More beautiful than accurate, they make a great addition to a Tolkien cartography collection.

I loved it.

Review to come.

beautiful maps - not too much detailed, alas - and a nice booklet giving informations about places, rivers and the like. Nice to have

This book caught my eye as I was browsing around the local Barnes & Noble with a friend recently. The introduction by Brian Sibley about Tolkien's love for landscape and myth, and his creation of the maps of Middle-earth is very good, and the illustrations by visual artist John Howe are absolutely stunning. This book is something every Tolkien admirer will enjoy.

Fun maps (Middle-Earth 1st Age, Middle-earth 3rd Age, the Hobbit and Numenor) by John Howe that I had framed and hanged on my office's walls.

Radi se o Srednjoj zemlji, sta cekate :)
Mozda uocite nesto sto do sada niste, makar i sasvim mali detaljcic koji ne pokriva vase trenutno znanje.

I do like me some maps, but I wouldn't throw my money at it. I'm not THAT much of a fan.
It would make for decent gift.

enjoyed great maps

I really liked this book! It was not super dense like a lot of Tolkien’s other works, and so it was nice to fly through this one. John Howe’s illustrations are amazing and very fun to look at, and Brian Sibley’s writing is really insightful and fun to read. Sometimes it did get a little repetitive, but I had a very great time reading through this. Also the 4 fold-out maps are amazing pieces of artwork from John Howe. I thought this book was really well made, and it makes an amazing addition to any Tolkien collection!

So part of my review for this includes the 4 amazing maps that come along with it. John Howe is one of the best Tolkien illustrators, and Brian Sibley has been one of the best at summarizing Tolkien and delivering his work in various platforms for decades now. His work creating the BBC drama version of LOTR has always been a favorite of mine.

While there are some helpful insights gained from reading the History of Middle Earth series, most of the info in the book portion of this will be nothing new to the serious Tolkien reader. That said, it's well organized, concise, and a unique view on the Tolkien legendarium through the lens of maps.

I have always loved maps, and my love of maps is sort of a chicken and egg scenario with Tolkien's work because some of the first maps I remember loving were from The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings.

Two quick anecdotes along those lines. In high school, during a tough time for me when my parents were splitting up, I took the 8 1/2 by 11 map of Middle Earth that came with the cassette edition of the BBC LOTR radio drama, and penciled in grid lines on it with a ruler. I used these to make a blown up map on a poster myself based on a proportional redraw. It was tons of fun. And if you know me, not mathematically or artistically inclined, you will see how significant this is for me. I spent hours and hours on it.

When I got my first real full time job, as a caller doing government surveys in the summer after my senior year of high school, I had a lot of time waiting for people to pick up the phone (and sometimes berate me for bothering them). We were required to let the ring go 7 times if there was no answering machine. I got to the point where I didn't have to really think about counting anymore. I could register 7 rings in the background of my mind, and what I would do actively while waiting was draw freehand maps of Middle Earth on little scraps of paper at my desk.

Tolkien has been important to me through my whole life, but probably more than any, during the hardest times in my life. And Tolkien's maps have been a huge part of that. As he wisely said, "I wisely started with a map..." If any of this resonates with you, you should buy this book.

Excellent edition with four foldable maps in hardback envelope along with a booklet which describes regions and places marked on the maps.