 issue set that came out about 12 years ago. You would have to go to Tim Truman's Wilderness or Lone Wolf and cub to find a better comic.

As an adaption of a book, no other comic compares. Buy it.

As a teenager in the early 60's, I slogged through The Lord of the Rings, realizing its worth but never fully understanding the background of the epic work. The recent success of the motion picture, The Two Towers, has reinvigorated my interest in all things Tolkien. I read the Simarillion and am now in the midst of this fascinating compilation of Tolkien's letters.

I highly recommend this book to readers of The Lord of the Rings. It brings to light the background and philosophy behind Tolkien's writing.

Thank God Tolkien was such a prodigious letter writer. We are all the beneficiaries of his correspondence with family, friends such as C.S. Lewis, fans, and critics alike.

If you have read "The Lord of the Rings" or other works by Tolkien, and are interested in learning more about him (what inspired him, what his views on things were, and what kind of person he was, and the process by which he wrote his literary works, especially "LotR"), this is a book you should definitely read. I found this book to be highly interesting and entertaining, and even educational. There is a huge index to help you find any subject or topic you're looking for. You will find letters to his family members, to his publishers, to friends like C.S. Lewis, and many more-all covering a variety of topics and thoughts from this brilliant writer and philologist. Thoughts on Christianity, and Tolkien's beliefs; his views of World War I (in which he fought) and World War II; a great deal of letters to his readers answering a multitude of questions about his books, especially "The Lord of the Rings"; his personal views and goals of his works; and so much more. It's really a look into the minds and thoughts of a genius, although he would never agree with that-his letters are filled with the upmost humility, even self-deprecation, of himself and his abilities. At the same time, he takes very strong, even stubborn, stances on issues he felt strongly about. His letter-writing style is so unique and is quite fascinating to me, and he can be quite funny. I definitely recommend this informative and very interesting book.

. . .with this collection of correspondence from the pen of the Master of Middle-Earth, Professor JRR Tolkien. Although, unfortunately, not all hobbits are lettered, those of us that are, write letters constantly to our friends and to a selection of our relations. The Professor's habits in this area definitely suggest that he is, as has long been suspected, himself a hobbit. (And, in fact, probably a Baggins!)

From his wartime correspondence, to his letters of love (and sound advice) to members of his family, to the vast amount of commentary on his literary masterpieces, this volume sheds a great deal of light into the life and thought of the Professor.

This book is a worthy companion to Mr. Carpenter's earlier biography. Both volumes should find a place on the shelf of every hobbit in the Shire.

A must for anyone who loves Tolkien! Very fine!

With the reissue of Tolkien's cover of "The Hobbit" and other original drawings that he did, it seems like an appropriate time to pick up this book. Why? Because for a really complete vision of Tolkien's work (Lord of the Rings, Hobbit, and all the rest) it's probably best to see it as he saw it.

This book contains all the artwork that Tolkien created (NOT all the artwork BASED on his works, just the stuff he did himself!). Some are miscellaneous sketches and doodles, some are watercolors, ink drawings, prints, pencil sketches, and combinations of all of the above. One doodle looks like multicolored snowflakes, some are landscapes or pictures of little houses, teddy bears, owls, and so on. Very cute and cool, especially the illustrations done for "Roverandum."

And many are Middle-Earth related -- different views of the Misty Mountains or the Elvenking's hall, the evolution of what the Shire looked like, different Laketowns, different "Doors of Durin," even drawings of the tattered pages of the Dwarf Book of Moria. Near the end, even Tolkien's design drawings for LOTR book covers are included. And, of course -- MAPS! Maps of Wilderland, as well as the famous map from "Hobbit."

The text accompanying these many pictures carefully dissects all of the drawings and their importance, as well as how they evolved. (It's a bit like looking at concept art) As well as going over only Tolkien's work, Wayne G. Hammond also examines influences on Tolkien's artwork. For example, there is a fairy-tale picture that influenced a "Hobbit" picture, and a scientific drawing of a golden eagle that influenced another "Hobbit" picture with Bilbo.

This is a must-read for fans of J.R.R. Tolkien, a great peek into a great mind. And it emphasizes that Tolkien was not just a brilliant writer, but a brilliant artist as well. Great stuff, definitely a must-see.

This book sheds so much light on the mind of J.R.R. Tolkien, and it allows the reader to see what he saw and know what he thought. It is a fantastic read and an invaluable addition to any Tolkien library.

With Unfinished Tales (UT) we begin our long and exciting journey into the History of Middle Earth (HoME) series (actually UT is technically not part of HoME and was published before BoLT1, the first in the series, but I generally think of HoME as everything but The Hobbit, LoTR and the Silmarillion). Posthumously published by his son Christopher, these books contain JRR's lifelong writings about the imaginary world he created as a home for his invented languages. There are 13 books including UT.

Not surprisingly, the stories found in UT are, well, unfinished. The two major pieces in this book deal with recurring stories from the Silmarillion: "Of Tuor and His Coming To Gondolin" and "Narn I Hin Hurin," or "The Tale of the Children of Hurin." These are by far the best stories in the book. The "Narn", as it comes to be commonly called, is as close as we get to a finished tale and is a sort of cut-and-paste effort by Christopher in his attempt to fill in the gaps left by his father. The account of Tuor and Gondolin is slightly shorter and (I think) more cohesive and entertaining as a whole. I suppose that is why I was severely disappointed when it ended so abruptly (and just when it was getting good!). There were two parts wherein I found myself absolutely enthralled: Tuor's encounter with Ulmo and the account of the Seven Gates of Gondolin. The descriptions and dialogue found in the former scene are (in my opinion) some of the greatest I've read (so far) of Tolkien. Okay, I just can't help myself...here is a (rather long) excerpt:

'And thereupon Ulmo lifted up a mighty horn, and blew upon it a single great note, to which the roaring of the storm was but a wind-flaw upon a lake. And as he heard that note, and was encompassed by it, and filled with it, it seemed to Tuor that the coasts of Middle-earth vanished, and he surveyed all the waters of the world in a great vision: from the veins of the lands to the mouths of the rivers, and from the strands and estuaries out into the deep. The Great Sea he saw through its unquiet regions teeming with strange forms, even to its lightless depths, in which amid the everlasting darkness there echoed voices terrible to mortal ears. Its measureless plains he surveyed with the swift sight of the Valar, lying windless under the eye of Anar, or glittering under the horned Moon, or lifted in hills of wrath that broke upon the Shadowy Isles, until remote upon the edge of sight, and beyond the count of leagues, he glimpsed a mountain, rising beyond his mind's reach into a shining cloud, and at its feet a long surf glimmering. And even as he strained to hear the sound of those far waves, and to see clearer that distant light, the note ended, and he stood beneath the thunder of the storm, and lightning many branched rent asunder the heavens above him. And Ulmo was gone, and sea was in tumult, as the wild waves of Osse rode against the walls of Nevrast.' (pg. 33, Ballantine)

Well, if that's not the most breathtaking description I've ever heard then...[your favorite cliché here].

The remainder of the book (about 2/3) is a collection of stories from the second and third ages of Middle Earth. The most notable include a tale about a king of Numenor and his constant sea voyages to Middle Earth at the expense of his marriage (see! even the great kings of old had imperfect domestic relationships). Also noteworthy is "Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan," which sheds much light on the history of Rohan and its relationship to Gondor. There are also a few chapters at the end explaining some gaps in LoTR.

Overall this is a great collection and has some critical pieces of information for Tolkienites (The Narn, the lines of Numenor, etc.). I would say that it is (except for the Silmarillion) the most successful book at clearing up some of the historical confusion and filling in much needed gaps between the various ages of Middle Earth. A must read for anyone hungry for more after the Silmarillion.

The Silmarillion raised so many questions that Tolkien fans almost felt cheated when the book came out in 1977. Fortunately, Christopher Tolkien foresaw the readers' hunger for more material about Middle-earth would not be quenched and he promised in the foreword to publish some related material when time permitted.

What came next was Unfinished Tales, a less-than-satisfying collection of stories and notes about the heroes and kings of the three Ages. But the disappointment didn't lay in the quality of the stories. Rather, it was only their various states of incompleteness, even though some tales (like "The Disaster of the Gladden Fields") were truly fully formed.

The book is most valuable to people who want to know more about the histories and heroes of Middle-earth. People looking for Hobbit-lore will be disappointed. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien reveals more about Hobbits than Unfinished Tales. But there are exciting moments and awesome scenes, such as when Ulmo rises out of the sea before Tuor, and when Isildur realizes that the One Ring has betrayed him to his doom, which stand alongside the most memorable passages of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.

Unfinished Tales shows us Tolkien at his best when he was doing nothing more than just writing out his thoughts concerning various peoples and events only mentioned in The Lord of the Rings.

Let's clear the air: I am a huge Tolkien fan and I have loved this book for years. But this edition (Houghton Mifflin hardcover) is just a jewel. Nansmith's cover art of Túrin and Mîm the Dwarf is stunning.

The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are famous, and justly so, for they are the only novels that Tolkien ever completed. He was a real perfectionist. So if you really want to witness the full genius of Tolkien you have to tap into a vast series of works, each individually "unfinished" but altogether forming a very satisfying completeness. The Silmarillion is a key and a summary of the vasy mythology--it really is required reading--but once that is behind you Unfinished Tales is your first stop to experience the greatness that is Middle-earth. And, despite its name, the writings collected in this volume are for the most part fairly complete.

The highlight of Unfinished Tales is the Tale of the Children of Húrin (Narn i Hîn Húrin), itself a short novel over 100 pages in length--thirteen chapters plus Appendix. This is an incredible epic story set in the First Age, written in full narrative form. The great human hero Húrin of the North is captured alive after slaying seventy trolls in the great War of the Jewels, and brought before the throne of Morgoth, god of evil (Sauron's ancient master). When Húrin refuses to serve him, he casts a great curse on all his kin. We then follow the fate of Húrin's son Túrin--his fostering by the Elvenking Thingol; his adventures as an outlaw; his friendship with Beleg the Bowman and Mîm the Dwarf; of the nation they founded and their war with the Orcs; of Túrin's capture ... and most importantly of his feud and battles with Glaurung, Father of Dragons. This is one of my favorite stories of all time, and I highly recommend it. The sequel is The Wanderings of Húrin, published in The War of the Jewels--which follows the father Húrin's actions after he is finally released from prison. Also an intriguing read.

Unfinished Tales also includes a ton of short works dealing with the First Age, the Second Age, and the Third Age--there are fourteen pieces together. Many of these are tales directly relating to The Lord of the Rings--the tale of Isildur, for example; The Hobbit told from Gandalf's point of view; and The Fellowship of the Ring told from the point of view of the Ringwraiths. But my favorite is a section called 'The Istari'.

'The Istari' (the order of Wizards) is extremely important. It includes several essays on the Five Wizards: their names, their nature, their origin, their powers, and their mission. This is the central, underlying subtext of The Lord of the Rings which is never really explained until you read this. Learn of the mission of Radagast the Brown. Learn of the ancient rivalry between Saruman the White and Gandalf the Grey. Learn the names and the fate of the two remaining wizards, the Blue Wizards.

It must be pretty clear that I wholeheartedly recommend this book, but that I only recommend it after The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. But if you qualify, you are in for a treat, my friend.

I love this book. I am a huge Lord of the Rings/Hobbit/Silmarillion fan, and have recently been reading some of Tolkien's non-Middle-Earth books, this being one of them. This book was written for his children and has illustratons by Tolkien. It's creative and funny, and the pictures are great.

. . .by the Master, JRR Tolkien.

Tolkien fans have long known about the existence of Mr. Bliss, but it remained unpublished for decades. Fortunately, this delightful hand printed and self illustrated volume can easily be obtained.

From the moment when Mr. Bliss decides to buy a motor-car, adventures of the most dramatic (and expensive) sort begin to happen. The observant reader will also note names throughout the book which bear resemblance to names in "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings".

This book demonstrates that Tolkien had many gifts -- and that he exercised his creativity outside the realm of Middle-Earth.

A wonderful experience for children aged 4 to 104. I highly recommend it.

. . .and that can't be said for most of the Big People!

In this wonderful adventure, Mr. Bliss purchases a motorcar (definitely an unhobbitlike device) and proceeds to have all sorts of misadventures with it.

Any hobbit will sympathize with poor Mr. Bliss, living in a world where one is expected to foot the bill for tea for a family as large as the Dorkinses. Any hobbit will sympathize with the terror poor Mr. Bliss experiences driving through Three Bears Wood in the dark. And any hobbit will sympathize with Mr. Bliss's eventually handling of the situation!

Hobbits will also appreciate the fact that many of the Big People in the story have good, sensible hobbit names like Boffin and Gamgee.

A wonderful tale to read to young hobbits in the cool of the evening or before the fireplace.

I somehow made it long past adolescence without reading THE LORD OF THE RINGS books. I read THE RETURN OF THE KING and the others (in order, of course) because I wanted to before the movies came out. Somehow I didn't get into these books as much as I felt I should. I found the battle scenes no less boring than the over-extended descriptions of journey. The smaller-scale conflict, especially the part of the story revolving around Frodo and Sam were more interesting, but requiring a greater suspension of disbelief. The climatic moment in the final book (more than 100 pages before the actual end of the book) was anti-climatic in the extreme, and while a friend of mine who is a devotee of these books found Sauron's lack of appearance to be "brilliant," I was disappointed. The evil faced by our heroes had a name, but no face, I guess (the move got around this by explaining that he is non-corporeal).

Still, the last 100 pages, essentially a post-script, brought the whole series together for me. The allegory was strongest, or at least most obvious, here. The hobbits are a race of Cincinatuses, only wanting to mind their own business. They are totally innocent and un-ambitious. That's why they were the only ones who could be trusted with the evil ring. At the same time, they were all too quick to accept authoritarian rule without question or resistance. Frodo lost his innocence to save the world, but a little loss of innocence was needed to save the hobbits from their own apathy. The message of the last part of the book is that evil must be engaged; those who hope to ignore evil will be suppressed like everyone else, and ultimately give in to its ways.

As for the battles and daring escapes, they didn't do it for me. Battle participants are often built up as Davids and Goliaths, with Goliath always losing because of David's will, luck, outside help, or reasons unexplained. Seldom do our heroes' wits or cleverness get them out of trouble, more often they are saved by eagles dropping out of the sky. Still I will miss these characters and enjoyed the movies. I'm actually thinking of re-reading THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. Maybe someday I'll re-read this one, too.

The mighty fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings comes to it's final conclusion in The Return of the King, a once-again stroll through brilliance and imaginative flair. Author J.R.R. Tolkien has definitely created something genuine. Though it's a little saddening that the last part of this fantastic story is once again diseased by it's predecessor's problems.

The Return of the King starts out with the wizard Gandalf as he rides to Minas Tirith, captital of Gondor (with Pippin in hand), to seek it's leader. Meanwhile, Aragorn and King Theoden march triumphantly into battle against the forces of Mordor along with Legolas, Gimli and Merry. The reunited six members of the Fellowship, joined by Eoywn, Eomer and Faramir, face off in a final war against the Dark Lord Sauron's forces.

In the dark depths of the tower of Cirith Ungol, Frodo has been captured by Orcs after the climactic battle against the spider Shelob, leaving Sam with the Ring. Gollum has slinked away, and Sam must brave through Mordor to fulfil his master's duties. But when Frodo escapes, both of the hobbits enter Mordor to finally finish the dreadful deed of having the evil One Ring destroyed.

Plot-wise, The Return of the King beats out both first and second parts of the story. Battles and fights in the final installment just steal your heart away, one coming from Merry defeating a deadly foe. However, the first part of the book easily suffers from the problems of The Two Towers and Fellowship of the Ring: Tolkien constantly tells of nothing that is crucial to the story, and unessessary dialogue. Indeed it doesn't hurt the book's main story, but it doesn't add to it either.

The characters, however, save this novel a great deal. One thing Tolkien succeeds mostly is his character creations. They are all likable and completely entertaining in originality and depth. With new characters and of course, Middle-Earth's wonderful landscapes, this is a triumphant end to the story. The Lord of the Rings is one of the greatest novels ever created, and The Return of the King fits with it perfectly.

Lord of the Rings reads like one very long book that the reader finds themselves unable to put down. It goes without saying that you must read "The Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Two Towers" before you read this one. This, the third segment, is the climax to what the other two stories built up. This was astonishingly real for a book about wizards, hobbits and elves and I loved it. It is the only book that I have ever found myself crying when it was over. It was a sad sort of ending, (I won't spoil it), but it wasn't because of that. These vivid characters whom I had come to know and love for the months that it took me to go through "The Hobbit" and the other Lord of the Rings books were abandoning me. They would go on with their lives and have glorious new adventures of which I could not be a part of...I miss Sam most of all. The afterward of this book is a gem as well, since you can learn to read and write in Elvish and in runes, and find out histories and afterwards behind the epic. This is a must read for anybody. You are missing out if you do not read this. (And I might add that if you haven't, you are among a shrinking number of people, since the series continues only to grow in popularity.)