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Title: Tolkien's World: Paintings of Middle-Earth by J. R. R. Tolkien, Michael Hague, Ted Nasmith ISBN: 0-261-10307-5 Publisher: HarperCollins (paper) Pub. Date: November, 1995 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.1 (20 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: A conflicted "World"
Comment: Perhaps no fictional world has inspired as much art as J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth. Unfortunately, a lot of it stinks. The good art is excellent, but plenty is mediocre or just awful, rough-looking futuristic stuff that seems utterly alien to Tolkien's work.
John Howe's have the vividity and beauty we expect from him, especially his outstanding picture of Gandalf that inspired the Peter Jackson movie's Gandalf; Alan Lee's are more ethereal and colorless, but still beautiful (especially his Luthien painting). Nasmith's are usually quite good; they're not as good as Howe or Lee, but head and shoulders above average. Goldsmith is fairly good, not exceptional.
Michael's Hague's are mediocre, lacking in imagination and sparkle but serviceable. Robert Garland's paintings range between the exquisite (his lovely "Smith" picture) and the cartoonish (his eye-popping "Haven" picture); the same is true of Edelfeldt, who is divided between bad and good. Phenix and Galuidi are just awful, garishly colored and totally unrealistic. Galuidi's Saruman looks like a picture for a D&D game, and his Barad-dur looks like a cheap scifi cover.
Each painting is accompanied by a relevant quote or piece of verse, usually an excerpt from the book in question (not just "The Hobbit" or "Lord of the Rings," but other books as well). There are some nice bits of artwork in this book, but only buy it if you can't find Nasmith, Lee, Howe or Goldsmith anywhere else.
Rating: 4
Summary: Good; some of the paintings inspired Peter Jackson's vision
Comment: This is a collection of 50+ paintings based on various works by Tolkien, which fans of Tolkien will no doubt enjoy. It may be of speial interest to those who watched the movies (and who hasn't, who read Tolkien...) as you can clearly see how some of these paintings are replicated in Jackson's movies; it takes but a moment to catch it in the film, but if you see the pictures enough you'll recognize it.
The quality of the paintings are uneven, and each one has its favorite. Like many people, I find Hague lacking, but also Edelfeldt, who isn't bad but whose style is not unique enough in my opinion.
My favorites, on the other hand, are Howe, Garland, Nasmith, Lee and Galuidi. Garland, my favorite, has a unique and glowing, almost 'mystical' style that does the book justice. Howe's pictures are also intriguing and beautiful, and feel true to the book (and thankfully, he seems to dominate the book in terms of the number of contributions). Nasmith has some splendid landscape pictures, though his vision of the characters leave something to be desired (especially of a fat, distorted Boromir!) Galuidi's sci-fi, computerized style may not appeal to some, but I find them interesting. Finally, Lee's soft watercolors are very appealing, and his vision of the characters is near-perfect (especially Galadriel and Gandalf).
Rating: 4
Summary: Something for everyone
Comment: While everyone has their own taste and surely will not like the work of every author included, there is something here for everyone that is a Middle Earth fan. Most notably I find the work of Ted Nasmith, John Howe, Alan Lee, and Robert Goldsmith enjoyable. A big bonus as a fan of the History of Middle Earth and the Silmarillion were the images from those times by John Howe and Roger Garland.
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Title: Realms of Tolkien : Realms of Tolkien by J. R. R. Tolkien, Ted Nasmith, Inger Edelfeldt ISBN: 0061055328 Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: November, 1996 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
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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 Complete Guide to Middle-Earth by Robert Foster ISBN: 0345449762 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 04 December, 2001 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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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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Title: The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien ISBN: 0345325818 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: November, 1990 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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