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Title: The Complete Guide to Middle-Earth by Robert Foster ISBN: 0-345-44976-2 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 04 December, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.67 (58 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: In my book this is 10 stars!
Comment: I can't say enough good about this book. As a companion resource to the any of Tolkien's novels based in mythical Middle Earth this is the perfect companion. This isn't a series of essays and it doesn't try to explain the twists of plot in all of Tolkien's books. What this book does is give complete, sourced and easy to find definitions for nearly ALL of the terms, places and people in Middle Earth.
Ever wonder what the difference between the Maiar and the Istari? Want to know a brief history of Morgoth, the original poison in Middle Earth? This is the book for you. I had to work VERY hard to find any obscure term not included in this book. Not only is this book complete but it is cross-referenced and multiple terms are listed. For instance both Melkor and Morgoth are listed separately so you will find him regardless of which name you look him up under.
What a wonderful piece of work. This book has furthered my reading enjoyment of the Lord of the Rings and opened the Silmarillion to me in a entirely new light. A definite A+ recommendation.
Rating: 5
Summary: Well worth purchasing
Comment: What can I say except that this is truely a 1st rate book. Of the many "Tolkien companions" available I found this one perfect as unlike many others Foster has not forgotten the "lesser characters and places". The A-Z format is easy to use and understand and makes finding certain characters a breeze. The addition of dates, page references and language origin is a bonus I personally found which was lacking in many other companions available. As I mentioned before, what makes this a stand out addition to any Tolkien fan is that Foster has not forgotten the lesser known characters and such. Other companions tend to "omit" things in order to elaborate more on the main characters etc which I feel goes against the point of the book (To help readers learn abit more on characters and places etc). Foster has to the the joy of readers included ALL characters, places, battles AND foods and included the many multiple names and terms of characters so it doesn't matter whether you look up for example Strider instead of Aragorn as Foster will include the various names at the end of each section so you can look up them as you wish.
One "fault" I did find with the book was like many have mentioned, the lack of maps. It has been extremely difficult to find a "complete" map of middle earth and perhaps if Mr Foster should read this, the addition of maps in the future would surely improve my already high opinion of this beautifully put together book.
Rating: 4
Summary: Good... could be better.
Comment: I agree with others that the definitions aren't often that clear and require that you know the character/item ahead of time. But there are a few areas of improvement that would really make this book shine:
-Including guide words on the top of pages would make finding terms easier.
-The genealogical charts at the end are full of errors - mostly typographical - including obvious ones such as switching the names "Aragorn II" and "Arathorn II".
-Maps would make geographical descriptions so much easier. They may have not been included for other reasons, but would make this truly a superb reference.
In conclusion, this book may be misleading in its appeal and not be so well suited to the casual reader. It may also spoil some events you have not yet read if you are reading Tolkien for the first time. It is great for that occasional (aka frequent) confusion though. It is a useful reference and with a good edit would be vastly more excellent and accurate.
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Title: The Atlas of Middle-Earth (Revised Edition) by Karen Wynn Fonstad ISBN: 0618126996 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: 10 April, 2001 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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Title: The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien ISBN: 0345325818 Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 12 January, 1985 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Unfinished Tales: The Lost Lore of Middle-earth by J.R.R. Tolkien ISBN: 0345357116 Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 12 August, 1988 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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Title: Histories of Middle Earth, Volumes 1-5 by J.R.R. Tolkien ISBN: 0345466454 Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 26 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $32.97 |
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Title: The Hobbit (Leatherette Collector's Edition) by J. R. R. Tolkien ISBN: 0395177111 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: 24 October, 1973 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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