Tolkien Books

There are a lot of books out there about Middle-earth. Here are some of my favories.

Books by J.R.R. Tolkien

• The Hobbit - This is the book that started it all. Bilbo Baggins, a respectable Hobbit, finds himself joining thirteen dwarves and a wizard on a perilous quest to recover a stolen treasure from the dragon that guards it. Along the way, Bilbo and his companions learn that he is made of much sterner stuff than any of them (except the wizard) had believed.
• The Lord of the Rings - Usually published in three volumes as The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. This book picks up Bilbo's story many years later when he is ready to give up his place in the Hobbit lands and seek his destiny. Bilbo bequeaths his wealth and possessions to his cousin and adopted son, Frodo Baggins. Among the possessions he inherits, Frodo finds the One Ring, the ancient heirloom of the last Dark Lord who had menaced Middle-earth thousands of years in the past. The Dark Lord has now returned and he wants his ring back. Frodo, with help from the wizard Gandalf, sets out to find a final solution to the problem of what to do with the Ring. Along the way he learns that Middle-earth is not yet so wide and empty that its inhabitants cannot help each other.
• The Silmarillion - Explains a lot of background material. The Silmarillion is Christopher Tolkien's attempt to reconstruct the story his father wanted to tell. Although it's not perfect, it nonetheless make Middle-earth seem like a more interesting place. Almost all of the material is devoted to the Elves' ancient history and the griefs that weigh them down by the time Bilbo and Frodo are saving Middle-earth.
• Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth - More background material. Christopher plucks every loose note and half-finished manuscript from his father's files to round out the collection of stories and essays that make up Middle-earth.
• The History of Middle-earth - Okay, there was more than one book's worth of unpublished material. In this twelve-volume series, Christopher Tolkien shows how his father created mythology after mythology, reusing ideas and names to build new sophistication into his story-telling.
• The Children of Hurin - One of the stories from The Silmarillion is told in longer form, from beginning to end, almost exactly as fans had hoped to see it for a generation.

Books by other people

• The Annotated Hobbit - Edited by Douglas Anderson, The Annotated Hobbit brings together notes from many Tolkien scholars and researchers to show just how much traditional information Tolkien used to construct his children's story.
• The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien - Edited by Humphrey Carpenter, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien provides many insights into background concepts and stories not published elsewhere. You can learn a lot about Middle-earth from Tolkien's letters that you won't learn elsewhere.
• The Complete Guide to Middle-earth - Edited by Robert Foster, this glossary is out-of-date but nonetheless very helpful for people who have trouble keeping all the names and histories straight.
• Understanding Middle-earth: Essays on J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth - Edited by Matt Tinaglia, written by Michael Martinez. This collection of essays takes you on a whirlwind tour of Middle-earth like you've never seen it before. Martinez ties a lot of the loose notes and references together to paint a big picture. Includes some humorous treatments of the subject matter.
• Visualizing Middle-earth - Written by Michael Martinez. This is Martinez' first book and though it is not as well written as Understanding Middle-earth it deserves some recognition for taking a look at Tolkien's world the way J.R.R.T. himself might have described it had he just walked up, sat down beside the reader, and started chatting about Middle-earth. Great read!

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