The Fellowship of the Ring is a great book with likable characters and I would absolutely recommend it, not only for the cultural context but for the quality. My complaints are only that Tolkien overdoes it with descriptions. It’s honestly really boring at points and unnecessary. I feel almost as if his own world just captivated him so much to the point where that was all he wanted to get across. I also feel Frodo was not captivating protagonist and struck me as whiny and useless. I still think this book is worth it however! Definitely deserves the hype

For a more complete review, read my review for the art of the Two Towers.

In short, this first installment suffers from a lot of issues around that they don't show, but tell. For example, instead of just showing more designs, sketches, etc., a little text blurb describe the image you already see, which conveys almost nothing.

There were many sections that were not so interesting or compelling, mainly the costume design, because the book only shows a single design that's already close to the final product and showcases a movie still from the character. Instead of describing the thought-process and design process further, you will only get a brief mention of it.

Some of the larger images were unnecessarily placed, whereas some of the smaller, more interesting and detailed ones were placed more obscurely small.

Alan Lee and John Howe were mainly talking about their own experience with particular sketches, and only some of that was really insightful. They didn't elaborate on the actual concept development, which is what was so great about the Two Towers (where both artists were featured less). It make me think that if I wanted to hear them, I might as well get their own Sketchbooks.

However, now I got the criticm out of the way, the book does show some great concepts of the Watcher and the Balrog, which was pretty elaborate and cool in comparison to the explainations on how they combined elements into a single shot. I wanted concept design, not making of.

I'm not satisfied with volume 1 of the Art of LOTR, but it's still a really beautiful and amazing book that I'd recommend to all the major fans of the movies.

In my opinion, Harry potter is better.

Im like more the movie.

This book is great I could not stop reading it

It was an amazing book, its an excellent addition to the series of The Hobbit. It is very well made I like the scenes that happend it was like i was really there I felt really scared or happy but overall i loved the book. NOTE I have already read this 2 years ago

Con este libro he entendido lo que es el amor y el odio a la vez. Tardé mucho tiempo en acabarlo porque a menudo lo dejaba abandonado y una vez incluso cometí el error de empezarlo desde el principio, que desde mi punto de vista si ya llevabas la mitad del libro es como tirarse por un precipicio. Aún así 0 arrepentimientos una vez me acabé porque una vez que salías de los Túmulos y conocías a nuestro Bómbadil todo iba como la seda, la narrativa se hacía mucho más amena, los personajes se reunían y brillaban entre todos y las descripciones de Lothlorien te dejaban incluso con ganas de conocer en persona a Galadriel. Si te gusta la fantasía y eres paciente será un libro que desde luego te dejará con muy buen sabor de boca.

Good enough but not great. Some interesting images.

MY GRADE: B.

Was an okay read.

Found on sale for £1.50 in a charity shop by my wife and son and bought as a surprise for me, it's likely an indication of how good the book is that my son has now nicked it off me. Kindly, he let me keep it long enough to actually read and enjoy it.

Obviously, the vast majority of the book is taken up with sketches, designs and production photographs but the accompanying captions are fascinating. After years of seeing people banging on about the amazing landscapes in New Zealand, it's interesting to see just how many of those tourism-driving wide shots are based on composite shots and matte paintings. You're a fraud, New Zealand tourist industry!!

Around half of the book is devoted to the film's locations and set design but to me, the most interesting are the character sketches and the maquettes for the orcs, trolls, Uruk-Hai and the Balrog. I might even get to re-read it sometime, assuming it ever emerges from the Mordorian chaos of my son's bedroom.