The Fireside

  It's that time of year again to look & think ahead of what the next  calendar year has in store for Tolkien books! This is '....hmm, what might  come out??'  HARDBACKS The Lord of the Rings  Author Illustrated 3-Part Boxed Set (speculation). This is the 'last chance' for this to happen in the immediate future (the next opportunity would be the 75th Anniversary). I'm unsure how realistic it is, given the amount of various hardback editions of The Lord of the Rings  currently in print. What makes me think that this could  happen, was for the 50th Anniversary Editions, the releases went as such: 1-book hardback, 1-book deluxe slipcased edition, and 3-book boxed set (well, '4' actually - the 4th book was the Companion  by Hammond & Scull). As it currently stands with the Author-Illustrated editions of The Lord of the Rings ; if we follow this pattern, then we're 'missing' the 3-book boxed set. As discussed in posts past, how that set co...

There are some exciting things happening next year with regards to Tolkien.  The main event, is that throughout the year and ending in November, is that the 12-book (13, counting the index book) History of Middle-earth series will be published in hardback format.... as  12 individual hardbacks. This is in celebration of Christopher Tolkien's centenary. There will be other releases throughout the year too, that remain to be seen.  For the sake of this post, I wish to examine two areas or aspects:  - will certain styles of books continue past The Silmarillion? - will there be a 70th Anniversary Edition of The Lord of the Rings ?  Will Unfinished Tales arrive in the special edition format? (Unjacketed hardback collector’s edition) And, illustrated by the author?   That's what I'm curious about. In 2021, the 'illustrated by the author' format began with The Lord of the Rings. Then, next year, The Silmarillion  came out. Lastly, this year, The Hobbit ...

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...

  The above image was created by Astral_Taurus on reddit on the tolkienbooks reddit, so first: many thanks for your work, and posting that. This is essentially how I would see an edition of The Hobbit to fit in with the new 'illustrated by the author' series by HarperCollins. This began last year with The Lord of the Rings , and continued this year with The Silmarillion . So, next year would be The Hobbit ....? Going by how the other two titles looked, here's how I envision The Hobbit appearing, and having: - the colour of the foil on the spine, the cover, and page-edging would be bronze, or copper. - the 'main' colour of the book would be a nice, dark, emerald (much like in the photo above). This would also used for the coloured ink inside the book, as well as the ribbon-marker. - the same booklet about The Hobbit that came with the Facsimile Gift Set a few years ago (though perhaps with a different cover image to best suit this release.) - large posters of Thro...

  Note: the colour red has been sporadically throughout this post, to capture a 'likeness' to the newly-published special edition. Now that the new single-volume special edition of The Lord of the Rings with illustrations by Tolkien is now out, I can add further to a previous post about how a 70th Anniversary Edition Boxed Set in 2024 could be executed. This hypothetical-at-this-point edition would use the 2021 special edition in standard hardback format as the template. The image above is taken from the slipcased edition, and I can see this exact same design going directly onto the box.   Before we begin, a little history.   In 2004, there was a 4-book boxed set ( The Lord of the Rings as three parts, plus the Reader's Companion ). Then, in 2014, there was a 60 th anniversary boxed set, which is quite similar to the 50th set aesthetically, with some updates to the text. 2024 will be the 70th anniversary. So, can we expect another 3-part boxed set with the Co...

  I'll begin by saying that for the 50th anniversary of The Lord of the Rings , there was the boxed set which presented the novel in three parts, with the accompanying Companion . 10 years later, there was a 60th anniversary boxed set which was aesthetically VERY close to the 50th one. 2024 will be the 70th anniversary. So, can we expect ANOTHER 3-part boxed set with the Companion to be issued? I think 'yes', and this is how I think it would happen. This October, there will be a Tolkien-illustrated single-volume edition coming out (as a standard hardback, a collector's edition, and even as an eBook!). I believe that the 70th anniversary boxed set - which would come out about 3 years later, in 2024 - will take that edition, and all of its features (Tolkien's illustrations, red ink, ribbon-marker (if the Oct 2021 edition features one, that is!), the red sprayed page edging, etc) and divide it into 3. The dustjackets would feature the same artwork that was used for th...

  One of my prized Tolkien items - due (in part) to the uniqueness of it - is The Lord of the Rings illustrated edition from 2014. It may not be the most 'practical' edition for reading , though it still remains quite nice.  This one is unique, in that there is no matching Tolkien editions published around then that have a similar design style, size dimensions, as well as the transparent slipcase, and the publisher-supplied shipping box (though, the boxes have appeared for the limited editions of The Children of Hurin, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun , and starting with the illustrated collector's edition of Unfinished Tales , all future collector's editions from that title forward will have a provided box.) The initial single-volume illustrated edition was a larger book than the other standard Tolkien hardbacks at the time. As nice as the new illustrated editions of 2020 and 2021 are for The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales are (wh...

I've often spoken on how the final two seasons of Game of Thrones were cramped - they tried to squeeze too much story into too few episodes, when HBO would have surely let them take their time. In this post, I propose how I would have liked to seen the ending of the show. Of course, anyone unhappy with how the story itself unfolded, well, I'm not re-writing anything - just restructuring the final seasons. In my scenario, Season 9, the final season, would be happening this year. So, let's start. Season 7: The Army of the Dead and The Night King Season 7 should have been a full 10 episodes, with each episode having a 60 min+ runtime. The pace and story of my season 7 would be adjusted. Reflecting back on the real Season 8, it's clear that the Army of the Dead and the Night King aren't the antagonists - after they'yre dealt with, it would be Cersie, and then Dany. While it would be tricky to break down my story episode by episode, with a re-stru...

So what do you think will be the next major Tolkien book? The Great Tales have now been completed, with the recent releases of Beren and Luthien and The Fall of Gondolin by way of their own dedicated books. Future anniversary editions (70th / 75th anniversary of The Lord of the Rings for instance) are expected as are new illustrated editions (while The Hobbit isn’t “new” Jemima Catlin’s illustrated edition is). There’s also collector’s editions, like the edition of Letters From Father Christmas to be released in a few months. Those out of the way; what could possibly be ‘the’ Tolkien book for 2020? There is The Book of Ishness, and I doubt enough material exists (though I’d welcome its release) for The Tale of Earendil as its own dedicated book. Then there’s the Amazon Middle-earth series: while no doubt tie-in books will come out (pertaining directly, and only to the series – like Weapons and Warfare for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy). I would not be ...

The image I've selected above is Didier Graffet's artwork used on a few editions of The Children of Hurin . It also happens to be one of my favourite pieces of Tolkien-related artwork. Last week, The Fall of Gondolin was published in hardback, ebook, large print and deluxe formats (for those that prefer paperbacks (or collect them, as well) expect it to come out July - September of 2019.) and that title essentially marks the end of new Middle-earth books, as well as possibly new Tolkien books. Whenever a new Tolkien book (especially if it's Middle-earth related) I usually think: "What will be next? Is this it?" Sure, there will be anniversary editions of existing titles ( The Lord of the Rings 70th anniversary edition will likely happen) as well as editions illustrated by artists, but what about the content itself? have we reached the end? Whether or not there will be new stuff coming on the horizon, my Tolkien book-buying seems to be coming to a close. ...

Quite recently, The Two Towers  Complete Recordings got released for the first time on vinyl, and (re)released on CD, as well as various download/streaming services. The Return of the King  is now up for pre-order in the complete recordings format (vinyl and CD), which will complete The Lord of the Rings  Complete Recordings campaign. But what about after that? Back when The Fellowship of the Ring  was announced for vinyl release, I did a similar post to this one. Perhaps there could be more Howard Shore Middle-earth music and soundtracks appearing on vinyl; announced closer to the release date for The Return of the King . Whatever they may (not) have planned, I'm going to have a look at what else could  come out on vinyl. THE LORD OF THE RINGS - A trilogy box. It may seem like a silly idea, but it would be neat if for the CD+blu-ray audio and vinyl lp releases of the Complete Recordings if there was an offer or something to get an empty box or slipcase...

Please note: if there any plans to release these, please do not change them - I only guessing and speculating and providing feedback. I seek no credit nor monetary gain if my thoughts happen to be correct.   With The Two Towers  being released on vinyl at the end of July (and, most likely, The Return of the King  sometime before 2019) I wanted to share some thoughts and musings about some other Lord of the Rings  releases that could happen on the vinyl format. It would also be neat if the original soundtrack releases made their way to vinyl. The way that the vinyls for The Complete Recordings replicated the look and design of the original CDs, this could also be possible with the original soundtracks, should they arrive on vinyl. Here's how I can see it looking: - a vinyl boxed set featuring this design (front:  https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51Agjd4kIBL.jpg . Back:  https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51YWUcK4JxL.jpg ...

This goes with that "Tolkien Untitled" post I did a while ago. We still don't have an official announcement or confirmation from HarperCollins, however, on Amazon UK, more details about "Tolkien Untitled" (now called The Fall of Gondolin  (YES!)) have emerged. Here is the "official" product info: " In the Tale of The Fall of Gondolin are two of the greatest powers in the world. There is Morgoth of the uttermost evil, unseen in this story but ruling over a vast military power from his fortress of Angband. Deeply opposed to Morgoth is Ulmo, second in might only to Manwë, chief of the Valar. Central to this enmity of the gods is the city of Gondolin, beautiful but undiscoverable. It was built and peopled by Noldorin Elves who, when they dwelt in Valinor, the land of the gods, rebelled against their rule and fled to Middle-earth. Turgon King of Gondolin is hated and feared above all his enemies by Morgoth, who seeks in vain to discover the marvellou...

This is the first in my series of 'what ifs' in regards to J.R.R. Tolkien, and his writing. In this first installment, I will examine, in speculative fashion, if Tolkien did not write The Hobbit, but opted to finish and publish The Fall of Arthur  in its place.....