Rating: 
Summary: Great Encyclopedia
Review: I first read this book before I read any of Tolkien's Novels and even then it was a good read. I found it even more entertaining than the Silmarillion!
Rating: 
Summary: Exceptional Illustrations
Review: I had the unusual experience of reading this book before reading the J.R.R. Tolkien novels. The exceptional illustrations more than make up for any Day/Tolkien contradictions.I highly recommend this book to fantasy art fans and to students of pen and ink.
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Summary: A guide to the beasts of Middle-Earth
Review: I was very impressed with this book, although some people will probably not enjoy it too much. First of all, this is not a complete guide to Middle-Earth (like the Robert Foster book). For example, you can't look up the word Bilbo and find a definition of the famous burglar himself. Instead you would look up the word Hobbit, and then you would see a description of Hobbits as a race of people. In other words, this is a complete guide to the different species of Middle-Earth, and boy is it complete. It even details the flora and fauna of Middle-Earth. One thing the average fan may enjoy, however, is the beautiful illustrations included. There are about 36 color illustrations and well over one-hundred black and white sketches to help visualize the elements of Tolkien's works. These illustrations are from artists not normally associated with Tolokien. Here are some of the artists: Ian Miller, Allan Curless, John Blanche, Sue Porter, and Victor Ambrus. In addition to all of this, the book has a map of Middle-Earth, and two chronology charts of time during Middle-Earth. As the book states itself "the value of a Tolkien Bestiary lies in its ability to assist in opening up Tolkien's magical world through impeccably researched explanations and haunting, atmospheric illustrtations of rare brilliance." So, if you are only an average fan of maybe The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings, you will probably not want to get this book. However, if you are a hard core Tolkien fanatic who really enjoys the entire World of Tolkien, you should pick this title up today. p.s. I love the painting titled "The Death of Smaug the Golden" on page 166-7.
Rating: 
Summary: Very unsatisfying
Review: I've owned this book for years, and never liked it. The prose is overly pretentious, and the illustrations just don't FEEL right (perhaps because they are so different in style and tone from Tolkien's own watercolors). This purports to be a reference work, but it's written as if the author would like it to replace the text. (This would be less annoying if it were better written.) Don't waste your time. Fonstad's "Atlas of Middle Earth" is a MUCH better (though very different) Tolkien reference.
Rating:
Summary: A WORK OF GENIUS
Review: In this beautifully illustrated work, David Day has brought Tolkien's vast and complex mythological system to life in the structure of the medieval bestiary. The traditional bestiary was an illustrated encyclopaedia of natural history compiled by scribes, about the magical and monstrous beings inhabiting the medieval mind. This exquisite work encompasses not only the beasts and monsters of The Lord Of The Rings, The Hobbit and The Silmarillion, but also the plants, the nations, races and deities, vividly illuminating all the creations of Tolkien's remarkable world. The book starts with a map of Middle Earth and the Undying Lands surrounded by the encircling sea and also showing the island of Numenor in the great sea. Then follows a double-page chart of the chronology of Arda, demonstrating the order of events through the ages, from the creation to the fourth age. The next spread is a chronology of the kingdoms of Middle-Earth in the ages of the sun from the first age to the War of the Rings. The encyclopaeda proper starts with "Ainur" and takes the reader on a dazzling journey, beautifully illustrated in colour and black and white, to the last entry which is "Yrch." This is followed by a genealogy of the races of Elves, a genealogy of the races of Men, an index of principal sources, and the concluding with a general index. The black and white illustrations are of creatures, races and flora while those in colour follow a chronological sequence from the creation to the end of the War of the Ring and depict broad landscapes, major battles and events like the destruction of Mordor and the departure of the Ringbearers. Amongst these, my favurites include The Vision and Creation of Arda, Trees Of The Valar, The Shire, Death Of Smaug The Golden, Lothlorien And Cerin Amroth, Fall Of Isengard, Wounding Of Shelob The Great and The Golden Hall Of The Rohirrim. In line with the literary form of the bestiary, the text has an archaic flavor that mirrors the writing in Tolkien's own work. Unlike in for example Robert Fosters "Complete Guide To Middle-Earth," there aren't minutely detailed entries, in other words you will find Shelob under "Spiders" not under an own entry, but the general index at the end makes up for that. There are however, different entries for Grey Elves, Green Elves, Fair Elves and Sea Elves, as well as a long main entry under "Elves." My favorite black and white illustrations are found under the entry "Maiar" which discusses, amongst others, Melian, the River-Woman of the Withywindle and Goldberry, wife of Tom Bombadil. David Day has succeeded in providing both a practical reference to Tolkien's work and in paying homage to the imagination of the greatest storyteller of the 20th century. A Tolkien Bestiary is a masterpiece, a true work of genius and I recommend it to all Tolkien fans.
Rating:
Summary: Has complete history of middle-earth, and all the characters
Review: It had wonderful reference articles and pictures. Just like you would imagine Middle-Earth.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good, but some of the pictures look stupid.
Review: Much better than Day's later works
Rating:
Summary: As of July 1999, The Best Illustrated Tolkien. No Contest.
Review: Simply put, the other illustrated guides to Middle Earth are enormously inadequate next to this. The information is first rate, neither dumbed down for the common reader nor tediously verbose. Do check it against things like J.E.A. Tyler's A Tolkien Companion, but still it is infomative and moreover written with flare. While the A-Z tellings of the goings on in Middle Earth are solid, the illustrations are unparalleled. Buy this book for Ian Miller's vision alone, because it is sadly one of the only books in print that showcases this genius, sadly forgotten in his own time. Now he draws the occasional magic card and art for the FASA line of Role Playing Games, but his art in A Tolkien Bestiary is unabashidly furious and unrelenting, dark and majestic. Today John Howe and Alan Lee serve more or less adequately to show us Middle Earth, but they are little kids and Miller is a master. Keep your fingers crossed that Peter Jackson has a copy of this, and that we'll see something vaguely Milleresque in the new flicks. This book also has early works from John Blanche, who went on to pioneer the dark grit of Games Workshop's Warhammer world. If you are at all interested in illustration and you haven't seen this book before, it will take you to school. When I was a kid I had this book checked out from the library more or less constantly for 10 years, in the process acruing a small fortune in late fees. It was sadly out of print and so I couldn't buy it (and I was a good kid, so I didn't steal it). Get the book. It's super. Tolkien would have dug it.
Rating:
Summary: A Lavishly illustrated companion book for all Tolkien fans.
Review: The Tolkien Beastiary is a lavishly illustrated book which plunges deeply into the wonderful world dreamed up by J.R.R. Tolkien. David Day's use of colorful illustrations mixed with facinating, well written history makes this book not just informative, but a fantastic addition to The Guide To Middle Earth. It will provide hours of reading pleasure. I would recommend this handsome oversized "coffee table book" to any and all fans of Middle Earth.
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