Customer Reviews

The Complete Guide to Middle-earth: Tolkien's World from A to Z

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have a book stand with all LOTR books... Out of all of them.. This ranks the best as a guide.. (Nothing beats the real books).. It has EVERYTHING of ANYTHING in ALL of Middle-Earth! Like if you were ever wondering.. Who brought the shards of Narsil back to Arnor.. But couldn't figure it out.. It's in the book! Ohtar: Dunadan of Arnor, the esquire of Isildur. He was one of the three survivors of the battle of Gladden Fields, and brought the shards of Narsil to Arnor.

So if your itching for info.. And need the right book.. I say.. Buying this book! It's worth every penny.

As the editorial review says, this is essentially a dictionary for The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and the Silmarillion. It does also include data from some of Tolkien's other writings. A very useful appendix explains dates given during the First Age, based upon the inclusion of events predating the Years of the Sun, such as the Spring of Arda. This book will be a valued reference for those fascinated by the events of Middle-Earth and the Changes of the World. It may leave you desiring even more information, but that is what you will find in the appendices to The Lord of the Rings, as well as in such reference material as Karen Wynn Fonstad's revised Atlas of Middle-Earth. You will surely enjoy the answers provided and the new searches begun by reading this guidebook.

As a Tolkien-Fan, I found this book very useful.

It gives you that kind of systematic knowledge of Tolkien's world, which is helpful if you forget something, or want to rapidly link characters to places and events.

As every A to Z, it must be understood in the frame of its somewhat limited scope.

This book is perfect if you are abso;uetly obsessed with Tolkien's world, The Lord of the Rings. Gives names of characters mentioned in the books, and characters that arent mentioned. It's the perfect size, and very well written. It may be an encyclopedia, but you can read it like a book and take it all in...

An A-to-Z compendium of people, places, and things in Middle-Earth and beyond. A must-have for every true fan. Very helpful in filling in the gaps and keeping track of Tolkien's elaborate world. Great stuff.

The book has a well thought out design in a dictionary form. You find information on every character, every place, and every thing. There is a section on how to read the sources and abbreviations in the book. There are appendixes with A Chronology of the First Age, Genealogical Tables, and Conversion of page references to Houghton Mifflin Editions.

Some may think this guide is geared towards those that already have a basic knowledge of Middle earth. But upon exam one finds it is like any other dictionary those with a large vocabulary may need an occasional glance; while others may have to look up the words that explain the words.

I find it indispensable.

Robert Foster has done a great job indeed for this is truly "The Complete Guide to Middle-Earth!" Literary includes ALL names (characters, regions, mountains, rivers & etc.) that are found in the Silmarillion, the Hobbit, and the Lord of the Rings!

Now, I would like to address to all Tolkien fans who struggle with finding the meanings and origins of the unknown names - get this book and your problem will be solved! You will find history and explanations of every term that Tolkien used. For example, who was Elendil? According to the book, ELENDIL - Dunadan of Numenor, son of Amandil of Andunie and the leader of the Faithful, the noblest of the Dunedain to survive the fall of Numenor. And so on...

As you can see the book is very useful and it is organized like a dictionary, so there is no problem in fining the necessary information.