Atlas Of Tolkiens Middle Earth

This book contains descriptions, insights, and actual maps of Middle-Earth. The book covers all of the Tolkien books and events in each age.

What a great book for map-loving Tolkien fans! Extensive, detailed maps, covering both large areas and smaller close-ups of places integral to the stories. All constructed using information collected from all of his books. Deeply researched & documented, nicely illustrated and explained.

I have read the Lord of the Rings (LotR) trilogy seven times. I have seen all the movies, good and bad, and seen many local productions. I have listened to many radio plays (the 13-CD BBC production is one of my favorites), often several times. I mention those just to say that my standards are high. Recently, I was looking for some detailed maps online. I looked many places. Most of them were disappointing and none met my needs. When I read the reviews for this book, I was very excited, but tried to keep my hopes in check. There was no need -- this book met my needs and then some. The maps are done by a professional cartographer and it shows in the excellent quality and care for detail. The two-color (black and red, with shades) maps are drawn clearly and detailed. I never had to squint to read the lettering. The summary sections are well-informed, with references for more support for the reader, and covering a wide area of time and topic. Look at the table of contents on Amazon and you will see the wide coverage. Split into sections by the different ages, the sections covering the LotR is detailed. Geographical areas are covered as are the travels of the different parties. Even tables of days and distance and speed are laid out very well. The last section has information on landforms, climate, vegetation, population and languages. Interesting reading that was totally unexpected. This truly is a work of love and worth every penny.

I ordered this to accompany my readings of The Silmarillion, as turning to the small maps in the back of my copy was rather frustrating. It's far more detailed than anticipated. It covers locations described in The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and of course The Lord of the Rings. But not only does it portray the locations, it details the paths traveled by various characters and groups, and even shows the movements of forces in Tolkien's many battles. For the most part, these are ordered chronologically, making it a great companion for a read-thru of any of Tolkien's works. Thematic maps, additional appendices, and indexes are included in the back. My paperback edition measures 8 inches wide and 11 high. The pages have a rougher, somewhat old-fashioned, texture, and a decent weight to them. Location labels vary in size, but are plentiful. The maps themselves are accompanied by summaries of related events and citations of Tolkien's descriptions where appropriate. My sole complaint is a lack of color- black, grey, brown and tan do look nice, but have their limits in some of the maps that attempt to describe climates and vegetation. Overall, it's clear Mrs. Fonstad put a great amount of effort and love into this atlas. A must-have for any Tolkien enthusiast.

Again, this review is addressed to LOTR fans who have wandered onto this page and are wondering whether this book is worth their hard-earned money. Karen Fonstad brought the eye of a scientist to the art of Tolkien to produce one of the must useful supplements to LOTR and especially the Silmarillion that I've ever found. Fonstad fills in many of the details of Tolkien's world, using her skills as a cartographer to make incredibly detailed maps and drawings (many taken from Tolkien's own maps and drawings that never made it into LOTR) of the locations in the books. You will now know exactly where everything in the novel is located and what it looks like. However, this book is not really that much of a complement to LOTR. Tolkein described everything in that story in fairly explicit detail. The REAL strength of this book are the maps and detailed decription of the events BEFORE the journey of the hobbits. It includes many many detailed maps of the world during the first three ages, as well as summations of the history. You will finally know where the wainriders came from, how the war of the Last Alliance was fought, where numenor was, how the War of the Jewels was fought. The section on the Lord of the Rings is actually the least interesting part of the book (which is praising with faint damnation -- the only way you could know more about the journey of Frodo is if he'd been on CNN).

I have been reading the works of Tolkien since the mid-'60's - this is the first really good, complete and accurate maps I have found. The content is chronologically ordered, with the Third Age by far the most complete. That makes sense because the LOTR is also the richest and most complete work by JRRT. The First and Second Age are in the book, but are less complete and detailed. Not to mention that the creation of the world itself was - almost by definition - hard to describe as the first inhabitants were spirits and the world itself was not complete. The table of distances and day-to-day tracking of the characters is very complete and I have to complete the author on her persistence.

If you're like me you've spent hours pouring over the very limited maps that are included in the original LOTR series trying to get a better idea of what Middle Earth looks like and have wished for an atlas. A few years ago I attempted to get through "The Children of Hurin" (very difficult) and "The Fall of Gondolin" (almost unreadable). My notes for each were "One finger in the Glossary at all times!" The only way I could get through these stories was with the glossary and a Tolkien dictionary which was in constant use and I really wish I had this atlas at the time. This atlas is FANTASTIC and is exactly what you want as companion especially when going through the 1st, 2nd ages which can be convoluted. The maps are easy to read and plentiful. While there is not a lot of color in the drawings there is enough to distinguish the differences in terrain without being distracting. This atlas was clearly designed for the avid reader and is meant as a reference to be used often and not a pretty coffee table book that's rarely opened. Case in point is the rather flimsy non glossy cover on the paperback edition which gives it a feel like a college text book companion. For about $15 it's an absolute steal! If your looking for a coffee table book, buy the hard cover edition. A few of the other reviewers talked about the font size and the the middle of some of the maps being in between pages. My eyes aren't what they used to be and I had no problem with the font size. There are a few maps that have important info in the crease which is annoying but definitely not a deal breaker. All in all I'm extremely pleased with this atlas and now feel confident in taking on the Silmarillion which I've been putting off for years!

If you've ever been one flipping to the maps in "The Hobbit", "The Lord of the Rings" , or "The Silmarillion" to see where the action is taking place, then this book is for you. Karen Wynn Fonstad has done a remarkable job of mapping Middle-earth. The atlas is broken down into various sections, each easy to navigate to find what you're looking for. The First Age section is perfect for readers of "The Silmarillion", all the important places are mapped along with ample notes and observations. The Second Age deals with the fall of Numenor, a worthy companion to those reading "Unfinished Tales". The majority of the book deals with the Third Age. This is where "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" takes place. There are maps showing the kingdoms of the Dunedain as well as the migration of the dwarves and the hobbits. There are regional maps detailing the Shire, the Misty Mountains, Eriador, and Mordor. Two lengthy sections are devoted to the Hobbit and LotR, showing all the key places in the books. Fantastic maps to look over again and again. Towards the end of the book are included the thematic maps. Very interesting. These show the landforms, climate, vegetation, population and languages spoken. Overall, if you're remotely interesting in learning more about Middle-earth, or you're just interested in great maps, pick this up. Enjoy.