Beren and Lúthien Discussion

Two months after the release of J.R.R. Tolkien's Beren and Lúthien, masterfully edited by Christopher Tolkien I finally had the time to read it (although you are reading my thoughts on it even later thanks to the magic of scheduled publishing). In an earlier post I surmised that despite the tale never being fully completed, Christopher Tolkien's publishing …

The (Inherent?) Problem With Book Collecting

    My blog is mostly about and inspired by Tolkien, i.e. the name, Tolkien Fiend. At the moment, it's a humble collection, with about half of the books sitting on the shelf being copies intended for reading. Collecting anything is largely only interesting to the collection, and collectors that are also interested in whatever …

The Hobbit: The Prelude to the Lord of the Rings Video Game (PC)

    Let's finish going through my humble collection with what started it: "The Hobbit" video game from Sierra Entertainment released in 2003, was my first introduction to Middle-Earth and it's officially endorsed by the Tolkien estate. If you're looking to explore the story in a different way from the book, this would be my …

The Lord of the Rings Video Game Trilogy (GBA)

  I acquired the Lord of the Rings GameBoy Advance games much later than their release at a used game store. "Fellowship of the Ring" was released by Black Label Games in 2002 and is very different than the other two. It's more in line with "The Hobbit." Both the The "Two Towers" and "Return …

Tolkien’s World A to Z: The Complete Guide to Middle Earth by Robert Foster Hardcover

This book was recommended to me on Amazon for obvious reasons. With the coming of the internet andwebsites like Google, this book could easily be seen as obsolete. That's not a sentiment I entirely agree with. The same might be said of books in general, and yet many people (myself being one of them of …

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: Chronicles: Art & Design 2012 by Weta

  This is an Weta art book detailing the concept art and creation of the world filmed in Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." Regardless of how anyone feels about the film, it's undeniable that Jackson has an act for bringing the feel and imagery Tolkien books to the silver screen, so it's worth …

The Children of Húrin 2010 Mass Market

       The Children of Húrin is another posthumously released entry into Tolkien's legendarium. Edited by Christopher Tolkien, as are all (to my knowledge) his posthumous releases. The mass market paperback copy I own is a sixth printing from 2010. The book is a Del Rey/Ballantine Book, with illustrations by Alan Lee. The illustrations in …

Beren and Lúthien 2017 Hardcover

    I was pretty apprehensive about posting this piece of my collection, mostly because I haven't read it yet. My thesis has kept it out of reach since I bought, but the minute I finish up with that, this is the first thing I am reading. The tale of Bern and Lúthien can of …

The Silmarillion 1984 Paperback (A Tribute to Christopher Tolkien)

  The Silmarillion is the book that launched the popularity of J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium, bringing us a greater understanding of Arda, Tolkien's secondary world. The Silmarillion really demonstrates how developed and realized Middle-Earth truly is. While The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, are without a doubt Tolkien's greatest achievement, which is demonstrated by their …

The Lord of the Rings 1994 Omnibus

  I bought the "omnibus" as some might call it, mostly for the jacket art by Donato. I think the art is fantastic and captures the dark feel of the story very well. I'm always hesitant to refer to these types of printings as omnibuses because Tolkien originally intended the story to be published as …