This one has fewer long sections of drafts, as the chapters are much closer to the final book than in the previous volume. Still some very interesting abandoned concepts.

This series interests me as a lover of Tolkien's work and as a writer watching Tolkien figure out the story that I know so well.

A good read, but only for the die-hard Tolkien fan (it's pointless to read it before reading the LOTR trilogy, since it's about him writing the LOTR trilogy).
I liked it. There's a lot of alternative plots while he was still fleshing things out; the chararcter who would become Aragon was originally a hobbit. There's some extraneous details, but overall very interesting.

The second installment in Christopher Tolkien's History of The Lord of the Rings, this book brings the telling of the telling of the tale from where Tolkien halted in the writing process at the Mines of Moria chapters for a long span of time, through to the breaking of the fellowship and the arrival of Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas and Gandalf at Edoras, then called Eodoras. The chronicles of the writing of this story are extremely interesting and revealing, especially the parts in which the drafts differ largely from the finished product. Another interesting aspect of this second volume, present in the first but not to such a large degree, is the plotting notes and outlines which Tolkien jotted down hastily to remember and work out his ideas for the story which had not yet been written. Some of the ides are intriguing — there are hints of Treebeard, not as a tree giant but as a standard giant, in an antagonistic role; the exact form that the breaking of the Fellowship would take underwent significant changes; Rohan was at first friendly with Mordor; and Aragorn was originally to go with Boromir to Minas Tirith while Gimli and Legolas would only meet Gandalf on their way back home. Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of the book is reading the unpolished prose and following, through the narration of Tolkien's eldest son Christopher, the development from the earliest incarnation to the final product. Great must have book for Tolkien enthusiasts, especially for writers.

The second volume in The History of LOTR is no where near as interesting as the first. The material in Return of the Shadow was quite a bit different from the end result. It was great stuff.

Unfortunately most of what's in Treason of Isengard is a lot closer to the finished product. There is some good stuff. Tolkien's various outlines are fantastic and watching the development of the story is still great.

But on the whole this reads like a rough draft of the finished product. Great for Tolkien scholars but for even a die hard fan like myself it seemed a bit pointless at times.

Another great addition to the overview of Tolkien's writing process, this book gets us up to the breaking of the Fellowship.

Again, if you don't want to see how the sausage is made, don't read this. But if you're intrigued by process, these books are necessary to read.

See the review for Vol. 6, The Return of the Shadow.

Treason of Isengard: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Two (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 7) by J.R.R. Tolkien (2000)

skimmed
note "Appendix on Runes" at end

A fascinating look into the creation of some of the most memorable characters from Lord of the Rings, especially Saruman and Treebeard. Also interesting to note how the story keeps changing and changing, plots gets devised and discarded, characters disappear and reappear and every time they stop somewhere new, everything changes into several possibilities. What a web of stories.

Again, like the other 'History of Middle-Earth' books, this is for serious Tolkienites only. Having said that - this volume is of particular interest as it covers much of the time period during which the events of the Lord of the Rings took place, and so is of most immediate interest to fans of the trilogy.

Another great book

Fascinating the way Tolkien wrote my favorite story. I'm very glad to have read it. I recommend it to any Tolkien fanatic like myself.