Novel: The Lord of the Rings (Illustrated Edition)

	Author:	J.R.R. Tolkien
	Illustrator:	Alan Lee
	Genre:	Fantasy-epic
	Publisher:	Houghton Mifflin
	Year Published:	11/12/1991

The Lord of the Rings as it should be: all chapters in one book.

The tale starts off roughly ... Tolkien tries to cram so much history in the first few paragraphs that if you are someone like me, it would take determination to read through it. Those paragraphs may actually turn a person off by not even bothering to continue reading the book ... or maybe just skip the part. Once you get to preparations for Bilbo's party, though, things are smooth sailing.

One of the things that blew me away is Middle Earth. It comes across as a real place with the meticulousness that Tolkien has taken to forming this "world". When I was reading "The Hobbit", Middle Earth wasn't as real as it is in this novel.

I find it charming that once again, the heroes of this tale are the hobbits. Hobbits are not the best looking, or the most gifted, nor the most powerful people in Middle Earth, but the story focuses on a bunch of them going on a quest. Although generally cheerful as they have always been since Tolkien wrote about them in "The Hobbit", our halflings in this novel get more action and drama. The elves too, are much more serious here. Apparently, there are different clans of elves, and the ones we were exposed to in Bilbo's first adventure were the merry, wine loving kind.

This is a novel to read at leisure's pace, to allow the reader to drink in the details of the rich tapestry of Middle Earth that Tolkien has woven. And like any tapestry, one finds more details by looking at it a second, a third, and more times.

The appendix is a good read in itself. It provides back stories and tells you what happens after the tale ended. I found the family trees amusing.

From beginning to end, Tolkien stuck to the illussion that you are in Middle Earth...that the book you are reading is actually written by people who had witnessed those events. Just brilliant.

Added plus: the art of Alan Lee - which is actually the main reason I bought this thick, hardbound, overpriced (PHP3,324.05) book from Powerbooks today. Otherwise, I would have been content with the three volume paperback that I already own.