The Return of the Shadow: The History of Middle-Earth 6: Book 6

I wasn't sure what to expect but I massively enjoyed reading Tolkien's first drafts, and seeing how the story was put together. Really interesting read and a must-have for Tolkien fans

Thoroughly enjoying reading book six in the histories of Middle Earth as the paperwork seems clearer and there are clear examples of Tolkiens' thought processes in putting his ideas down on paper whilst he contextualised them and tried to make sense of his ideas as he moved forward with the construction of The Lord of the Rings. A fact missed in some cases, and as a reader/ past writer seemed clear to see. As a life long enjoyer of the LOTR this has in no way bothered me, but just given extra value to this book. Recommended.

A scholarly masterpiece

I'm a Tolkien scholar and obsessive. His collective works are the greatest work of fiction ever written and rival the Old testament for detail and imagination. :-) And that's all I have to say about that.

arrived in good shape

A massive 13 volume work of Tolkein's work by his son Christopher. It's heavy reading but nice to dip into it from time to time especially if you have Tolkien's most famous works, you are a fan of Middle Earth and want to know more. Volumes 1 to 5 and 10 to 11 relate to "The Silmarillion", volumes 6 to 9 to "Lord of the Rings", volume 12 is an appendix and volume 13 an index. There is a shorter version of volume 9 "Sauron Defeated" called "End of the third age". They are available in hardcover which make a fine collection but not so easy to find and would cost nearly £300. I got them all as paperbacks for about £60 which is not a bad buy as you get plenty of insight into Tolkien's mind and how thorough his research was when he wrote "Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings". There are numerous essays, quotes and different versions of his published works so you can see how involved he was with his creation and the meticulous care he took to fill in every detail.

Part of an excellent series chronicling the development of the Middle earth legends. Excellent.

a nice addition to my Tolkien library

Lots of great facts. It shows how the story progresses and improved over different renditions. I found it interesting how the characters and their names changed. Great book.

I'm picky about books. I expect that the book I buy new should arrive new. This book arrived within the time predicted and with no bends, tears, spine cracked or any other dust or dirt on the book cover or pages.

Nicht nur eine Sammlung von unveröffentlichten Geschichten: HISTORY OF MIDDLE-EARTH ist die Chronik einer jahrzehntelangen literarischen Sisyphos-Arbeit. Im Zentrum steht die Evolution der Themen und Geschichten durch viele verschiedene, z.T. widersprüchliche oder schwer zu entziffernde Texte und Textfragmente. Wer sich darauf einlässt, wird mit einem tiefgehenden Verständnis für Tolkiens Lebenswerk belohnt. Anspruchsvolle Lektüre, ungeeignet für Leser, die nur neue Geschichten aus dem HdR-Universum suchen.

Come gli altri 12 volumi della serie, ho preso anche questo per collezione e l'ho solo sfogliato per ora. Si tratta della pubblicazione degli appunti di Tolkien da parte del figlio. La monumentale opera dell'autore previde storie parallele, modifiche, tagli, prima di arrivare alla pubblicazione dei più noti Silmarillon, Lo Hobbit e Il Signore degli Anelli nella forma che troviamo nelle librerie. E' affascinante, per chi è appassionato, poter leggere le tracce originali ed anche qualche aneddoto poco noto e relativo alle ere precedenti della Terra di Mezzo. Il commento è lo stesso per gli altri volumi che ho comprato.

Turns thought on its head that LOTR was a deliberately conceived storyline from the very start and not an organic brainstorming process always developing into the text we have today. Seen via changes of characters, change of races and the late infusion of the Aragorn King of Gondor character - dropped idea of Trotter (Aragorn) once a wild wandering Ranger hobbit or flawed warrior human Boromir also a hobbit. Originally a travelling party made up of hobbits. changed to allow Boromir's contempt of the lost King of Gondor in favour of his father the Steward. Interesting the Frodo name was not a first choice. Dissecting of the well known storyline is of interest to first time fiction writers.