Worthwhile for Tolkien Lovers
589098
A very interesting book to say the least. It recounts most of the history of Middle Earth from before its creation, up to a brief recounting of the events of The Lord of the Rings. It fills in many of the blanks and answers many questions an interested reader may have after completing The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. However, it is a very slow read at times, rather like the Old Testament books of 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles in the Bible. Indeed, in many of the stories recounted, at least a shadow of biblical inspiration is hard to deny. Do not expect a pure story, but rather a long recollection of sometimes related, and sometimes not related, events. I gained a renewed respect for the imagination of J.R.R. Tolkien through this work, as faithfully published by his son, Christopher, because of the incredible depth it contains. Perhaps my only criticism, beyond what I have already mentioned, is the confusion that can be incurred on the reader by the many and complex names of peoples, lands, locations, cities, and individuals of the various races. Nevertheless, the fact that Tolkien was so precise is a testament to his desire to create a believable world, and for this reason, it is tough to condemn him for giving many people and things two or even three names. If you love Tolkien and are an avid reader, I recommend The Silmarillion. If you casually enjoy the world the Tolkiens have wrought, or just watched the movies, I caution that you vary well may get bogged down in the first 30 pages or fewer.
2349229
J.R.R. Tolkien was an accomplished writer, as everyone knows, but his abilities as an artist are sometimes overlooked.  Many of his readers have been able to admire his illustrations for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.  This book, by the authoritative scholars Christina Scull and Wayne Hammond, gathers together all of Tolkien's artwork and provides fascinating commentaries and analyses.

Among the earliest works included here are paintings done by Tolkien while still in school and at Oxford University.  These contain many dream like visions which remind me of William Blake.  The book also holds the Middle earth illustrations, some better known than others but all fascinating and many exquisite.

The book is arranged in roughly chronological order and includes some of Tolkien's final sketches and drawings, some mere doodlings on newspaper, but all of them appealing and many entrancing.
4165597
Excellent book for those, like me, who love the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.
578157
If you're looking for a little background behind Lord of the Rings, this is it. This book introduces the character Gollum and explains how the Ring came to be in The Shire. However, what is enjoyable about this book is its easy readability and there are many injections (in parenthesis) of Tolkien's humour in his narration of the story. Read about the invention of Golf (in a ridiculous way), the riddles between Gollum and Bilbo and the humorous portrayal of Gandalf as an almighty but occasionally vulnerable wizard. There is only one main storyline about Bilbo and the dwarves heading to defy Smaug, the dragon, in order to uncover their lost treasure, but despite this, their journey is interestingly full of ups and downs. Tolkien, once again, proves his immense creativity by placing his characters in absurb and hilarious positions. Even Gandalf, the supposedly dignified wizard, has been reduced to getting cornered high up on a tree or stuffing himself silly on bread, cream and honey. Needless to say, the title "The Hobbit" indicates that the story revolves around Bilbo Baggins and his misadventures.
Simply said, this is one book that wants to make you read on and on. The only flaw is that it's a relatively short story and you'll wish for more. Five stars!
1110923
The Hobbit is one of my favorite books of all time. Perhaps it is because I read it as a child, and it first introduced me to dwarves and elves in a way far different from their Disney counterparts. Perhaps it was the humanity of characters laid out for me to see. I am not sure exactly what it was, but after rereading it for the upteenth time, it still has not lost a smidgen of its charm.

Sure, Lord of the Rings is the serious book, the more adultish, more classic quest fantasy to save the world from mortal peril sort of thing. The Hobbit is more of a quest to save Bilbo from living his life without a single thing happening that was unexpected. I think this central difference, combined with a younger target audience for this book, makes this book have a much more carefree attitude, and a generally much more merry tale.

The pace of the Hobbit is pretty rapid, since really the journey of this story would have been of a similar length as Lord of the Rings, with a lot of detail simply missing from this book. The first leg of the journey was almost identical to Frodo's in route at least, yet it is over in a couple of chapters. Really, the lesser significance of this quest required a lot less development early on.

What you really do see happen in the Hobbit, which is nearly absent in Lord of the Rings, is how a bit of a fussy homebody is changed into a daring and wise companion by means of the journey. Bilbo proved to be the lucky 'fourteenth' man on the quests of the dwarf Thorin to reclaim his homeland and treasure, and that was lucky for not only the dwarves, but for Bilbo himself. Even Gandalf discovered that there was more to Bilbo than meets the eye, as the hobbit proved himself useful in a lot of very different situations.

It is a wonder to see a character develop like Bilbo during the course of a single novel. It is an exceedingly rare sight these days, to see something like this happen, and it is refreshing to see it again here.

The songs in this book aren't the poet things from Lord of the Rings, but more like drinking songs with simple rhymes. This [songs] is not a favorite now a days, but I kinda like them. Trying to figure out a tune to go with each one is difficult at times, but it makes it that much better. You can always just skip them, like I did when I was a kid.

Highly recommended.
4247752
I was re-reading my worn copy of "The Hobbit" anyway, in anticipation of Peter Jackson's Hobbit movie[s] (recently announced as a trilogy, much to the delight of Tolkien and Jackson fans worldwide), but I wanted to delve more deeply into Tolkien's world-building.  So I ordered this companion book to get a deeper understanding of Tolkien's writing.

This book has a wonderful conversational style while still imparting important, interesting information about both the writing of the children's book, and its characters, plot and themes.  For instance, I did not know that Tolkien changed portions of "The Hobbit" (in later editions) concerning Gollum and the Ring once his "Lord of the Rings" trilogy was published in order to comport with the magnitude of the Ring's evil powers.  In the original Hobbit story, the ring is not shown to have had the horrible impact on Smeagol/Gollum that it does after the re-write.  Originally, the ring is merely the prize in a riddle contest which Bilbo wins and Gollum loses.

I used this book as a reference while re-reading "The Hobbit," and I used it as a jumping-off point when doing more research afterwards.  The book is packed with information, but it may be considered too basic for some who are already steeped in Tolkien lore.  However, I really enjoyed it, and I consider myself pretty well acquainted with LOTR in both the books and the movies.

I recommend this volume for all LOTR fans, and for those wishing deeper insights into this fascinating author and his literary creations.
2876949
The Annotated Hobbit helps readers more fully enjoy Tolkien's first masterpiece. While some of the notes are far too deep minutiae for my tastes, they never intrude or interrupt the narrative. Highly recommended.
2278633
This book brings up shared feelings, fistly, it should be pretty obvious to anyone who read Lord of the Rings from Tolkien, that this book -like its two predecessors- is a blatant copy of it. Yet despite this, it is a good  series, and this is the most enjoyable of all three installments. It tells  the story nicely, and is always exciting. The story is divided in many  parts, which is a nice touch. Especially the last part of the book is very  well done. The last third of the book tells the story of how the victors  spend their lives after the evil is destroyed, and it is very nice indeed,  I read through it ravenously. Overall, a very good book, if you forget it  is a rehash of tolkien's work.
3189113
I wasn't sure about buying this book despite loving LOTR books and movies. This book is great for anyone who loves the world that Tolkien has created. This isn't so much a cohesive story but more of information about the world and the different races and history.
1539523
If you like Tolkien , you will want to add this to your collection. Some of us can't seem to get enough material about this wonderful land of imagination.
894434
I originally read The Hobbit and The Lord Of the Rings in an old paperback edition.  I immediately fell in love with Tolkien's Middle Earth, its characters and the incredible plot he created.
I am now on my third  reading of the cycle. I came back to it after leaving it on the bookshelf  for many years (I like to forget many of the details so the book has a  certain freshness when reread).  To my amazment the book still has much  more freshness than I expected.  This time through I am seeing so much of  Tolkien's genius in the genre of fantasy: he created a whole world with  geography and history and complexity, and he makes it really  "work".  Much other fantasy is weak in this area: the created  worlds just don't work all that well.  Tolkien's regions and cultures have  a depth that puts them a quantam leap above those of standard  fantasy.
Also, many of Tolkien's characters are round and deep.  I  actually thought them rather cardboard on my first reading, but this time  through I begin to see that though Tolkien uses certain stereotypical  character types, he fleshes them with an interesting life all their own.  On my first read I thought the hobbits were the most intriguing of  Tolkiens' characters.  I find them even more intriguing this time through.  I also found MUCH more depth in the elves and dwarves, who seemed VERY  stereotypical on the first read.  I think I was so engrossed by the plot on  my first time through I did not pay much attention to the  characters.
This book is one everyone should read at least twice.  It is  a modern classic.  Those who shun fantasy because of it being  "unrealistic" need to read this book so they can learn about a  different kind of realism.
The specific things I enjoy about this  hardcover edition are the maps and the artwork.  It includes Tolkien's  original maps, which are better than the ones in my old paperback edition.
And as for the illustrations: Alan Lee's works are masterful.  He pays  great heed to Tolkien's details so that his pictures don't contradict the  text; though I found a few minor discrepancies (which could be errors in my  own imagination).  His detailed and beautiful watercolors gave more  substance and shape to my own images of Middle Earth and its inhabitants.  My only criticism is that I find Tolkien's world to be more solid than Alan  Lee's.  Mr. Lee's version of Middle Earth is more etherial and less earthy  than Tolkien's.
Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is his magnum opus and it is  a great book for ALL TIME.  This edition with the original maps and the  masterful artwork of Alan Lee will be a treasure I hope to pass on to a  future generation.
1837654
A nice collection for those who would like to have more from Tolkien's world.
You may find it's between The History of Middle Earth volumes and the collection by Editorial HarperCollins.
Really affordable and enjoyable.
I recommend it for any person who wishes to have a fantasy time in bed right before going to sleep.
1133708
It's hard to find an argument against these editions, and it's clearly impossible to present them in paperback form in an improved manner.

In terms of size, it's large enough not to be squashed by a large dictionary or other textbook in your bag, nor is it too large so that handling it becomes a chore (or seem tacky in appearance).  The width is perfect; the font size and spacing are relieving to the eye, light and spacious, enough room to break up the printing so it doesn't jumble together on long, extended reading marathons, which with Tolkien is easy to do.

This is, of course, the first part of the new "Holy Trilogy."  I would strongly recommend starting with the books if you've never forayed into Tolkien's Middle Earth before, although it's hard to find someone who hasn't seen Jackson's films.  Needless to say, the film has done some "light" editing, such as many of the songs, as well as the Anglo-Saxon influence, which makes it in the film as dress, props, and the honorable Boromir.

Chronologically the book follows a larger timescale than the films.  For example, Gandalf leaves for the archives at Minas Tirith immediately after Bilbo leaves the Shire, and seems to be gone for only a week or so.  In the book, his absence is actually three years in length, then a brief visit, and then another nine years.  Although this all takes place in less than a page-length, the impression it leaves is that time has surely passed by, and Frodo is not quite the same hobbit as before.  There has also been some shifting of the dialogue in the films.  Example; the line "I will help you bear this burden, as long as it is yours to bear" comes in the film at the Council of Elrond scene.  In this book, it comes in Chapter two.

Also cut are the smatterings of Old English, such as the word "glede" which is "hot coal" (haven't translated in years).  As for the story itself; modern mythology, legendary, enchanting, superb.  Yes, all these things.

Finally, the maps in back are the authentic ones by Tolkien himself.  They are printed large enough to trace your own pen-marks on them and make notes in the margins, useful especially if you're teaching.

The quality of materials is good as well; you can beat these editions up a fair amount, dog-ear the pages, and they'll hold.  The binding is very well done as well, no breaking or falling apart.
4134055
I was leery of what appeared to be a blatant attempt to capitalize on the new interest in Tolkien's work, but as editor Christopher Tolkien notes, this book is more about placing the emphasis back on Tolkien's stories after the obsession with the movies.

I'm duly impressed with what the editor was able to accomplish. This is a dark and wholly different view of Middle Earth, laying the deep foundation of events to come in the far-distant future. The story smacks of the great tragedies of Shakespeare and Greek literature, told in a form both poetic and measured.

Overall, it does flow rather well despite some obvious breaks. The story will haunt you and to hear it told in a style similar to that of LotR is a treat. It is as worthy of a spot on your shelf as the Hobbit. It is a mixture of the intimacy of that work, with some of the grandeur and foreboding of LotR.

Enjoy a brief return to Middle-Earth, with Tolkien's vision restored in *almost* all its glory.
1313080
A biography of Tolkien that seems to place emphasis on the places and people that shaped and inspired his stories.
386970
Tolkiens The Hobbit, is certainly an excellent novel, a fact of which anyone who has actually read the book (and is not just basing their opinion on misconceptions, some bits of it they did read, or movies) can tell you. The unabridged addition, while admittedly quite long, gives the reader the complete force of Middle-Earth and the wonders of the majestic and detailed world Tolkien created. While the abridged version is a bit thinner and certainly less formidable because of that, I strongly recommend the full one as I had started with the shortened version before finding the long one and was greatly rewarded with not only more vivid descriptions of everything, but quite a bit of humorous parts that didn't make the cut. The lengthy descriptions of the scenery at times do tend to drag on a bit, but the imagery used helps the reader understand this entire world that is similar yet completely different to our own. Each chapter is filled with humor, such as the constant poking fun of Bomburs weight and Bilbos stuffy attitude, as well as action action, like their capture by the elves, goblins, and spiders to name a few. The songs, which are all quite clever and frequent, give a sense of whimsy to the novel, helping it seem even more magical and other worldly.
The dwarves he travels with do sort of blend together, with you only getting to know a few of them and leaving the others almost forgettable, which is unfortunate. Several of them are hardly mentioned past the introduction of them and every once and awhile in the listing of them all. It is disappointing that we don't learn much about the dwarves besides a bit of back ground Tolkien casually mentions when it becomes relevant and that three of the ones that have a larger role than the others die. Fili and Kilis death, which we find out about when Bilbo is told, is stated very suddenly, leaving the reader with a sense of dissatisfaction.
Smaugs demise, as well as the casual telling of Gandalfs dealings with the Necromancer, are both surprisingly anticlimactic for being such important parts to the book. The destruction of Smaug, which is a key factor in their mission that the book revolves around, is dealt with very quickly with a new character that seems to come from nowhere to conveniently slay the dragon. Its sudden and unexpected, leaving the reader caught between glad that the dragon is dead and wanting a little more tension in what everything had been leading up to. Much of the book loses tension in this way with the easy mentions of previously unstated skills of pasts that make them able to escape their current disastrous situation, like Bilbos previously unknown ability to throw rocks with a great accuracy. While its true that it would be boring if all characteristics that may be important to be stated at the beginning, the lack of alluding to these things that would be highly important later, surprises the reader and slightly throws them from the moment. However, the glossing over of the darker parts keeps the story from being heavy and draining to read.
Tolkien gives a light heartedness to the novel that could have very easily turned dark, especially with the war at the end. The role as a narrator, interjecting with his own opinion, knowledge, or explanation, gives the feel that the story is just that, a story that someone is telling you. Tolkien adds humor through this narrator character and is able to relate the audience to the characters hes created and explain away something that might otherwise be confusing about this new world hes created. For it truly is a new world that is equal parts magical to live in and to read about.
4742790
As a big time fan of Tolkien, I was very pleased withe cinema adaptations of both the LOTR and the Hobbit.  While the hobbit movies were streched out a bit from the books, I felt the extra content provided  believable back story.  A must watch for Tolkien fans.