El Señor de los Anillos, de J.R.R. Tolkien, es una obra maestra indiscutida que volvió al primer plano de interés por la versión cinematográfica que se hizo de ella.

Este libro, en forma de enciclopedia, ayuda al lector a hacer el proceso al revés: reconocer las historias ocultas tras las apasionantes páginas que nos ha legado Tolkien.

A very good book on the themes and ideas of the LOTR series; draws a lot from the Silmarillion as well as Tolkien's own life to explain the different things prevalent in the books. Seems to be skewed heavily towards movie fans but a good read for book fans too. ( )

A quick read and one in which I would consider as an introduction to the "myths, legends and facts behind . . ." Tolkien's LOTR. It definitely sparks further interest and is very informative. Additional sourcing information has been provided in the bibliography to allow for a more in-depth analysis. ( )

I don't know what it is about the author's style exactly that screams "I'm writing condescendingly! For children!" but it certainly is a bit hard to take (for the record, I hated that sort of thing with a passion when I *was* a child). However, I did find the book informative and interesting. The information pertaining to Tolkien seemed to be well researched, accurate, and some of it was new to me. It was well-indexed and the bibliography and notes were impressive. However, I noticed a couple of surprisingly basic errors in matters of general information: misidentifying the Egyptian god Aten as Ra (and a bas-relief as "hieroglyphs") in a caption and citing March 25th, the date of Sauron's defeat, as "the traditional date of Good Friday" (because as we all know, March 25th is *always* a Friday... not) rather than the Annunciation, or as Tolkien would have thought of it, Lady Day. The author loses a star and a half for these basic errors of fact, and for the unbearably twee style; on the whole however, the book is worth reading and keeping. ( )

Intressant och lättläst bok som ger lite insikt och roliga fakta om Tolkiens värld. Den är rätt ytligt skriven och är mest för snabba fakta, fast det är väl det som är meningen med boken. Vill man ha mer ingående förklaringar och analyser finns bättre böcker. Kul underhållning dock :) ( )