The Fireside

The above image was created by Astral_Taurus on reddit on the tolkienbooks reddit, so first: many thanks for your work, and posting that. As such it is fanmade and not real . This post is 'for fun and games' only.  So: the 'illustrated by the author' edition arriving in 2024. This format began in 2021 with The Lord of the Rings , continued in 2022 with The Silmarillion  and will see another release this year with The Hobbit . But ,what about next year? Will The Lord of the Rings  get divided into 3 and get a refreshed 70th Anniversary Edition boxed set? (2024 will be the 70th anniversary). Or, would that instead be saved for 2025? Another approach, could be that the next title (if there were to be a 'next title') would Unfinished Tales , arriving in standard hardback and as a slipcased edition. Many may (rightfully so) decry that there isn't enough artwork for Unfinished Tales  to exist in this format. Perhaps, though what may happen is that Unfinished Ta...

  40 years ago today marks the publication of Unfinished Tales (sometimes titled as Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth ) . It's written by Tolkien, and edited by Christopher Tolkien. It is the last of my 'Middle-earth essentials' (the other being The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion ). The book expands upon aspects of The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion that go well with those stories. With the way that Unfinished Tales is presented, it can sort of seen as 'an extended appendix.' Note, that doesn't mean that this book REPLACES the Appendices in The Lord of the Rings . I've always wondered where each chapter of what is known as Unfinished Tales today WOULD have fit in, had they been included in The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion . The chapter The Quest For Erebor, for instance, would most likely have been in The Lord of the Rings , as part of one of the Appendices. The work was also the very beginning of the ...

The artwork for the Unfinished Tales 40th Anniversary Illustrated Slipcased Collector's Edition has *finally* been revealed! From the looks of things: - Ted Nasmith's 'The Blue Wizards Journeying East' is being used for the illustrated slipcase - John Howe's Black Rider (rear of the standard edition dustjacket) is used on the cover of the book - Chances are, Alan Lee's new illustration of the Numenorean ship will be used as a (foldout?) frontispiece. (Typically, whatever image the dustjacket of the standard edition uses is replicated as a frontispiece with its corresponding slipcasd collector's edition.) Remember, this is a UK edition, so you're best off ordering off Blackwell's, Waterstones, or The Book Depository. ISBN: 9780008387969 "Sumptuous, 40th anniversary collector’s edition of this collection of tales which takes readers further into the stories told in The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, featuring 18 full-co...

At long last, HarperCollins has revealed the cover art for the upcoming 40th anniversary illustrated edition of Unfinished Tales . As you can see from the above image, it'll 'match', design and measurement-wise with The Great Tales books ( The Children of Hurin, Beren and Luthien and The Fall of Gondolin ) and the forthcoming new editions of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings (as 3 books). There will be a slipcased collector's edition as well, though no image for that one yet. I was hoping that the above image ("The Blue Wizards Journeying East" from Ted Nasmith) would be used for the cover, going by the fact that it will be used for the 2021 Calendar. I still like the Alan Lee cover art, though I guess I got my hopes too high. Expect this edition to come out October of this year. US fans, yes, you'll be getting it as well, though from Houghton Mifflin. Here's the info for the standard edition. I'll provide it again on publication day, as the ...

It has been revealed that there will be a new, illustrated, edition of Unfinished Tales . It will feature artwork by Ted Nasmith, Alan Lee and John Howe. As of this post, I am unsure if they will be new illustrations, or a compilation of their existing material. I'm guessing the size dimensions will be the 'standard' size; and not over-sized like The Lord of the Rings 60th anniversary illustrated edition or Jemima Catlin's illustrated Hobbit (reg or deluxe). The info below follows. Also, remember that these are UK editions, and as such, should be ordered off Amazon UK, Blackwell's or Waterstones for example: Illustrated Hardback (Standard Edition) Published: Oct. 1 ISBN: 9780008387952 Illustrated Hardback (Special Slipcased Deluxe Edition) Published: Oct. 1 ISBN: 9780008387969 Once more info is revealed (cover art, synopsis reflecting these editions, and possibly size dimensions) I'll relay the info here. Two parting thoughts: 1) it can be assumed that the 20...

At long last, Unfinished Tales will receive a deluxe edition from Harper Collins.