New Tolkien Books:updates

[davem]

Now, I'm not sure I should be posting this as I found it on another message board, but its posted by a friend of ours in the Tolkien Society, Alan, who we met up with at Oxonmoot. It was passed to him by Douglas A Anderson & is a press release from Harper Collins

Press Release

Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006
J.R.R. TOLKIEN'S THE CHILDREN OF HÚRIN TO BE PUBLISHED IN 2007

Houghton Mifflin has acquired US rights to publish the first complete
book by J.R.R. Tolkien since the posthumous Silmarillion in 1977 .
HarperCollins UK acquired the project from The Tolkien Estate in a
world rights deal. Presented for the first time as a fully
continuous and standalone story, the epic tale of The Children of
Húrin will reunite fans of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
with Elves and Men, dragons and Dwarves, and the rich landscape and
characters unique to Tolkien.

The Children of Húrin , begun in 1918, was one of three "Great Tales"
J.R.R. Tolkien worked on throughout his life, though he never
realized his ambition to see it published. Though familiar to many
fans from extracts and references within other Tolkien books, it has
long been assumed that the story would forever remain an "unfinished
tale". Now reconstructed by Christopher Tolkien, painstakingly
editing together the complete work from his father's many drafts,
this book is the culmination of a tireless thirty-year endeavor by
him to bring J.R.R. Tolkien's vast body of unpublished work to a wide
audience.

Christopher Tolkien said: "It has seemed to me for a long time that
there was a good case for presenting my father?s long version of the
legend of the Children of Húrin as an independent work, between its
own covers, with a minimum of editorial presence, and above all in
continuous narrative without gaps or interruptions, if this could be
done without distortion or invention, despite the unfinished state in
which he left some parts of it."

Having drawn the distinctive maps for the original The Lord of the
Rings more than 50 years ago, Christopher has also created a detailed
new map for this book. In addition, it will include a jacket and
color paintings by Alan Lee , illustrator of The Hobbit and The Lord
of the Rings Centenary Edition and Oscar ® -winning designer of the
film trilogy.

The Lord of the Rings was already acclaimed worldwide as the most
popular book of the 20th Century before the blockbuster films in
2001-3 broke new ground and inspired millions more to read J.R.R.
Tolkien's books -- an additional 50 million copies were sold, leaving
new fans wanting more. The Children of Húrin will be published by
HarperCollins UK in April 2007, and on the same day in the United
States by Houghton Mifflin.

Victoria Barnsley , CEO and Publisher of HarperCollins Publishers UK
said: "This epic story of adventure, tragedy, fellowship and heroism
stands as one of the finest expressions of J.R.R. Tolkien?s skills as
a storyteller. With a narrative as dramatic and powerful as anything
contained within The Lord of the Rings , it can now be read and
enjoyed as Tolkien originally intended, and will doubtless be a
revelation for millions of fans around the world."
Janet Silver , Vice President and Publisher of Houghton Mifflin,
said, "As J.R.R. Tolkien's original American publisher, dating back
to The Hobbit , we are extremely proud to be bringing this project
to Tolkien's devoted readership in the United States. Christopher
Tolkien has done a great service in realizing his father's vision for
The Children of Hurin."

[Formendacil]

Saw the two threads in Books before I got here... so I'm crossposting my reply:

Originally Posted by Formendacil

I... hardly know what to think here.

First of all, there is a certain incredulity. I mean, this almost feels as if it goes against the grain of everything Christopher Tolkien has done or said in the entire HoME. But, on the other hand, it seems to harken back to the earlier days of publishing the Silmarillion, when he took a bit more artistic license, and filled out some scrappy texts.

But still... after all these years?

As near as I can tell, assuming the story is true, we're basically just looking at a published version of the Narn I Chín Húrin- with the middle chunk that was missing in Unfinished Tales filled in.

Personally, I'm inclined to think this a good thing, if it's true, but hardly a necessary one. And I'm really, really confused as to... Why?

[narfforc]

Personally I would like Christopher to have done a re-edit of both The Silmarillion and parts of Unfinished Tales combining both with any further work he could have found. If all we are to get is what we already have, I would feel slightly cheated.

I am not saying this is the case, but between The Sil/UT/HoMe what else can he possibly be doing?

[davem]

My assumption on what it is likely to contain is, apart from the new map CT has created for it & the Alan Lee cover & illustrations, the whole Narn as we have it in The Sil & UT, a Prologue setting out the context of the story & hopefully the Wanderings of Hurin, either incorporated into the main text or as an Appendix.

I expect it to find its way to the top of the best seller lists - & it will be nice to see one of Tolkien's 'darker' works easily available to the general reader.

First of all, there is a certain incredulity. I mean, this almost feels as if it goes against the grain of everything Christopher Tolkien has done or said in the entire HoME. But, on the other hand, it seems to harken back to the earlier days of publishing the Silmarillion, when he took a bit more artistic license, and filled out some scrappy texts.

Well, CT has carte blanche as regards his father's work. Lalwende has given us the relevant part of Tolkien's will:

’Upon Trust to allow my son Christopher full access to the same* in order that he may act as my Literary Executor with full power to publish edit alter rewrite or complete any work of mine which may be unpublished at my death or to destroy the whole or any part or parts of any such unpublished works as he in his absolute discretion may think fit and subject thereto’

*unpublished works

The amount of work CT has put in over the years, culminating in this volume, is something we should all be grateful for. Hopefully it won't be too expensive - we've got Rateliff's 'Mr Baggins' out the following month...

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by davem

Well, CT has carte blanche as regards his father's work. Lalwende has given us the relevant part of Tolkien's will.

I think we probably all know that... what with all the woefully ruminating about what "could have been", had Christopher Tolkien taken a more "liberal" approach to publishing his father's writing. I'm just saying that this seems more in character with his publication of the Silmarillion and somewhat in Unfinished Tales twenty-five years ago, when he willingly modified and added to (albeit sparingly) his father's texts; rather than being in the spirit of the meticulous presentation of texts that we've seen in the HoME since.

Which makes me quite excited. A complete text, from Christopher Tolkien, is bound to be good. And coming AFTER his years working on the HoME, it should be able to avoid some of the more avoidable problems of filling in the gaps- as evidenced by the "Fall of Doriath" portions of the published Silmarillion. So I'm really curious to see how the "Nargothrond" chunk in the middle of the Narn is played out- whether we see much an expansion or addition to the published Silmarillion text. And, like you Davem, I'm curious (and hopeful) to see if "The Wanderings of Húrin" will make it in- and especially curious to see how much editting, and of what nature, goes on there.

Overall, I'm really excited about this... very excited! But it seems very "out of the blue" and a bit out of keeping with what Christopher Tolkien has done over the past 25 years or so. Is it perhaps an attempt to get out an "official" completed Narn- before Christopher dies and the texts go into the public domain? Or is it a resurgence late in life of a subcreatorly urge?

Or what?

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

I dropped in at Michael Drout's blog just now, and lo: his latest entry is about this very release. Wormtalk and Slugspeak

[Child of the 7th Age]

This is not a Tolkien book per se but a fiction book by James Owen with a print run of 100,000 copies called "Here There Be Dragons". It was released in the past few days. This one is certainly different! It features Tolkien, Williams and Lewis as characters in a 336 page young adult fantasy.

Here is a general description from the Tolkien News website:

The book brings together three strangers -- John, Jack and Charles -- in London during World War I, where they become entrusted with the Imaginarium Geographica, an atlas of all the lands that have ever existed in myth and legend, fable and fairy tale." They must band together and travel to various mythical lands to battle an evil that is threatening both worlds (the real and imaginary).

As it turns out, the three main characters are J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and Charles Williams.

Movie rights were optioned for this even before publication. They were picked up by Warner Brothers and will be produced by David Heyman, who also did the Harry Potter movies. The publisher Simon and Schuster plans to release six more books in the series: one each October for the coming six years.

I was curious enough to order it, which may be a big mistake! We'll see...... It did have a good review from the creator of Ender's Game.

Has anyone picked this up to read? See here on Amazon for more information.

[zifnab]

"It features Tolkien, Williams and Lewis as characters in a 336 page young adult fantasy. "


Now that sounds like it would be a fun read!

Movie Rights? I'm sick and tired of Hollywood and any other 'Making Magic Movies into Mayhem' companys jumping onto this bandwagon.

[piosenniel]

I haunt the Young Adult Fantasy sections of the local bookstores - I picked this up at Barnes and Noble a few days ago and read through a number of chapters. I was drawn in by the description on the flyleaf, the idea of there being such an Atlas, and intrigued by the title.

My first impressions is that it seems 'thinly' written - that it moved forward like a screenplay, more than a richly written and described story.

Did like the illustrations in it.

I opted not to get it - at least until it comes out in paperback. Would really like to hear someone else's review of it - which might encourage me to try a re-read sooner rather than later.

~*~ Pio

[Child of the 7th Age]

Pio,

Interesting that you describe this as more like a "screenplay" than a detailed storyline. Since the rights were optioned off so early, I just wonder if this is what they had in mind all along.

I picked it up for $12 on Amazon and will report back what I think of it.

[Child of the 7th Age]

The Tolkien Companion and Guide by Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond (now up to 2300 pages!) is finally supposed to surface in Great Britain on November 2, and shortly thereafter in the U.S. We have been waiting a long time for this. See here for the announcement in Tolkien News. This time the announcement is straight from Hammond and Scully so it's probably right!

Here is a description of what's coming: review.

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by Formendacil

I think we probably all know that... what with all the woefully ruminating about what "could have been", had Christopher Tolkien taken a more "liberal" approach to publishing his father's writing. I'm just saying that this seems more in character with his publication of the Silmarillion and somewhat in Unfinished Tales twenty-five years ago, when he willingly modified and added to (albeit sparingly) his father's texts; rather than being in the spirit of the meticulous presentation of texts that we've seen in the HoME since.

Which makes me quite excited. A complete text, from Christopher Tolkien, is bound to be good. And coming AFTER his years working on the HoME, it should be able to avoid some of the more avoidable problems of filling in the gaps- as evidenced by the "Fall of Doriath" portions of the published Silmarillion. So I'm really curious to see how the "Nargothrond" chunk in the middle of the Narn is played out- whether we see much an expansion or addition to the published Silmarillion text. And, like you Davem, I'm curious (and hopeful) to see if "The Wanderings of Húrin" will make it in- and especially curious to see how much editting, and of what nature, goes on there.

Overall, I'm really excited about this... very excited! But it seems very "out of the blue" and a bit out of keeping with what Christopher Tolkien has done over the past 25 years or so. Is it perhaps an attempt to get out an "official" completed Narn- before Christopher dies and the texts go into the public domain? Or is it a resurgence late in life of a subcreatorly urge?

Or what?

My guess is that when CT assembled the Silmarillion, it was never anticipated that there would be so much appetite among Tolkien's fans for unfinished and many drafted tales and so he got the work his father so much wanted published in a coherent, if as he himself admits, less than perfect version. Also I think I remember reading that papers had been transferred to Marquette in a fairly haphazard way and he may not have had access to everything at the time he did the Silmarillion. Now that CT has done "his duty" and edited as a scholar with minimum personal input so much of the raw materials, maybe he is now devoting his remaining time to assembling tales from the Silmarillion as perhaps he wishes he had done origianally, and with the benefit of the work on HoME.

[Child of the 7th Age]

I was rummaging around on amazon and was pleased to learn that The Marvellous Land of Snergs has recently been reissued in an inexpensive paperback edition: here.

For the past few years, it's been completely impossible to buy this book at a reasonable price. Even battered paperback copies were selling for close to $100. .

This is a fun children's story, and it's very easy to see how some of the characteristics of the snergs rubbed off on the hobbits.....

[piosenniel]

Thank you , thank you, Child!!

I found I could order it at my local Barnes and Noble.

Looking forward to reading it as is my daughter.

~*~ Pio

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Thanks for the info, Child! I'm going to be putting an Amazon list together in the next few days (the best way for me to be able to get English language books) and this will definitely go into my shopping cart.

[Lalwendë]

The Scull/Hammond Companion & Guide is now out - came out Monday and was being despatched last weekend. davem's copy (ordered a long time ago when the world was young) is however currently languishing in our local post office as the opening hours coincide with working hours. However I am hopeful it will be rescued later today. The delay was unfortunately due to illness. But this book (well, set of books) looks to be a defining work and a 'must -have' and I am thankful it comes in two volumes or there would have been scrapping in our house.

[Aiwendil]

I've long suspected that post offices' and banks' hours are deliberately designed to prevent anyone from using them.

Thanks for the update - I think I'll be putting the Hammond/Scull guide on my Hannukah/Christmas list. I'd be interested to hear what you think of it when (if!) you manage to wrest it from the post office.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Thanks, Lalwende. I'm also looking forward to this and have had a pre-order for several years. It will be longer coming to my house because of the distance it has to travel. I ordered from the UK because the one published by Houghton Mifflin isn't expected to come out till late December.

The other huge volume that's already out in the U.S. is the Tolkien Encyclopedia edited by Michael Drout, which has a long list of topics and contributors. Unfortunately, the encyclopedia costs $199. I am hoping that the local university will pick it up.

[Lalwendë]

Well by happy coincidence the need to collect the car after repairs, an excess of worked hours and the opening times of the local post office all happened at the same time this afternoon so the books were retrieved.

I've spent the past few hours absorbed in them (have put them down now as their rightful owner will soon be home and he will want to read them ) and I can honestly say they are excellent. Thorough is the word that springs to mind right away. Fascinating is the second one. One volume is taken up with a day-by-day chronology of Tolkien's life (you may, if old and silly enough, be able to see what Tolkien was doing the day you were born) including who he was writing to, what he was lecturing in, who he visited etc, plus extensive information on his family, and a wallet-tingling bibliography of all his works (I hear eBay calling...).

The other volume is a huge A-Z of themes, people and places (and other things too) associated with Tolkien, e.g. sections on H Rider Haggard (and an interesting consideration of how LotR has echoes from She, a fave of Tolkien's), the Lancashire Fusiliers, Fairy Tales, GK Chesterton (Tolkien got fed up with Chesterton apparently), George MacDonald (likewise he got fed up with MacDonald and Phantastes 'afflicted me with profound dislike'). We also learn that Tolkien once played Thomas The Tank Engine in the street outside Merton College, wandered the streets of Oxford dressed in a bearskin rug and had a swimming race wearing a panama hat and smoking a pipe.

I see its on offer on Amazon so it could be a good time to buy it! It will keep you quiet for days, this one, and after that you will have lots of things to say.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Oooh, thanks for the info on that one, Lal! I immediately added it to my Amazon order; it will take a couple of weeks, but now I have even more to which I can look forward!

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Estelyn Telcontar

Oooh, thanks for the info on that one, Lal! I immediately added it to my Amazon order; it will take a couple of weeks, but now I have even more to which I can look forward!

I wouldn't like to be your postman! Carrying it back from the post office has left my arms a few inches longer due to the ridiculously big box it was in.

If anyone has the three volume hardback set of HoME (with the black dustjackets, and which I don't touch as they're far too heavy for everyday reading - I prefer paperbacks ) it looks very good next to them on the shelves.

Next comes Children of Hurin (which also will come in a special limited edition) and then Mr Baggins, so it's time to reinforce those bookshelves...

If these all arrive in time for Christmas, Esty, you will have plenty to keep you busy!

[davem]

There's a new hardback edition of TH http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hobbit-There...e=UTF8&s=books out now to celebrate the 70th anniversary of publication, designed to match the recent 'uniform' (matte dustjacket) edition by Harper Collins of FotR, TT, RotK, TS & UT & in October there's a 25th anniversary edition of Mr Bliss.

[Kuruharan]

I think this is supposed to be the final cover of the Children of Hurin.

http://tolkiengateway.net/w/images/8...urin_cover.jpg

I'm not a tremendous fan of Alan Lee's work, but I have to admit I quite like that picture.

[davem]

Originally Posted by Kuruharan

I think this is supposed to be the final cover of the Children of Hurin.

http://tolkiengateway.net/w/images/8...urin_cover.jpg

I'm not a tremendous fan of Alan Lee's work, but I have to admit I quite like that picture.

Must praise Alan Lee's choice of cover picture - the 'old' one (with Glaurung crossing the Narog) was a bit too 'sword & sorcery' for me, & gave the wrong impression of the work. This one fits a work of great literature. (And not an emu or Christmas tree in sight )

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

I'm going to miss the impressionistic approach. Everything's so literal and representational in the world of Tolkien art; we need the fresh perspective offered by illustrators who haven't had their interpretations coloured by reading the books.

I'm glad that they chose this picture of Turin. The depiction of him killing Glaurung tended to reduce him to that one event, whereas that's arguably one of his less important acts . However, this does tend to focus the attention rather on Turin than the other players in this drama. Perhaps some depiction of Turin's first meeting with Nienor might have fitted the bill better, although that's just nitpicking.

It's good to think that the Dragon Helm will be gracing bookshelves in full fig rather than as bare-armed action hero: that depiction lends him a dignity that some of his other guises lack.

[davem]

Fans of OFS may be interested in this new edition:


New (or at least so far unpublished) stuff included....here

[Lalaith]

Children of Hurin is currently #3 in the amazon.co.uk top 100, but #45 at amazon.com...

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Lalaith

Children of Hurin is currently #3 in the amazon.co.uk top 100, but #45 at amazon.com...

It must have something to do with our love of a good queue.

[Lalwendë]

Ooops, I just got really excited at seeing this and forgot that I'd already read it on here first!

Too much over-excitement, obviously!

It's like ten Christmasses happening all at once!

*runs off to find some tranquilisers*

[Lalaith]

Oh, I've already contributed to CoH's amazon uk ranking....

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Lalaith

Oh, I've already contributed to CoH's amazon uk ranking....

Me too I've ordered the special edition from them because it was cheaper! But I shall also be buying a regular edition from the shop in person to make ruddy well sure I have a copy - will be waiting outside the bookshop at 9am before going to work!

[Child of the 7th Age]

It's a long way from #3, but the ranking on U.S. Amazon has now crept up to #26: here.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Amid all the much deserved excitement and hoopla about Children of Hurin, I wanted to give a brief nod to another book that I don't believe anyone has mentioned: The Company they Keep: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as Writers in Community by Diana Pavlac Glyer (Kent State University Press). I recently purchase it from Amazon and am about half way through. University press books can be deadly dull, but this one is enjoyable to read and has things to say I've never seen anywhere before.

Glyer challenges the standard interpretation that Lewis, Tolkien, Williams, Barfield, and others had very little influence on one another's work. (The latter is clearly the impression left by Carpenter in his biographies.) The author has pieced together diaries, letters, and unpublished manuscripts and also compared rough drafts with final products to show just how the Inklings (including JRRT) were able to challenge, correct and encourage one another. There are excerpts from unpublished materials that haven't appeared in print before. And she deals head on with comments by the authors themselves that "X" or "Y" were completely incapable of being influenced (sound familiar? ).

Some of her ideas are questionable. For example, she suggests the Lord of the Rings might have been more like the Silmarillion in structure and style if it weren't for the critique and encouragement of the Inklings. This is a stretch -- she never even considers the role of the Hobbit in this process. And she has a better handle on Lewis than Tolkien. But overall this book says some interesting things.

For an interview with Glyer by the Tolkien Library, see here. There's also a very positive review by Verlyn Flieger that's partially quoted at Amazon.com.

[Child of the 7th Age]

I'm not quite sure where updates on Mr. Baggins should go but I thought I would post this here.

There is a great interview with John Rateliff here. The most intriguing quote to me was this one. (The italics are mine.)

Q: Why do you think Christopher didn't go in to the Hobbit in his HoME?
Partly because he was in the middle of such an enormous task -- try counting the number of pages in HME.VI-XII sometime. Partly because he believed Carpenter's claim that the H. ms was very close to the published book and, more importantly, that THE HOBBIT was not originally part of the Legendarium.

Q: How you feel about this?
I think I've made a good case that it always was, from the first chapter, part of the Legendarium.

On a "gut level", I've personally felt this way for some time, although with no special "proof". I am also assuming most people would disagree. Despite the obvious disparities in tone, detail, etc between LotR and Hobbit, I have always felt that the Hobbit was connected with the Legendarium from an early date. I will be extremely curious to see what evidence Rateliff brings forth for this position and how far back he pushes it. This could be interesting! I have a copy on order from Amazon, U.K., since the U.S. edition won't be out for some time. Whoever manages to get their hands on this first (it won't be me, with the slowness of the post), I'd like to hear what you think.

[davem]

Originally Posted by Child of the 7th Age

On a "gut level", I've personally felt this way for some time, although with no special "proof". I am also assuming most people would disagree. Despite the obvious disparities in tone, detail, etc between LotR and Hobbit, I have always felt that the Hobbit was connected with the Legendarium from the very beginning.

I'd like to see it too - I tend to go with CT & Flieger & count it very much as 'secondary' literature, not quite outside the Legendarium, but not a central part of it either. The idea that it started out as part of the Legendarium is clearly false, as up to that point the Legendarium ended with the fall of Morgoth at the end of what became The First Age (well, unless you want to include the Eriol/Aelfwine stuff about how the tales were transmitted. The Third Age didn't exist as a concept when TH was written.

Now, if he's arguing that Tolkien wanted it to be part of the Legendarium, I'd agree - why else would he have attempted a more 'grown up' version in the 60's?

Of course, it depends how precisely, or loosely, you define 'Legendarium'. I think I could make a 'good case' that Smith is part of the Legendarium (or, as anyone who knows me at all will know, an equally 'good case' that Smith had nothing at all to do with it.)

Anyway, its out next week, so we'll be able to see how 'good' Rateliff's case actually is....

[Child of the 7th Age]

Although I instinctively prefer the Hobbit as we now have it with either the original or revised Riddles chapter, I would be curious to see the scraps of this grown up version. Tolkien gave up on that before the group reached Rivendell, so he obviously felt something wasn’t working.

Regarding how much and to what extent the Hobbit is tied to the Legendarium, I feel it’s not an “either/or” but "how much" and "when". Those same terms could even be applied to the LotR, although in the latter case it happened at some point during the initial composition/revisions.

Unless Rateliff has some evidence we’ve never seen or some way of slipping inside the author’s head, it would be extremely difficult to make an argument that in 1928-1932, when Tolkien told stories to his children, he consciously had a later age of the Legendarium in mind. If Rateliff could “prove” that point, it would turn a lot of accepted truths upside down. Still, the creation of the Hobbit was not confined to those few years, but was a gradual process beginning in 1928 (or before) and going all the way into the fifties when he did his Riddle revisions, possibly even to the sixties if you count the aborted “adult” revision none of us have seen. At some point in that lengthy creative process, the Hobbit was pulled in. My feeling, based on absolutely nothing other than instinct, says sooner rather than later. In that sense, the Hobbit was little different from LotR. In neither case did the author know from the beginning that he was dealing with the Legendarium. When he recognized what had happened to his hobbit sequel, he must have been acutely, even uncomfortably aware, of what this meant for the "original" tale.

As you mention, there is some early indication he was already thinking beyond the First Age. The origins of Aelfwine go back to a poem published in 1924, and Tolkien was definitely starting to think in terms of “later ages” with his work on Aelfwine, the Lost Road, and Numenor in 1936 (to some extent revisions of that earlier poem). This was the same time he worked on and submitted the maps for Hobbit. These were the ones showing the lands between the Misty Mountains and Mirkwood. I’ve always wondered if the whole process of both the LotR and the Hobbit both being pulled into the Legendarium wasn’t expressed through concrete geography, the problem of establishing a “mental map” of Middle Earth, as much as through abstract thinking. In any case, it will be interesting to see what he’s come up with and see how convincing it is. And I admit I am sympathetic and hope that I will not be disappointed!

[davem]

Well, just had one of those annoying experiences - Waterstones have volume 1 on the shelves, but I have the book on order from Amazon. Looks interesting - matte dustjacket like the recent Tolkien hardbacks, few illustrations. Didn't have time for a proper look, unfortunately.

[Mithalwen]

Amazon tells me I must wait another week for my copy but not why

[Aiwendil]

Child: Thanks for the link. I've been looking forward to Mr. Baggins for a long time (actually I've always been rather more excited about this than about CoH). I also find Rateliff's claim very interesting. It has been my feeling as well that The Hobbit is a veritable piece of the Legendarium; actually, it seems to me that it is a 'major work', to be classed with LotR and the Silmarillion rather than with 'Giles' and 'Roverandom'. Sometimes I wonder if my view has to do with the fact that The Hobbit was my first glimpse of Middle-earth and I still tend to think of LotR as a sequel. In any case, I'm eager to see what Rateliff has to say.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Aiwendil,

That is my hope as well.

______________

Concerning the UK delivery situation... I don't know why but UK Amazon has this ominous note on their screen for volume I of history of the hobbit:

Availability: Usually dispatched within 4 to 6 weeks.

I am thinking this is a mistake and they just haven't updated their listing. Just to be sure, I ordered several days ago from a smaller seller who promised to ship immediately.