Rating: 
Summary: Tolkien Mania: Begin Your Journey Here
Review: With Unfinished Tales (UT) we begin our long and exciting journey into the History of Middle Earth (HoME) series (actually UT is technically not part of HoME and was published before BoLT1, the first in the series, but I generally think of HoME as everything but The Hobbit, LoTR and the Silmarillion). Posthumously published by his son Christopher, these books contain JRR's lifelong writings about the imaginary world he created as a home for his invented languages. There are 13 books including UT.
Not surprisingly, the stories found in UT are, well, unfinished. The two major pieces in this book deal with recurring stories from the Silmarillion: "Of Tuor and His Coming To Gondolin" and "Narn I Hin Hurin," or "The Tale of the Children of Hurin." These are by far the best stories in the book. The "Narn", as it comes to be commonly called, is as close as we get to a finished tale and is a sort of cut-and-paste effort by Christopher in his attempt to fill in the gaps left by his father. The account of Tuor and Gondolin is slightly shorter and (I think) more cohesive and entertaining as a whole. I suppose that is why I was severely disappointed when it ended so abruptly (and just when it was getting good!). There were two parts wherein I found myself absolutely enthralled: Tuor's encounter with Ulmo and the account of the Seven Gates of Gondolin. The descriptions and dialogue found in the former scene are (in my opinion) some of the greatest I've read (so far) of Tolkien. Okay, I just can't help myself...here is a (rather long) excerpt:'And thereupon Ulmo lifted up a mighty horn, and blew upon it a single great note, to which the roaring of the storm was but a wind-flaw upon a lake. And as he heard that note, and was encompassed by it, and filled with it, it seemed to Tuor that the coasts of Middle-earth vanished, and he surveyed all the waters of the world in a great vision: from the veins of the lands to the mouths of the rivers, and from the strands and estuaries out into the deep. The Great Sea he saw through its unquiet regions teeming with strange forms, even to its lightless depths, in which amid the everlasting darkness there echoed voices terrible to mortal ears. Its measureless plains he surveyed with the swift sight of the Valar, lying windless under the eye of Anar, or glittering under the horned Moon, or lifted in hills of wrath that broke upon the Shadowy Isles, until remote upon the edge of sight, and beyond the count of leagues, he glimpsed a mountain, rising beyond his mind's reach into a shining cloud, and at its feet a long surf glimmering. And even as he strained to hear the sound of those far waves, and to see clearer that distant light, the note ended, and he stood beneath the thunder of the storm, and lightning many branched rent asunder the heavens above him. And Ulmo was gone, and sea was in tumult, as the wild waves of Osse rode against the walls of Nevrast.' (pg. 33, Ballantine) Well, if that's not the most breathtaking description I've ever heard then...[your favorite cliché here]. The remainder of the book (about 2/3) is a collection of stories from the second and third ages of Middle Earth. The most notable include a tale about a king of Numenor and his constant sea voyages to Middle Earth at the expense of his marriage (see! even the great kings of old had imperfect domestic relationships). Also noteworthy is "Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan," which sheds much light on the history of Rohan and its relationship to Gondor. There are also a few chapters at the end explaining some gaps in LoTR. Overall this is a great collection and has some critical pieces of information for Tolkienites (The Narn, the lines of Numenor, etc.). I would say that it is (except for the Silmarillion) the most successful book at clearing up some of the historical confusion and filling in much needed gaps between the various ages of Middle Earth. A must read for anyone hungry for more after the Silmarillion.
Rating: 
Summary: What have they done to to the map!!??
Review: "Unfinished Tales" is a must-have for any Tolkien lover with a desire to know more about Middle-Earth. It is not, despite what some of these reviews say, a novel. It is a collection of shorter writings, all of them (in case it wasn't obvious) unfinished, in one sense or another, edited with notes and commentary by J. R. R. Tolkien's son Christopher. It stands functionally somewhere between "The Silmarillion" and the later-published books; the former was presented as a more-or-less complete work (even though Tolkien never really stopped working on it) while the latter are intended more as a study of the evolution of Tolkien's Middle-Earth universe. "Unfinished Tales" shows some of this evolution, too, with different and sometimes contradictory versions of many of the stories; but the emphasis is on the stories and not their writing. Much as I enjoyed "The Silmarillion", I would not describe it as required reading for all Tolkien fans -- it's stylistically very different from "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings", much less oriented to a popular audience and more difficult for many readers. The first two parts of "Unfinished Tales" likewise. Those who revel in the rich mythology of "The Silmarillion" will find more to treasure here; those whose Tolkien appreciation doesn't extend to "The Silmarillion" won't enjoy the first half of "Unfinished Tales" either. But the latter half of the book will appeal to any LotR fan. The background on the history of the relationship between Gondor and Rohan; the recounting of Sauron's desperate search for the Ring; Gandalf's recollections of how and why he brought the odd couple of Thorin Oakenshield and Bilbo Baggins together -- great stuff, and perhaps best of all is the terse and tense recounting of "The Disaster of the Gladden Fields", when Isuldur lost the Ring and his life, setting in motion the whole War of the Ring centuries later. BUT... all this is marred in the 2001 hardcover edition by, let us not mince words, the rape of the map. I bought this book expecting the large, pull-out map, updated beyond what's in LotR, that was included in the first edition. Instead it's reduced to the size of two book pages and printed before the title page! Not only does the reduction render it near-unreadable, but of course the binding seam goes right down the middle, obliterating names and locations of some of the most significant places in Middle-Earth from Rivendell to Dol Amroth. Houghton Mifflin ought to be ashamed. With a proper map I would have given five stars; with this atrocity, I can give only three.
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Summary: Fantasy???
Review: The Unfinished tales by J.R.R. Tolkien reinforces the sense that one is not reading a fantasy at all, but a history that goes back a very long way. Here one can read the history of Galadriel and Celeborn, and of the mysterious Istari. True Tolkien fans will love this! After a journey through these pages, both the movies and the written trilogy seem to have sprung from an ancient and nearly forgotten manuscript. Most enjoyable reading.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting
Review: These Unfinished Tales give some much desired background information on Middle-Earth. Turin and Tuor have their lives explained in this book, as they were somewhat abridged in the Silmarillion. Read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Resource
Review: This book is an excellent resource for further background on Tolkien's world of Middle-earth. I did my senior research paper on JRR Tolkien and read several (i.e. twelve) books on Tolkien and his magnificent world of fantasy. I tend to steer clear of Christopher Tolkien's History of Middle-earth series because I have kept the mindset that Christopher's series is only a reverberation of the brilliancy of JRR, his father. Because this book is mostly composed of JRR Tolkien's works, I include it with the original tales of Middle-earth. Therefore it is surrounded by perfection. This is a great supplement to any Tolkien collection.
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Summary: An amazing collection of material
Review: Unfinished Tales is some of Tolkien's unpublished writings. These writings includes the stories of Tour, Turin, Galadriel, the Stewards, Eorl and Rohan, the wizards and other aspects of middle earth. Christopher Tolkien also provides many footnotes that go into detail about the languages used by Tolkien. I have read six novels by Tolkien, and consider this to be weakest, but I still gave it five stars. Unfinished Tales contains information that could not included in the Silmarillion. Many of the stories add detail to those began in the Silmarillion. If you are considering buying this book, you should know this is not like Tolkien's other books about middle earth. This is a collection of many stories and legends that do not neccessarily involve each other. In this work, there is no overall plot. If you, as I, love Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and Silmarillion, then Unfinished Tales provides more information and depth. If you are looking for a novel about another period in middle earth, then you might be disappointed. Additionally, the second story concerning Turin requires that you have read the Silmarillion. However, this novel gives fans of Tolkien another chance to marvel in his genius and be amazed at his vast creation. I have just finished reading Unfinished Tales for a third time, and encourage anyone who enjoyed the Silmarillion to buy this book because more likely than not, you will also read it again.
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Summary: The Lord Of the Rings, The Two Towers
Review: The journey to destroy the one Ring and save Middle-Earth continues in the second volume of this epic tale, The Lord of The Rings, The Two Towers. The Fellowship has been broken; Gandalf the Grey has fallen into the shadow in the Mines of Moria, and Boromir of Gondor has been seduced by the power of the Ring, and then falls trying to defend what he tried to seize. Frodo and Sam are off to destroy the Ring, and the rest of their company has been left to defend the attack of the Uruk-hai orcs. Merry and Pippin have been taken captive by the Orc-soilders, who are making their way towards Isengard. Hope has been snatched from those that have set out to protect the Ring. The story, The Two Towers is split into two parts. The first part is the tale of the three heros, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli, and their search for their hobbit companions, Merry and Pippin. The second half tells of the adventure of Frodo, Sam, the Ring and their eerie guide, Gollum who leads them to the Black Gate of Mordor. During the winter break off of school, I had the opportunity to see The Two Towers in theaters. It was an excellent film, however it was not as accurate as the first film, The Fellowship of the Ring. There were two chapters, one from each part, that the movie did not included. One of the chapters actually contained the explanation for the title, The Two Towers. In comparison of the book to the movie, the film kept the attention of the audience but the book was easier to follow as far as the story line goes because only one part of the story was told at a time. Overall , The Two Towers was a masterpiece and another exciting part in the epic trilogy of J.R.R. Tolkien's
ultimate battle of good and evil.
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Summary: Tragically Unfinished
Review: Anyone who knows and loves the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, knows that he died leaving most of his work unfinished and unpublished. He was constantly rewriting and rethinking different parts of Middle-earth's history, and has left us with many different questions that will never be answered. After reading The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion, many readers are amazed and stop here announcing that Tolkien is a true genius (if they even reach this point), but there are some of us who have grown to love Tolkien's work, and embrace every aspect of it with such a lust for knowledge, that we delve deeper into the works of this intricate man. His son, Christopher Tolkien, has made this possible by piecing together and editing his father's massive amounts of work and sorting it out and explaining it all to us, the readers. Before diving into the twelve book series "The History of Middle-earth," which Christopher has so delicately and perfectly presented, I highly suggest reading this piece of literature, which explains more in depth, smaller aspects of the published writings of Tolkien. Read Tolkien's last effort at the story of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin, a story which tragically was not finished, and can only be glimpsed at in its rough stages in Volume II of The History of Middle-earth (The Book of Lost Tales 2), and then diverge into the complete "Narn I Hín Húrin," the story of the children of Húrin: Túrin Turambar and Nienor Niniel, two of the most tragic characters in existence in the first section of Unfinished Tales which deals with the first age of the sun of Middle-earth. The second section of Unfinished Tales is very important for it contains many accounts of events that occured in the second age of the sun, a time that is hardly written about, that is filled with much history and tragedy. Read about the Isle of Gift: Númenor, which the ancestors of Elendil were given and which they lost towards the end of the Second Age, and about it's sixth king: Tar-Aldarion, and his strong wife, Erendis, who wages a battle with the Lady of the Sea for her husband's love in one of the most awesome love stories ever written. Read also about the fate of the Elves who remained in Middle-earth and defied the might of the Dark Lord Sauron until the Last Alliance, in which a tangled history of Celeborn and Galadriel is woven with the story of Amroth and Nimrodel, and the Sindarin princes who ruled the Silvan Elves of the forests of Middle-earth after Beleriand's fall. In section three read about aspects of the Third Age yet to be covered, like the fate of Isildur who cut the One Ring, to the history of the Riders of Rohan who befriended the failing kingdom of Gondor in their need to the meeting of Gandalf and Thorin Oakenshield in an inn within the walls of Bree, a chance meeting which would be vital in the destruction of a dragon which could have ended The Lord of the Rings very differently, while reading about the fate of Theodred, son of Theoden King of Rohan. Finally, read rare appendices on the stunted Drúedain, the only technical and historical writings on the Palantiri (the seven seeing stones from the West), and one of the most talked about features of Tolkien's writings: the Istari, a race of the Maiar who were sent as emmisaries into Middle-earth (who also became known as "wizards") to drive Men and Elves to good deeds during the Third Age of Middle-earth. This book is a necessary part of any Tolkien Reader's library and will most likely be read and studied again and again by readers young and old of any profession.
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Summary: Lore to feed your mind
Review: As with all of Tolkiens books, this is one book that any devoted fan must read! Not only will it answer many quetions (although they are relatively simple ones for us lore masters) but it contains, many stories that are in a relatively coplete narrative form.
The first of these, is the tale of Tuor's coming to Gondolin. This is a much longer account of the six page one given in the Silmarillion, and unfortunately stops quite suddenly (however, the rest of the story can be found in the second book of Lost Tales and The Silmarillion).
The second story, in my opinion, should be a book it's self. It is in complete narrative form, from beginning to end (except for one part which, disapointingly, is found only in a more condensed form in the Silmarillion). This is the Narn i hin Hurin, or the Tale of the Children of Hurin (Of Turin Turambar in the Silmarillion). This major portion of the book includes, as do most of the tales, an informative appendix. This is one of my favorite, if not my very favorite tale by Tolkien (Yes, even before Lord of the Rings).
After this, much information considering the Second-Age of Middle-earth is given, including a beautiful tale (Whi about a Numenorean King and his wife, Aldarion and Erendis. Following this, is the history of Galadriel and Celeborn, which includes the trajic yet beautiful tale of Amroth and Nimrodel (Legolas sings a part of this tale in The Fellowship of the Ring). This section also includes the tale of the Disaster on the Gladden Fields and Isildur's death.
Following thit are the tales from the third age which were not included in the Lord of the Rings (or perhaps in less detail). These are mostly just very short stories and notes, yet still they feed your knowledge, and leave it begging for more (and yes, more is available). They include The Oath of Cirion and Eorl (Steward of Gondor and first king of Rohan), Gandalf's account of how he sent the dwarves to Bag End, The Hunt for the Ring (telling of the journey of the Nazgul while they hunted Frodo) and The Battles of the Fords of Isen, telling of the battles of Rohan with the forces of Saruman during the War of the Ring.
The fourth part includes three essays, The Druedain, giving much information on the "Wild men of the Woods", such as the people of Haleth and the men of Ghan-buri-ghan. The Istari, giving very interesting information on the backround of the five wizards, and how it came to be that they were sent to Middle-earth. The third is several notes and short writings about The Palantiri, the seeing-stones. Having given this book so much praise, I know would say that it should only be read by the serious Tolkien fan, because this is not your ordinary fantasy book, it's a history. Not only that, but it's written in such a way that anyone who has not read The Silmarillion, the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, would be quite confused.
I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to feed their knowledge of Middle-earth.
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Summary: Got questions? Here are many of the answers.
Review: This collection of stories is just what the name implies--unfinished tales from both the continent of Middle-Earth and the island of Numenor. These tales are great and rich in detail, but one should be warned that they are not your everyday fantasy story. Both The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion are complicated and not casually understood, but this book tops both of them in terms of complexity. The story of the compilation of the book is this: Tolkien's son Christopher collected a mass of writings of his father--notes scrawled on scraps of paper, unpublished essays, even letters dealing with Middle-Earth. He edited and organized them, and prepared them for publication, and the result is this book. Because of this, many of the stories are missing detail and have some speculation, and all of them relate to other events related in Tolkien's other works. Because of the relation to Tolkien's other work, this book should be read AFTER The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion, and should only be approached by those who want to seriously study and learn all there is to know of the world Tolkien created. For the casual reader this compilation may be somewhat tedious, for there is much detail lacking and it is assumed that you already have a knowledge of the history of Middle-Earth as outlined in Tolkien's other books. For those who are serious about study, though, this book is a great addition to the already extensive world of JRR Tolkien. Ever wonder where Gandalf and the other wizards came from? Why Bilbo was chosen to accompany the Dwarves in The Hobbit? What the palantiri stones do, and where they came from? If so, then this is the book for you. You will find a collection of stories that will greatly enrich the lore of Middle-Earth (and Numenor). For serious readers of Tolkien, this book is highly recommended. No one does fantasy like he does, and even these scattered fragments of narrative are enough to leave you begging for more.
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