The Fellowship of the Ring Insiders' Guide (The Lord of the Rings Movie Tie-In) [Paperback]

Brian Sibley (Author), J.R.R. Tolkien (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

The official tie-in companion for younger readers, packed with fascinating facts, on-set interviews and unique photos from the filming of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Brian Silbey goes behind the cameras and reveals just how much work, time, creativity and endless imagination are involved in bringing the movie phenomenon The Fellowship of the Ring to a theater near you...

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...if the early footage is anything to go by, expect a spectacular voyage into Middle-earth." Empire --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Brian Sibley is the author of The Map of Tolkien's Middle-earth, Chicken Run: Hatching the Movie, and The Land of Narnia: Exploring the World of C.S. Lewis. He lives in England.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (November 19, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618195599
• ISBN-13: 978-0618195596
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 4.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,270,584 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I have been a professional writer for thirty years and a freelance broadcaster for the BBC in London for almost as long.

My career began as a radio-writer with dramatisations for the BBC which include serialisations of J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings", C. S. Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia" and Mervyn Peake's "Titus Groan" and "Gormenghast" for which I won a coveted Sony Radio Award. I have also made radio programmes on a wide variety of topics from the history of magic to the crimes of Jack the Ripper! Series of note include "A Century of Cinema", "The Sound of Movies" and "'Ain't No Mickey Mouse Business!"

My specialist interests have always been film (in particular animation) and children's literature and I have broadcast numerous radio and TV programmes and written several books about both these topics.

For the best part of a decade I presented weekly arts and film programmes on the BBC's domestic and World Service networks but have spent the last few years concentrating on books including a couple of best-sellers on the making of Peter Jackson's film trilogy, "The Lord of the Rings" and researching and writing that director's authorised biography, scheduled for publication in 2006.

I live in London with my life partner, a professional magician, in a house overcrowded with so many books, DVDs and CDs (not to mention all those old videos and gramophone records!) that it is seriously beginning to look like one of Amazon.com's smaller warehouses!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable, informative book for young people, January 22, 2002

By 

Larry Bridges "thebachelor" (Arlington, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fellowship of the Ring Insiders' Guide (The Lord of the Rings Movie Tie-In) (Paperback)

This book is apparently intended to be the equivalent for young readers of the "Lord of the Rings Official Movie Guide," which is also written by Brian Sibley (who was also the co-writer of the script for the BBC's excellent radio adaptation of "The Lord of the Rings," starring Ian Holm as Frodo). In many ways this children's version, although shorter and less detailed, is more interesting than the adult version. The "Insiders' Guide" contains some information not included in the "Movie Guide," such as the "Loom!" story mentioned by another reviewer below. Indeed, in general the emphasis of the "Insiders' Guide" seems to be a bit less on the production design of the movie, and more on the process of filming it and the experience of being on the set, than that of the "Movie Guide."

One interesting feature of Sibley's text as compared to that of the "Movie Guide" is that the chapters of the "Insiders' Guide" tend to begin with especially intriguing sentences intended to grab the reader's attention. Perhaps Sibley thinks this is more necessary when writing for children than for adults; I consider it a good technique when writing for any audience. ("Apollo 13," formerly called "Lost Moon," by James Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger, is an excellent example of the use of this technique in a non-fiction book for adults.)

Tolkien fans, and those moviegoers who have fallen in love with Peter Jackson's film, may well want to collect all four movie tie-in books: this "Insiders' Guide" and the "Photo Guide" (both intended for children) along with the "Movie Guide" and the "Visual Companion" (both intended for adults). Young readers seeking paperback books about the movie will find both the "Insiders' Guide" and the "Photo Guide" fairly good choices; the "Insiders' Guide" provides information about the movie's production and the background behind it, while the "Photo Guide" is the better bet for images from the film.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring Insider's Guide", December 30, 2001

By 

Priscilla Stafford (Yokohama, Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fellowship of the Ring Insiders' Guide (The Lord of the Rings Movie Tie-In) (Paperback)

Having the disadvantage of living in Japan, I'll have to wait till next spring to see "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" at movie theaters. So for this Christmas of course I got three books about this movie: "Fellowship of the Rings Photo Guide", "Lord of the Rings Official Movie Guide", and "Fellowship of the Ring Insider's Guide".

This Insider's Guide is mostly aimed for younger kids. This 96 pages book has 16 pages of color photographs, history of J.R.R. Tolkien, history on Peter Jackson, behind-the-scenes, about cast and crew, and much, much more! Some may be disappointed though because the book being in a way short and not containing enough stuff. But the major reason for my giving only 4 stars is that though there are 16 pages filled with 34 nice color photos and yet, there are other small pictures in the book. The thing is, the rest of the pictures are all in fuzzy, very unclear black and white photos! If they were going to put photos in this Insider's Guide, they could have at least made them nice, clean color pictures!

My favorite part is the part around the end where they were talking about the accidents that happened on the set. Actor Sean Astin (who plays Samwise Gangee) had a huge wooden loom for making tapestries fell and hit him on the head. Ever since that, his hobbit friends would make him jump by pointing behind him and shouting, "Loom!"

If you're thinking of getting a "Lord of the Rings" book based on the new movie, I recommend this book if you can overlook the most of the pretty bad photos like I described. I still love the "Insider's Guide" and I'm sure you'll like it, too.

Here are two other books I can recommend you to get. "The Lord of the Rings Official Movie Guide" is a much bigger book, 118 pages long with plenty, PLENTY of beautiful, color photos! Not only that but it also has lots of information on behind the scenes trivia, background, short biographies on cast and crew, and more. The "Photo Guide" is aimed for kids and is like a picture story book but still enjoyable by all with amazing photographs and lines from the movie.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Why is it that quality is skimped?, January 2, 2002

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Fellowship of the Ring Insiders' Guide (The Lord of the Rings Movie Tie-In) (Paperback)

At first glance, this guide to the new "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" seems like an excellent source of info and photographs from the movie.

The problem is that virtually all of the text is lifted, diluted, and transplanted from the Brian Sibley adult movie guide. This one, on the flip side, has less information than the adult one, as well as far fewer pictures; most of what it does have is in black-and-white, newspaper-quality pictures. There are admittedly some pix that are not included in the adult guide, such as a picture of the Nazgul as they really are, and a picture of Sam wading out to Frodo's boat. But these are simply not worth it.

If you do buy a copy, check the cover, which seems to bend and tear easily; also the binding and paper seem very cheap and flimsy. There is a section of color photos in the middle, but not all of them are new.

I'm not sure why quality was skimped on for the children's edition -- the adult one has high-quality paper and binding, and every photo is color. Was it thought that kids wouldn't notice? On the contrary -- I found it very frustrating to see less information, and worse quality books.

If you wish to buy a movie guide, either buy the more expensive (but worth it) adult edition of this book, or the Fellowship Visual Companion.