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 There are sketches (uncolored) and previously unpublished artwork.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.

The Shaping of Middle-Earth concentrates some part of it to actually physically describing the layout of Arda (the World) with some interesting maps drawn by Tolkien in the middle of the book. The book also includes information behind the fall of Morgoth at the end of the First Age.

In this tome Christopher Tolkien delves further into his father's early writings that would later become the core of the "Silmarillion". Included are early maps of Middle Earth and Numenor, an extensive glossary of terms, and some geneaologies of some of the important families mentioned in the "Silmarillion". Along with "The Book Of Lost Tales", it includes some of the earliest descriptions of Elrond, Gandalf, and Sauron from the "Lord Of The Rings" trilogy. Undoubtedly it is essential reading for Tolkien fans.

In the third volume in The History of Middle Earth series, Christopher Tolkien picks up where he left off with The Book Lost Tales. In this volume you will see the central themes in Middle Earth evolve a little closer to what we see in the Silmarillion. You will see the early Silmarillion and the Annals of both Valinor and Beleriand. Also incuded are maps drawn by Tolkien himself showing his early ideas for the geography of Middle Earth and Numenor. Moreover, in his attempt to make the Silmarillion seem more like a real history (which it is in some of our hearts) Tolkien has translated parts of the Annals and the Silmarillion into the native language of Elfwine, Old English. I recommend this book for anyone who loves Tolkien's works.

This is an awsome book for anyone who enjoys the thrill of adventure fantasy! It was the first Tolkien book I read and I've been hooked ever since. The characters are just so real; it's like Tolkien made them come to life.

This book will probobly not interest those reading The Hobbit for the first time, but it's excellent for those who want the inside scoop on Tolkien's inspirations and drafts. A good resource for hard-core fans!

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

The first of the three stories in this collection is a delightful fairy tale set in the days when giants and dragons were the enemies and twonspeople like Farmer Giles were the heroes. Derek Jacobi does a superb job performing not only as the farmer himself and his wife, but also the couple's dog and the rest of the characters. One would not also not expect to find a dragon with as colorful a name as Chrysopholax, since the last time I met a dragon in one of Tolkein's stories, it was Smaug, and he casually remarked to hobbit Bilbo Baggins,''I don't remember smelling you before!'' The other two tales in this collection are Smith of Wooton Major,and Leaf by Niggle. Knowing what a magnificent job Derek Jacobi has done bringing Shakespeare to life and proving to most of us that Shakespeare was meant to be enjoyed by everyone, you can rest assured in the thought that he has done a similar, exemplary feat with Tolkein! I own, by the way, two other stories written by Tolkein and narrated by Jacobi himself--Letters From Father Christmas and Roverandom. Do yourself a favor and indulge your inner child with these stories!

"Farmer Giles of Ham" is vintage Tolkien encapsulated. Ham is a farmer who owns a cowardly dog named Gorm. The two of them set out to dispose of a dragon named Chrysophylax who is terrorizing the shire. They do defeat Chrysophylax, but how? Well, you have to listen to Sir Derek Jacobi (best known in the USA as the stammering Emperor Claudius in the Masterpiece Theatre series of the '70s; also as Brother Cadfael in The Cadfael Mysteries) read you the story, as he does with the same elegance he brings to all his performances. Sir Derek is a true master of the spoken word. The combination of a writer like Professor Tolkien and a reader like Sir Derek is truly rare and wonderful. And the delight does not stop with "Farmer Giles"; the stories in this little book abound with imagination and excellence.

This book is perfect for the person with time on their hands. You can't just read it once, read it over and over again, you'll have to. Don't forget to read The Hobbit first, it gives you the basis for The Fellowship, you'll be addicted if you keep with it.

The Fellowship of the ring is one of the best books I've read. It, along with the rest of the Lord of the Ring trilogy, is the best Fantasy book I've ever read. If you haven't read it yet, I highly suggest buying it and reading them. And you'll also need The Hobbit, it goes right along with the other three books.

Well, I can't really add too much to what I said about the other Tolkien stuff here, however, this is quite a nice little collection.

I have never read a more incredible story about fantasy, every page has more adventure and is all perfectly filled with power.Tolkien knows how to make us feel in harmony and in darkness too, this story goes from the most beauty and peacefull to the last places of doom and shadows. A must read story that will always remain among the fantasy classics.

I just finished reading this wonderful book about the Northern European myths that Tolkien borrowed and reshaped to make the lands, people, and languages of Middle-earth come alive. For the price and content, this is a great value. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Tolkien's fiction!"

"As a long-term fan of JRR Tolkien and all things Middle-earth, I was very happy to pick up this concise and readable book tracing the main mythic sources that inspired Tolkien. Most books focus on the Norse and Germanic myths to the exclusion of all else, and while Dr. Jones covers these areas, she also goes well beyond to look at the Celtic myths of Ireland and Wales to complete the picture. Put this on your holiday shopping list if you're a fan of The Lord of the Rings!"

This book will change your perspective not only on The Lord of the Rings, but on life in general. I know it has done mine. The idea of language developing from mythology, and not the other way round as has been the common conception, was a new one to me when I read this book. Though I had always held the belief that God, myth, and language are interconnected ("In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God") I had never fully grasped the impact and full meaning of that until I read this book.Owen Barfield's theories, whilst interesting, were always just slightly abstruse for me: Verlyn Flieger has done me - and the rest of the literary world - a great service in setting forth and clarifying such excellent reasoning.

Though it is highly technical in some parts - most specifically in the chapters on the etymology, significance and meaning of names - it is as riveting as a first-rate mystery. I found myself unable to put it down. As all good books do, it definitely warrants a second, third, fourth, and fifth reading, and will not get old with repeated study. Hobbyist philologists (like me) and anyone interested in language, myth, religion, philosophy, or The Lord of the Rings (which adroitly combines all four) must read this book. It will change your life and your outlook on the world and our relation to it and its Maker.

J.R.R. Tolkien claimed that he transcribed, not created, the tales of Middle Earth. He also said that Middle Earth is not pure fantasy in time or space, but depicts our earth and its inhabitants in some remote time. When I was sixteen and had read Tolkien for the first time, I didn't know this. I only knew that I wanted middle earth - its air, its mountains and magic - to be real. I tried once, with my best friend, to pretend we were running from Black Riders as we headed out on an errand one day. I only tried this once, because the pretense failed completely. Many years later I read Owen Barfield's Saving the Appearances: A Study in Idolatry. Then I read his Poetic Diction: A Study in Meaning. Soon after, I reread Tolkien, and read The Letters of Tolkien. It was then that I entered middle earth. It was real, and has been ever since. I suspected that Barfield had something to do with my entrance into middle earth. Now I find that another has made a similar connection: Verlyn Flieger. She argues for and documents the connection as she sees it in Splintered Light: Logos and Language in Tolkien's World. Therein she confirms that Tolkien knew what he was up to writing the middle earth history - in particular the accounts gathered in The Silmarillion - and knew it was not sheer fantasy. Flieger argues that these accounts were profoundly influenced by the work of Owen Barfield - in particular his Poetic Diction. Her linguistic claim, that the languages of middle earth develop just as Barfield says our languages did and do, is an ingenious hypothesis, and she demonstrates this. Arguably, on only literary/critical grounds. Conclusively, with biographical notes and her discussions of Tolkien's essays "On Fairy-Stories" and "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics." It is with those that she demonstrates convincingly the connection between Barfield and Tolkien. And that connection is nowhere more beautifully and surely captured than in a biographical note: "C.S. Lewis's comment that Tolkien `had been inside langugae' was thus no figure of speech, but the literal truth. He had been inside the word, had experienced its power and seen with its perception. Others who knew Tolkien came to much the same conclusion. Simonne d'Ardenne, one of Tolkien's Oxford students and herself a philologist, found antoher way to put it...Mlle. d'Ardenne recalled saying to him once, apropos his work: `You broke the veil, didn't you, and passed through?' and she adds that he `readily admitted' having done so." [p. 9] Logos - as living Word, in which one may get, may live and move and have one's being - connects Tolkien with Barfield as nothing else will. That, though, means one might need to read Barfield too. Flieger brings Tolkien's Silmarillion to life; she brings Tolkien to life; she points one to both Tolkien's and Barfield's philological and philosophical thought and work. Most of all, she gets one as near to being `inside language' - inside Logos - as one has reason to hope, at least by individual effort alone. In that regard, Splintered Light is worth far more than its price just for the above quoted passage alone. - Danny Smitherman (djsmitherman@msn.com)

. . .when paging through this delightful book. The Master, JRR Tolkien, obviously shared the hobbitish characteristic of great love for family. It appears that his children shared this love as well. In this wonderful book, family photos and stories are presented with text provided by the Master's youngest child (and only daughter) Priscilla.

Many thanks to Priscilla for allowing the rest of us to share in the joy of your family.

Heartwarming and joyful, this book is a precious gift. It provides a loving look into the heart, the life, and the love of the Master -- JRR Tolkien.

Many thanks to the Tolkien children for the labor of love.