The Fireside

  Mr. Bliss  will be joining the ever-growing range of new hardbacks by HarperCollins!  It will be published in Nov, and the ISBN is  9780008705312.  The contents will be the exact same as the 2011 edition, the only difference is that it will be the size that the rest of the hardback editions are in. To gauge what that might look like, we can use the 2023 editions of Letters From Father Christmas  compared the the 2012 (2009?) hardback edition to see how Mr. Bliss  could look, going from the 2011 edition to the 2024 one.  I really hope that HarperCollins and The Tolkien Team do a hardback edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight : it could even be the most recent paperback 'replicated' in hardback format!  Anyway, Mr. Bliss  is worth checking out: definitely one of Tolkien's more charming and whimsical tales: it will fit comfortably next to works such as Tales From the Perilous Realm  and Letters From Father Christmas  (both ...

  With the publication of The Silmarillion  in this format, this completes HarperCollins' series of collector's editions.  In terms of their construction and features, these editions don't really offer anything that other hardbacks don't - beyond the attractive cover and exterior design. While it's not my business to tell others' what 'place' or 'purpose' a particular edition has on their shelves; it's my belief that these editions are targeted towards those that want something nicer than a paperback, but not paying usual hardback prices. Perfect as reading copies, and make great gifts to give, without breaking the bank.    The info for these editions is: ~ The Hobbit:  9780007487301 ~ The Fellowship of the Ring:   9780008567125 ~ The Two Towers:   9780008567132 ~ The Return of the King:   9780008567149 ~ The Silmarillion :  9780008669140 Sadly, there is no boxed set - though one can always get a custom-made one. I wanted to showcase the...

I may be a bit late to the game (meant to do this post a few days ago) though the info for The History of Middle-earth: Boxed Sets III & IV have recently come out, seemingly at the same time.  Arriving June 6 (that's the scheduled date as of this post) with an ISBN of  9780008669294, is Box III.  Box III contains: The Return of the the Shadow, The Treason of Isengard, The War of the Ring  and (spoiler alert! Kidding) Sauron Defeated . All of those are immediately associated with Tolkien writing The Lord of the Rings .  Next, and lastly for these History of Middle-earth Boxed Sets, is Boxed Set IV. Arriving on August 15 (again, that date is as of this post) with an ISBN of  9780008669393, is Boxed Set IV. It contains Morgoth's Ring, The War of the Jewels, The  Peoples of Middle-earth  and the very handy Index  to the entire series.  Once History of Middle-earth: Box IV is out, I'll do a post with all their ISBNs collected into one pos...

  Well, as I often think (and often state) when it comes to Tolkien books: 'what next?' I have been a fan of the various editions and versions of Tolkien's works since around 2002. I've often recounted the tale, of seeing 2-3 bookshelves full  of various Tolkien books. Well, it was at least one whole unit at the book shop. What was interesting to me, was seeing the various editions that matched on display; as well as those that didn't  match: 'hmm this copy of The Lord of the Rings  doesn't have a Hobbit  in the same style!' or 'this style offers them as 3 and but not as 1....' Anyway, so it's very early in the year - the year just literally started, in fact - though here is what is, and what might  come (which is speculation on my part) in the calendar year of "2024." In the unjacketed hardback special edition format, there will be an edition of The Silmarillion coming. I fully expect this to complement the corresponding Hobbit  an...

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 History of Middle-earth: Boxed Set II will be published on March 28. It's ISBN is  9780008669232 .  The contents, as you may be able to see from the photo, will be:  ~ The Lays of Beleriand ~ The Shaping of Middle-earth ~ The Lost Road With regards to these sets, I'll post again once the info for Boxed Set III is revealed. That post will follow with the fourth and final set. Possibly, in the same post as Boxed Set IV, I may recap the previous 3, or dedicate a post to all 4.  While not History of Middle-earth related, I'll be sure to post about anything else that comes along or is announced in 2024. 

It's that time of year for me to suggest and feature some particular editions of Tolkien's works. I think this typically happens, because the films were released right around Christmas time. So, I've come to associate that time of the year with Tolkien (and fantasy overall, when there hasn't been much happening, Tolkien-wise). So let's get into it! First we have what I like to call the 'landscape' paperback covers. These are pretty basic, though are the 'footprint' for pretty much all editions and settings of the text. Also, the covers are different then what we typically see for a Tolkien book. Some think in a bad way, others in a good way. I believe it's due to many stating that they resemble general or average fantasy books, self-help books etc, as opposed to what we typically see for a Tolkien cover.  Boxed set ISBN:  9780008387754 The Hobbit  ISBN:  9780008376055 The Fellowship of the Ring  ISBN:  9780008376062 The Two Towers ISBN:  97800083...