Great Tales of Middle-earth Boxed Sets on the Way

 

Coming this August, is The Great Tales Trilogy as a boxed set! Finally! Both HarperCollins and William Morrow will be publishing this:

HarperCollins: 9780008360108
William Morrow: 9780063447981

The Great Tales of Middle-earth is a beautiful box set of the three final novels of Middle-earth: The Children of Húrin, Beren and Lúthien, and The Fall of Gondolin, packaged together and ready for gifting. Completing Christopher Tolkien’s lifelong achievement as the curator of his father J.R.R. Tolkien’s manuscripts, The Great Tales features handsome color plates and maps by famed illustrator Alan Lee and a map by Christopher Tolkien.

The Children of Húrin was the first standalone story by J.R.R. Tolkien since the 1977 publication of The Silmarillion. Six thousand years before the One Ring is destroyed, Middle-earth lies under the shadow of the Dark Lord Morgoth. The greatest heroes among elves and men have perished, and all is in darkness and despair. But a new warrior arises, Túrin, son of Húrin, and with his grim band of outlaws begins to turn the tide in the war for Middle-earth—awaiting the day he confronts his destiny and the deadly curse laid upon him.

Beren and Lúthien was, or became, an essential element in the evolution of The Silmarillion, the myths and legends of the First Age of the World conceived by J.R.R. Tolkien. Essential to the story, and never changed, is the fate that shadowed the love of Beren and Lúthien: for Beren was a mortal man, but Lúthien was an immortal elf. Her father, a great elvish lord, in deep opposition to Beren, imposed on him an impossible task that he must perform before he might wed Lúthien. This is the kernel of the legend; and it leads to the supremely heroic attempt of Beren and Lúthien together to rob the greatest of all evil beings, Melkor, called Morgoth, the Black Enemy, of a Silmaril.

The Fall of Gondolin completes the set and tells the story of the legendary Elven city hidden within Middle-earth. Evil Morgoth seeks to destroy the last realm of his Elven enemies while Ulmo, Lord of the Waters, tries to protect it. At the core of the tale is Tuor, cousin of Túrin, who becomes great in Gondolin and marries, Idril, daughter of Turgon, king of Gondolin, and fathers a child, Eärendel. When an act of supreme treachery allows Morgoth to attack Gondolin, Tuor and his family must try to flee the blazing wreckage, for the fate of all of Middle-earth depends on Eärendel’s survival.

Each hardcover volume includes colour plates and pencil drawings by award-winning illustrator Alan Lee together with a black and white map drawn by Christopher Tolkien.

‘Sixth and final in a series of collectible boxed sets celebrating the literary achievement of Christopher Tolkien. Set #6 presents hardback editions of the three Great Tales of Middle-earth, printed in full colour and with new art in each, and housed in a matching slipcase decorated with stunning new artwork by the books’ artist, Alan Lee.’

NOTE:

Due to the new set coming out, I'd suggest avoiding the US one I pictured above, which has an ISBN of 9780358003915, and was initially printed by Houghton Mifflin (HMH), with reprints falling under William Morrow.

That set isn't 'terrible' or 'bad' - I said what I said due to it not matching other titles properly. If that doesn't matter to you, then there's definitely nothing 'wrong' with it - just that it doesn't quite match other Middle-earth books/boxed sets. So if you want the Great Tales Trilogy to 'properly' match most of the other Middle-earth books, go for the one at the top of the post, the new set coming out in August.