Rating: 
Summary: A Great Addition to My Tolkien Library!
Review: Michael Martinez does it again! His first book, "Visualizing Middle Earth", brought many aspects of Tolkien's Middle Earth alive for me but "Understanding Middle Earth" goes even further. Michael's friendly conversational style of writing was easy for me to understand and assimilate. His witty and clever essays answered many complicated questions that I, as a Tolkien fan, had agonized over. Michael`s writing reflects his vast knowledge of not only Tolkien's published works but also his notes and unfinished stories later published by Christopher Tolkien in the History of Middle Earth series. I found Michael's writing to be neither dry nor boring. If anything, this author has made studying Tolkien even more fun! This is a great book for the serious and as well as the not so serious Tolkien fan.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Addition to My Tolkien Library!
Review: Michael Martinez does it again! His first book, "Visualizing Middle Earth", brought many aspects of Tolkien's Middle Earth alive for me but "Understanding Middle Earth" goes even further. Michael's friendly conversational style of writing was easy for me to understand and assimilate. His witty and clever essays answered many complicated questions that I, as a Tolkien fan, had agonized over. Michael's writing reflects his vast knowledge of not only Tolkien's published works but also his notes and unfinished stories later published by Christopher Tolkien in the History of Middle Earth series. I found Michael's writing to be neither dry nor boring. If anything, this author has made studying Tolkien even more fun! This is a great book for the serious and as well as the not so serious Tolkien fan.
Rating:
Summary: Beyond the main book...
Review: Michael Martinez has been enchanting me and other readers for years. He has a gift for uncovering so many wonderful details about Middle-earth. He follows my heart into Middle-earth itself and wanders joyfully through the imagination of J.R.R. Tolkien.Mr. Martinez has shamefully been cast in the role of villain by many people who favor the medieval interpretation of The Lord of the Rings. I found his essay, "Of thegns and kings and rangers and things", to be enlightening and a very gracious argument in favor of the medieval point of view. The case for feudalism is Eriador is made so plain and clear, I do not think it will ever be refuted. The introduction, like so many of the essays in this book, is a joyous revision of an essay Mr. Martinez had published on the Web. Expanded and embroidered with wonderful detail and commentary not provided on the Web site, Mr. Martinez' browse of the COMPLEAT Middle-earth library is a mesmerizing review of the sources. And as he is wont to do, he drops a bread crumb which leaves the reader wanting more: he mentions an unpublished history of The Hobbit. Where oh where is this book? About the Elves of Middle-earth, Mr. Martinez has a great deal to say. He says it so eloquently, too. The "Shhh! It's a secret Ring" essay is very moving. Mr. Martinez underscores just how conflicted the Elves must have been after creating the terrible Rings of Power. And he concludes his essay, "How the Elves have changed", with a remarkable observation: that the Elves were overtaken by the very changefulness they had hoped to avoid. The humor in the book is light and wistful, but it does not distract one from the subject matter. The Mafia essay addresses how the gaming people have changed Tolkien's Middle-earth. Mr. Martinez uses the Mafia mystique to poke gentle fun at an industry he obviously knows very well. And in the process, he teaches the curious reader a great deal about real history and Tolkien's imaginary history. Learning should ALWAYS be this enjoyable! Dragon-lovers will not be disappointed, as there are two very informative essays on the subject of dragons. Their relationship to gold is thoughtfully explored by Mr. Martinez. The essays on the Numenoreans and their changing relationship with the peoples of Middle-earth draw one into the Second Age. Mr. Martinez leaves no stone unturned in his quest for the fuller story of the Second Age. I was very pleased with Visualizing Middle-earth. Understanding Middle-earth simply thrills me. I turn page after page and find it hard to put down. I wish there were more books like this one. They are so very needed in our literature today.
Rating:
Summary: Surpasses Visualizing Middle-earth in every way
Review: Michael Martinez has been enchanting me and other readers for years. He has a gift for uncovering so many wonderful details about Middle-earth. He follows my heart into Middle-earth itself and wanders joyfully through the imagination of J.R.R. Tolkien. Mr. Martinez has shamefully been cast in the role of villain by many people who favor the medieval interpretation of The Lord of the Rings. I found his essay, "Of thegns and kings and rangers and things", to be enlightening and a very gracious argument in favor of the medieval point of view. The case for feudalism is Eriador is made so plain and clear, I do not think it will ever be refuted. The introduction, like so many of the essays in this book, is a joyous revision of an essay Mr. Martinez had published on the Web. Expanded and embroidered with wonderful detail and commentary not provided on the Web site, Mr. Martinez' browse of the COMPLEAT Middle-earth library is a mesmerizing review of the sources. And as he is wont to do, he drops a bread crumb which leaves the reader wanting more: he mentions an unpublished history of The Hobbit. Where oh where is this book? About the Elves of Middle-earth, Mr. Martinez has a great deal to say. He says it so eloquently, too. The "Shhh! It's a secret Ring" essay is very moving. Mr. Martinez underscores just how conflicted the Elves must have been after creating the terrible Rings of Power. And he concludes his essay, "How the Elves have changed", with a remarkable observation: that the Elves were overtaken by the very changefulness they had hoped to avoid. The humor in the book is light and wistful, but it does not distract one from the subject matter. The Mafia essay addresses how the gaming people have changed Tolkien's Middle-earth. Mr. Martinez uses the Mafia mystique to poke gentle fun at an industry he obviously knows very well. And in the process, he teaches the curious reader a great deal about real history and Tolkien's imaginary history. Learning should ALWAYS be this enjoyable! Dragon-lovers will not be disappointed, as there are two very informative essays on the subject of dragons. Their relationship to gold is thoughtfully explored by Mr. Martinez. The essays on the Numenoreans and their changing relationship with the peoples of Middle-earth draw one into the Second Age. Mr. Martinez leaves no stone unturned in his quest for the fuller story of the Second Age. I was very pleased with Visualizing Middle-earth. Understanding Middle-earth simply thrills me. I turn page after page and find it hard to put down. I wish there were more books like this one. They are so very needed in our literature today.
Rating: 
Summary: Understanding Michael Martinez
Review: People always comment on the wildly different views that can be found about Michael Martinez and his books. Often this is put down to the positive reviews being the work of 'psychophants' or the negative penned by 'Martinez haters'. There is some truth to both, but the deeper reality is that the divergent opinions are inspired by the complexity of Mr. Martinez himself. It should be noted that if there is ANYONE who is commonly identified as a 'Martinez hater' it would be me. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone with whom he has a longer or more intense history of disagreement. Take that into account as you consider my review. 'Understanding Middle Earth' greatly expands upon the strengths of Michael's previous book and goes a long way towards minimizing its weaknesses. It is well written and engaging, with a tone and pace that draw the reader in. There are numerous essays exploring possibilities and theories about the nature of Tolkien's world and what might be found lurking in those corners that Tolkien never fully detailed. This is Michael's gift, and I have never encountered anyone who does it better. The stuff that glowing reviews are made of. However, that is not the full story. While it is less pronounced than usual, this book still suffers from the flaw which leads many to post warnings about Mr. Martinez's work. When Michael leaves the realm of the speculative and delves into the more esoteric details of what Tolkien actually wrote he will often take unwarranted liberties with the facts. For instance, on page 485 he states that Tolkien removed reference to 'Balrogs in the train of Glaurung' from the description of a battle as part of his support for another claim. He made a similar statement on pages 214-15 of 'Visualizing'. Unfortunately, this claim is incorrect. In 'Visualizing', Michael compares a description of the battle from 'The Grey Annals' to the 1930s text of Quenta Silmarillion and concludes that Tolkien removed 'Balrogs in the train'. The problem is that there were two PARALLEL texts about this time period... a set of 'Annals' ('Annals of Beleriand' revised to 'Later Annals' revised to 'Grey Annals') which NEVER had 'Balrogs in the train' in any version, and a set of 'narratives' ('Quenta Silmarillion' revised to 'Later Quenta Silmarillion' revised to 'The Silmarillion') which ALWAYS had 'Balrogs in the train'. Michael compared the final 'Grey Annals' to the early 'Quenta Silmarillion' and concluded that the reference had been removed (and therefor the idea rejected)... but the reality was that it never appeared in the 'Annals' at all, and continued to appear in all versions of the 'narratives'. An analogous situation would be comparing a draft of 'Lord of the Rings' to the completed timeline from the appendices and concluding that Tolkien meant to remove the breaking of Gandalf's staff on the bridge because it didn't appear in the final timeline (ignoring that it DID appear in the final narrative). Tolkien never removed or rejected 'Balrogs in the train'... Michael was just mistakenly comparing texts from two different evolutionary branches of the story. Christopher did NOT draw that phrase from a 1930s text, but rather from the final narrative version of 1958 - from which it was never removed. Obviously this is a very small thing. The kind of minor mistake about an incredibly esoteric detail that ANYONE could make. The problem is that this error was pointed out to Michael after it appeared in 'Visualizing', but here it is again in the new book. And that is the reason that so many people take issue with Mr. Martinez's scholarship. He regularly presents information he knows to be inaccurate or incomplete rather than admit a mistake. For those of you who admire Michael Martinez or enjoy his writings... before you click that 'Not Helpful' button out of simple loyalty, check the texts. You'll find that what I have said here is true. This isn't blind 'Martinez bashing' without substantiation. Anyone can look up the references and see that Michael was wrong about this point. But it isn't just the mistake that is the problem... everyone makes mistakes. However, most of us minimize them by learning over time and correcting things that we got wrong in the past. Michael most often does not. Does this mean that you should not buy this book (or 'Visualizing')? Not at all. If you are interested in speculative exploration and expansion of Middle-Earth you are unlikely to find a better resource. Likewise, there is a wealth of information hidden just beneath the surface of 'Lord of the Rings' that is here layed out for the enjoyment of all. Only be aware that as the details of Tolkien's world grow more esoteric they are also likely to be less accurate. Michael Martinez has all the skills a literary researcher should, except the ability to acknowledge and correct his mistakes. On Edit: A mere twenty-four hours after this review was submitted it had already received a rebuttal containing false information about myself and the texts and received numerous 'not helpful' votes. This isn't the forum for a protacted debate so I encourage everyone to check the facts for themselves. They prove my point about Mr. Martinez's willingness to present information he knows to be false.
Rating: 
Summary: Oi
Review: This book is a disappointment. While the comments by the publisher on the back suggest that material not covered by other commentators is drawn on, a read of the book simply reveals that the author is drawing on the same works everyone else does. Ultimately, the author's arguments that Babylonian or Egyptian sources are as important to TOlkien's Middle Earth are just plain silly and wishful thinking. The book itself is well described by the author as populist, it is written not to study Tolkien so much as to answer the questions of Internet fandom. While this might appear to be a useful enterprise, generally Internet fandom doesn't usually buy books and study. They check out websites, and this is where most of this book came from in the first place: web site articles that have not passed the muster of a peer review or criticism of other Tolkien fans or Tolkien scholars. It would have benefited greatly from either.
Rating:
Summary: Beyond the main book...
Review: This book is a great read for those who have read Tolkien's main works (rather than just seen the movies) and want to learn and puzzle over the tantalizing loose end that Tolkien leaves throughout his works. This is definately a book for the fans!
What happened to the other reviews though???
Rating:
Summary: Thought provoking, informative, and scholarly w/o a doubt
Review: This is a fantastic resource for anyone who wants to study the works of Tolkien. Michael Martinez digs deep into the letters and unpublished works of J.R.R. Tolkien to show the reader exactly how Middle-earth is supposed to work. The depth of the research is unparalleled. The arguments are well-constructed and supported by numerous citations from many sources. To call this book unscholarly is an insult to the intelligence of every Tolkien reader. Middle-earth is a very complex model of human fictive thought. Martinez understands exactly what the reader needs to know about Tolkien's intentions and he goes straight for the meat without getting lost in the salad. He introduces new and wonderful ideas (new to me) that are so natural and well-founded that I am amazed people never saw these things before. I had always thought Tolkien must have used the Bible as a great source of inspiration for his Silmarillion. I never realized until I read these essays just how important Greek language and mythology were to Tolkien. What a sad statement about modern Tolkien research that so few of the so-called experts pay more than lip service to Tolkien's obvious heavy involvement in the literatures of many lands. Middle-earth doesn't just belong to the Michael Martinez bashers. It belongs to all of us. If you want to understand Middle-earth, you have to read this book. It goes where no book has gone before.
Rating:
Summary: Thought provoking and easy to understand
Review: Understanding Middle-Earth is a nice accompliment to Tolkien's (JRR's and Christopher's) large array of literary works. The author breaks down thought provoking areas from the books into chapters and takes a look at characters and stories only sometimes touched on in LOTR. This doesn't mean the read is boring or only for those interested in elvish syntax, the author makes the reading easy to understand and doesn't mind having fun - see the last chapter!
Rating:
Summary: Understanding Balrog passages and the War of the Wings
Review: While I have ignored the negative reviews posted about my books in the past, Conrad Dunkerson's misleading assertions need to be directly addressed. So, this seems to be the only appropriate way I can set the record straight. It should be noted that his true motive is to discredit statements made about a single paragraph which he and others have attempted to use to "prove" that all of J.R.R. Tolkien's Balrogs were wingless. Ultimately, it is not my work that Conrad is hoping to discredit -- but Christopher Tolkien's work. This is all about Balrogs and wings. Conrad Dunkerson's argument is based on his refusal to accept Christopher Tolkien's explanation of the manuscript histories. While it may bore some people to read about all these texts, it is important that anyone reading these reviews understand that the research of the reviewers needs to be questioned at least as much as the research of the author. The "Quenta Silmarillion" text in the published SILMARILLION is based mostly on a mid-1930s manuscript referred to throughout THE HISTORY OF MIDDLE-EARTH as QS. Christopher stipulated in THE LOST ROAD AND OTHER WRITINGS (Vol. V of THE HISTORY OF MIDDLE-EARTH, pp.199-201) that QS actually consists of two texts: one typed, one hand-written. JRRT made corrections to the typed QS text in two phases: first in late 1937, and then about 14 years later in 1951. QS ends just before the tale of Beren and Luthien. There are also supplemental texts, which Christopher refers to as QS(A)-QS(E), which were composed in the 1930s. QS(E) was the last pre-LoTR addendum that JRRT made to QS. (LOST ROAD, pp. 292-5,323). Christopher says his father abandoned work on the QS manuscripts when he began working on THE LORD OF THE RINGS. On page 173 of THE WAR OF THE JEWELS Christopher says he based the second half of the published "Quenta Silmarillion" on three texts: QS, LQ 1, and LQ 2. In the Foreword to MORGOTH'S RING (Vol. X of THE HISTORY OF MIDDLE-EARTH), Christopher says "it seems not to have been until the end of the 1950s that [JRRT] turned again seriously to the SILMARILLION narrative..." (p. viii). The Foreword continues to say that "much had changed since...the publication of THE LORD OF THE RINGS" and "before [JRRT] could prepare a new and final SILMARILLION he must satisfy the requirements of a coherent theological and metaphysical system, rendered now more complex in its presentation by the supposition of obscure and conflicting elements in its roots and its tradition." (Ibid.) On 141, Christopher explains that, in the first phase of the 1950s work on THE SILMARILLION, JRRT merely wrote some corrections on the 1930s texts and then had them typed. This period (1951-2) produced the LQ 1 text. Christopher uses a letter his father wrote in 1957 to argue that LQ 2 was probably begun in 1958. He suggests that "Annals of Aman" may also date to 1958. The second phase of work on THE SILMARILLION commenced after these texts were finished (MR, p. 142-3). The Grey Annals text GA 2 is part of phase two. In the Foreword to THE WAR OF THE JEWELS (Vol. XI of THE HISTORY OF MIDDLE-EARTH), Christopher writes "there is some evidence that the GREY ANNALS followed the ANNALS OF AMAN (in its primary form), but the two works were, I feel certain, closely associated in time of composition. For the structure of the history of Beleriand the GREY ANNALS constitutes the primary text, and although much of the latter part of the work was used in the published SILMARILLION with little change I give it in full. This is really essential on practical grounds, but is also in keeping with my intention in this 'History', in which I have traced the development of the Matter of the Elder Days from its beginning to its end within the compass of my father's actual writings: from this point of view the published work is not its end, and [he excluded his father's later writing]". Hence, the Grey Annals proved to be JRRT's last word on the history of Beleriand. There are no later texts. But the specific passage in question, published in THE SILMARILLION, was not written by J.R.R. Tolkien at all. On page 238 of THE WAR OF THE JEWELS, Christopher wrote: "We now come to Chapter 11 in QS, given in V.279-89. The text was not much emended on the manuscript, and I give such changes as were made in the form of notes referenced to the numbered paragraphs in Vol. V." He notes a change of name for Glaurung from Glomund, a name also noted as changed in the "Annals" text on page 180. If the reader looks no further than this, it would seem that the QS text from the 1930s served as the basis for the published SILMARILLION. But this text was not used by Christopher Tolkien. The published SILMARILLION text is most likely Christopher's own composition. He offers no explanation of where it came from. It differs substantially from the QS text, which has several variant names and is longer than the published text. The published paragraph also differs from the much later Grey Annals text. Therefore, since there is no authority for the paragraph Christopher chose to publish in THE SILMARILLION, and since the QS manuscript was not substantively revised for the chapter concerning the ruin of Beleriand, there is no basis for assuming that the 1930s text represents the latest thoughts JRRT had on the much-disputed Balrogs passage. And I stand by what I have written in both VISUALIZING MIDDLE-EARTH and UNDERSTANDING MIDDLE-EARTH.
| 
