The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Lord of the Rings
Book Review: Beautiful boxset with delightful illustrations
Summary: 5 Stars
First off this review is about this edition only. The three volume box set 2002 illustrated by Alan Lee.
If you are reading this, I am sure your questions are is this worth the money given that I probably have a set or an edition of LOTR already. For me the answer was yes.
I highly recommend this. The quality is top-notch. I was concerned because some of the reviewers seem to say that it is hard to read and or blotchy ink. It has neither of these problems.
It is on very nice, very clean, very white paper with a large font. The books are substantial even bordering on heavy. They have beautiful red cloth covers with the J.R.R.T. symbol in gold. The dust jackets are beautiful with a different Alan Lee print on the cover, back, and spine.
The box is very nice with Bilbo's trolls and an elven ship leaving the Grey Heavens on the front and back.
The prints are all watercolors and they take up a whole page. Love them. I have always been partial to Alan Lee's work. Is it worth the $50 roughly you can find the box set for? Depends. If you do not have a nice hardback version of LOTR I would say for sure get this. The prints are delightful, the printing is great and very readable and it looks awesome on the table between the no admittance bookends. I love it and say it is worth it for sure.
There is a one volume book with the same illustrations by Alan Lee. I think this is vastly superior as the books here are easier to handle, the three dust jackets are each suberb, and the box is very nice. Alan Lee is a great with watercolors and they are produced very well with these books. I think the high contrast of the print makes it easier to read. Think of this as a great work of art. First Tolkien's art. Second Lee's art. Third the art of printing a good crips text. All 3 come together here for a neat package that you will treasure for years or decades.
Book Review: Beautiful edition with excellent pictures
Summary: 5 Stars
I love Lord of the Rings - I have several different editions because I like the feel of different sets. I went onto eBay to find copies of the first ever set I read when a teenager. So you could say I am a fan. These books are crisp, clean and beautiful. The illustrations are the best of anything currently in the market. With all that, I would agree with a prior reviewer and say that there could be more color but that is really the artist's choice. Also, for the price I would have loved more pictures.
If you are a fan, or friend/spouse/etc. of a fan, I would recommend this set. Be prepared for heavy books (personally I like them) that smell lovely and are a joy to read or browse. If you want something to read around town, obviously get some paperbacks. :-)
Book Review: Beautiful edition, but heavy volumes
Summary: 5 Stars
Others have already left excellent reviews of this edition [ISBN 0-618-26051-X] and of the book, but I wanted to address a couple of points made by reviewers.
1) I'm not having any difficulty with the glare cited by one reviewer. While it's true that all of the pages are glossy, not just the illustrations, this has not caused me any eyestrain or irritation. Changing the book's angle to the light resolves the issue easily.
2) The bigger challenge is the weight of the individual volumes. I chose this edition over the one-volume ones, because those seem to me to be more for display than reading. Even divided into three parts, however, these hardcover volumes are too heavy to hold unsupported for long. You will want to rest them on something, and those with wrist issues may want to consider the paperback editions.
Overall, however, I agree with other reviewers that these are beautiful books with color illustrations, 2-color maps, and clear text (not too tiny). They offer a middle way between a truly massive one-volume and less displayable paperback versions.
Book Review: Beautiful set
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought these for my 13 year old grandson for Christmas and he was thrilled. These books are large and heavy, but that's what he wanted and the illustrations are so beautiful. I visited several other websites and local bookstores before this purchase, but Amazon had the best price for this set. I am very pleased with this purchase.Book Review: Beautiful set - but can be hard to read
Summary: 4 Stars
This review is for this edition only. This is a beautiful set with great artwork (I wish it had more). I love hardbacks and the print is centered nicely on the page for easy reading from that perspective. The size of the books, though larger than most, is not a problem for me as it was for some, but in my house, sitting on the couch, there was reflection coming off the glossy pages that caused me to have to hold the books in certain positions to see the words clearly. I believe my eyes got tired faster than if it had been on matte paper. I bought this set to last and read to my children and maybe, one day, my grandchildren. I will finish this set with my children, but may buy another set with matte paper to read to my grandchildren. On second thought, being only 70% through with the first book, I may buy that other set before I'm done.