THE FALL OF NUMENOR Special Edition - Now Available + Thoughts

 

The Special Edition of The Fall of Numenor is now out! I always find it exciting when a new Tolkien book comes out (either a new publication or a new edition), especially if it's Middle-earth related. 

I have a copy, and I'll give my thoughts about it. 

This is part of the Special Edition hardcover format. Most fans may refer to the other three currently available titles (The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion) as 'author-illustrated.' That was fine....until this new title existed. On the copyright page, the book refers to itself as a 'Special Edition' as does the publisher's website. (I'll go into naming conventions below). Design-wise, it fits in well with them. The dustjacket, the book itself (under the dustjacket), the title page....though there is one interesting element: instead of giving us two maps like the other Special Editions do, we get an art print, and a map (to be precise, 'The Map of Middle-earth at the End of the Third Age') which is the same was the one int he standard hardcover's rear board. Maybe we got an art print because there isn't a slipcased version of the special edition. Either way, you'd have thought that there would've been two maps, the other being of Numenor (however, that map is inside the book itself, so that could be why). 

The contents are 95% identical to the standard hardcover: same illustrations (though the image used for the standard's cover and inside front board is not present at all). the only discernable difference are the runes on the title page, and the sprayed edges & text on the pages themselves. 

Herein lies the 'issue' - the price. Or rather, the price difference. The standard version goes for about $35 - $40 CDN as of this writing. The Special Edition (and the others) go for the $85 - $95 range. That, is too high to begin with. These editions should go for $55-$65.  Where it 'hurts' is that there's not much difference between the Standard and Special Edition. Of course, the most ardent collectors and fans of the Special Editions will likely get this, to 'complete' that format in their collections. And, that's assuming that they don't have the standard edition within the.....four years that it's been around for. So at this point it doesn't feel like it'll sell well. But, it's the publisher offering choice. A new fan who comes along, in say, 2027 who doesn't own any copy now has more selection to choose from.

So the book in of itself is nice. However, if you're planning on getting this edition, I'd suggest waiting for Black Friday or Cyber Monday specials. If none apply to this book, then I'd suggest putting any national bookseller loyalty points (plum from Indigo, points from Barnes & Noble, points from Waterstones, that sort of thing) to 'lessen' the amount of actual money you'd be spending on it. 

I'm curious to see what - if any - future titles come to both this format, and the unjacketed Collector's Editions. Next year, The Great Tales turn 20 by way of The Children of Hurin's publication date, so we'll see.  


I still suggest and recommend this book, but I wanted to address a few factors, without blindly suggesting it. 


Before I close this post, here are the physical formats that The Fall of Numenor is offered in from HarperCollins: 

Paperback: 9780008655679

Standard Hardcover: 9780008537838

Special Edition: 9780008848842

Deluxe Edition: 9780008537845

One thing I'd like to speculate on.

The first versions of The Fall of Numenor (standard hardcover and deluxe) came out alongside Season 1 of The Rings of Power. This new Special Edition has been published alongside Season 3. Therefore, for Season 5 (also its final season), I'm expecting The Fall of Numenor to join the blue and grey deluxe editions. This will follow the 'every odd numbered season' pattern, that format will 'catch up' to The Fall of Numenor by that point, and also, that means that The Fall of Numenor will truly be offered in every physical version that HarperCollins produces Tolkien books in.