Customer Reviews

The Magical Worlds of Lord of the Rings: The Amazing Myths, Legends and Facts Behind the Masterpiece

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If you read The Hobbit as a child and never got around to LOTR and the Simarillion, or if you are a new fan because of the movies this is a perfect book for you. Although the tone of the book is lighthearted and fun, the author obviously did his homework. He explains LOTR and The Hobbit by answering questions that new fans have. Why are Tolkein's elves so tall? Where did the idea for hobbits come from? How old is Gollum anyway? He tells how Shelob the spider came to be (Tolkien was attacked by a tarantula as a small child) and what Gandalf really is, and so much more.
The reader will learn that LOTR is heavily inspired by Beowulf and Norse mythology. After reading this well written and amusing book I have decided to re-read LOTR. I now have even more respect for J.R.R. Tolkein. This book is actually a respectful tribute to him and his genius.

David Colbert is best-known for his "Magical Worlds of Harry Potter," a relatively matter-of-fact background guide. Now Colbert produces "The Magical Worlds of Lord of the Rings," with its insights into the literature, legend, and religion behind "Lord of the Rings.

Colbert does a fairly good job of giving us insights into the myths (Norse legends), literature ("Beowulf," the book "Babbitt," Shakespeare's influence on faeries and elves), religion (the source of Galadriel: Mary, mother of Jesus), and Tolkien's own opinions at the time (industrialization destroying the beautiful countryside where he grew up).

Colbert makes some rather obvious errors (usually linked with the "Silmarillion" rather than "Lord of the Rings"), but nothing too awful. Overall he does a pretty good job of addressing common questions like "How Many Languages Did Tolkien Invent?", "Who Was Tolkien's First Dark Lord?" or "How Did Orcs Get So Ugly?". He writes breezily and conversationally, as if addressing a bunch of listeners.

Does "Magical Worlds" stand above other Tolkien guides? Nah. It's a pretty good guide for entry-level fans, but long-time fans will already know much of this material. However, fans who are new to Middle-Earth and who don't know a lot of the background will probably find this invaluable. If you have only seen the movies, or are only just tackling the books, this is a good place to start answering your questions.

"Magical Worlds of Lord of the Rings" is a pretty solid beginner's guide to "Lord of the Rings" and its background material. New to Middle-Earth? Then you may just find your answers here.

This put quite simply is a great book. It's easy to read, very user friendly, and don't be put off by the fact that it is just over 165 pages.
Fans of Tolkein (myself included) will enjoy this book tremendously for several reasons.
1) It's bang up to date, and incorporates comparisons between the new movies, and the original text
2) It's fairly chronological in helping even the newest visitor to Tolkeins World's, gain some understanding
3) It's unbiased, unopinionated, and objective in its explanations.
But above and beyond all of this it is one of the few recent books that has NOT fallen into what I refer to as "shameless commercialism". Whether you know all of Tolkeins works backwards, or have only seen the recent hit movies - this will help you enjoy one of the finest works of fiction of the 20th Century (and it was others far more eminent than me who said that). I first read the Hobbit in 1975 and have been a fan of Tolkein ever since, but since the enormous success of the wonderful recent and upcoming movies have been saddened by the seemingly endless line of "experts" offering in depth and (in their opinion) inciteful explanations as to the mind, the work, and the "hidden" messages of Tolkeins texts. There are a lot of worthless products out there at the moment simply trying to cash in and ride the gravy train - I'm happy to recommend this book, as NOT one of them. Enjoy.

Tolkien's epic fantasies deserve a strong reader's supplement, and David Colbert's Magical Worlds Of Lord Of The Rings will appeal to any teen interested in the folklore and legends behind his Middle Earth worlds. From Finnish sagas to Shakespeare and King Arthur, Magical Worlds Of Lord Of The Rings draws together insights from other works of fiction and fable to lend added depth to Tolkien's creation.

Subtitled The Amazing Myths, Legends, and Facts Behind the Masterpiece, this book was obviously put together with the audience in mind that has been only now exposed to Tolkien's work through the latest film treatment. For instance, the final chapter discusses Frodo's actions in Mordor and since Peter Jackson, at least, has not put his vision of this on the silver screen, the chapter is segmented off as a "spoiler." Author David Colbert knows how to do these books, as he wrote the successful The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter. However, even the would-be Tolkien scholar and hardcore fan with well-worn and well-known copies of all the books will find this tome interesting. The index, bibliography and glossary make for handy entrances to the book, laid out like an encyclopedia. Colbert initially places the Tolkien mythology into the greater sphere of ancient European and Near Eastern mythology. This is pretty tenuous and could be good fodder for heated debate among those that appreciate Joseph Campbell as much as J. R. R. Tolkien. The inspiration from Tolkien's knowledge of ancient English and North European lore is well-trodden ground for the initiated, but this presents it in an easy to read manner with plenty of line drawings that will be entertaining for any reader, whether they just saw the movie or can quote Gandalf chapter and verse.

Just an average reader who loved the Lord of the Rings and then found this little wonder which explained and clarified lots of things I found confusing in Tolkien. It worked so well I went back and re-read Rings again, this time thoroughly enjoying and understanding everything. Highly recommended for both the curious as well as those who want to know more in a fun and interesting way.

Although easy to read, and good for those who have seen the movies and not read the book, I would not really recommend this to anyone who has read the books and is looking to expand on their knowledge of Tolkien's world. There are a few mistakes and often times (to my horror) characters are compared to Harry Potter characters. If you want a good bed time read this book is probably for you. But if you are serious about getting to know Tolkien, try something else first.

As of the writing of this review, the third movie installment of the Lord of the Rings has just been released into the theaters.  With all the hype over each release of The Lord of the Rings, it seems incredible to me that there is anyone who is not familiar with at least the story line of this epic.  Yet, it seems that almost daily I meet people who have not the faintest idea of what the trilogy is about.  They have not seen the movies; they have not read the books, they do not know what Hobbits are, they never heard of an Ent, and they have no idea of what a Orc is.  If  this describes you, you need this book. 

Well written and easy to read, it can serve as a primer to the uninitiated or as a resource to the most avid fan of LOTRs.  What makes this book so interesting is that Colbert delves into the thinking of Tolkien as he wrote the Ring trilogy as well as the medieval literature that inspired him.  Now before you prejudge this book and dismiss it as an uninteresting tome, I beg you to reconsider.  It is really a fascinating read. 

The huge success of the Lord of the Rings revival can be attributed to a large part to the September 11 attack.  There is a war between good and evil, light and darkness going on and people need to know that good will prevail.  But the Lord of the Rings is more complicated than merely good verses evil; it is a story of the complex motives and emotions that govern us.  The Magical Worlds of the Lord of the Rings will help deepen you understanding of these great themes.

Better than Leslie Ellen Jones's "Myth & Middle-earth": by not pretending to give anything more than simple, basic explanations of the most obvious mythic parallels, and delivering them in language not overly cutesy, Colbert succeeds at his modest task surprisingly well.

As a Tolkien fan I adore everything about him and the worlds he created. I might not be considered one of those really hard-core fans, who know every single detail about him, but I have read the Sillmarilion, The Lost Tales and of course LOTR and Hobbit five or six times.
I like this book, because it sort of summarizes many interesting information about the book and tells a lot about background - how did Tolkien come up with different ideas, how he developed them, where did he get inspiration from, etc. I really like it.