The Lord of the Rings

Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT edition of this masterpiece
Review: Like so many others, I won't review the novel here. It's the best. Read it.

This edition, however, puts all the others to shame. It's beautifully printed on extremely high-quality paper, and designed to last. the illustrations are beautiful, and there are just enough of them. Not so many to make it a picture book, if you know what I mean. It doesn't have fold-out maps, but I already have them with my old 2nd editon and the book of the maps of middle earth. The actual back and cover and binding are real cloth-bound and heavy duty. Plus they are red as they should be. (think red book of Westmarch...) This book will last.

Also, I HIGHLY recommend this over any of the one-volume editions for one big reason.

Weight.

It's just too much to hold that big huge 50th anniversary edition in your lap and read. I've had some of the smaller one-volume editions of this book, too, and I gave 'em away, because when I read it, I want to be comfortable.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful boxset with delightful illustrations
Review: First off this review is about this edition only. The three volume box set 2002 illustrated by Alan Lee.

If you are reading this, I am sure your questions are is this worth the money given that I probably have a set or an edition of LOTR already. For me the answer was yes.

I highly recommend this. The quality is top-notch. I was concerned because some of the reviewers seem to say that it is hard to read and or blotchy ink. It has neither of these problems.

It is on very nice, very clean, very white paper with a large font. The books are substantial even bordering on heavy. They have beautiful red cloth covers with the J.R.R.T. symbol in gold. The dust jackets are beautiful with a different Alan Lee print on the cover, back, and spine.

The box is very nice with Bilbo's trolls and an elven ship leaving the Grey Heavens on the front and back.

The prints are all watercolors and they take up a whole page. Love them. I have always been partial to Alan Lee's work. Is it worth the $50 roughly you can find the box set for? Depends. If you do not have a nice hardback version of LOTR I would say for sure get this. The prints are delightful, the printing is great and very readable and it looks awesome on the table between the no admittance bookends. I love it and say it is worth it for sure.

There is a one volume book with the same illustrations by Alan Lee. I think this is vastly superior as the books here are easier to handle, the three dust jackets are each suberb, and the box is very nice. Alan Lee is a great with watercolors and they are produced very well with these books. I think the high contrast of the print makes it easier to read. Think of this as a great work of art. First Tolkien's art. Second Lee's art. Third the art of printing a good crips text. All 3 come together here for a neat package that you will treasure for years or decades.

Rating:
Summary: J.R.R. Tolkiens' Lord of the Rings
Review:
J.R.R. Tolkien is my favorite author because he puts such intelligence and feeling into his books.
He developed a real language that the elves speak. His plot is clever. His writing style is so descriptive and realistic that the reader feels like she/he is sitting in a hobbit hole listening to Frodo tell the story of his adventures.
His characters are so well developed that they are very interesting to read about. Each character has a distinct personality from the courageous and loyal Samwise to the mischievous and cheerful Pippin. Tolkien's stories are very captivating and exciting to read. He has an extremely creative imagination. I never get tired of reading his books!

by Julia Elder




Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Edition
Review: I won't waste my time adding a review about the novel itself since it is well-known, widely-read literary masterpiece. This edition however is excellent. The Alan Lee prints are great and add a nostalgic touch to a rereading of the books. I highly recommend this boxed edition to any fan of Middle Earth.

Rating:
Summary: Almost too descriptive sometimes..
Review: After watching the first two movies I was enchanted to read the books and I wanted to finish them before "Return of the King" came out on the theatre. Well, I finished all the books and they were kind of a chore to finish. If you are big into scenery more than action then these books are for you. I probably wont read them again because of the extreme detail of clouds, mountains, underground, rivers and such. I'd rather get more of the character's feelings and emotions and it was just hard for me to get that with these books. But the story is excellent otherwise and there are plenty of fighting and treachery.