This new box set by Houghton Mifflin is a beautiful addition to any Tolkien lovers bookshelf. The illustrations on the box and on the book covers themselves, are done by Alan Lee. One of the best Middle-earth artists, renown for his work on the hardcover editions of "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit".In the box you get the cornerstones of Middle-earth, "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings".In "The Hobbit" you'll go along with Bilbo Baggins, twelve dwarves, and Gandalf the wizard on their quest to recover the dwarves gold and home from the dragon Smaug. A lighthearted and fun journey that sets the stage for what is to come....Which leads us to "The Lord of the Rings", the greatest fantasy epic of all time. Taking place years later than "The Hobbit", this is the story of Frodo Baggins, Samwise, Merry and Pippin and their quest to save Middle-earth from the evil Sauron by destroying the One Ring. Bilbo is seen again and Gandalf is back too, helping the hobbits on their journey. You'll meet a memorable group of characters, who come to life, with the touch of Tolkien.In both books you'll get maps to help you on your way, and in "The Lord of the Rings" there are extensive appendixes with a tale of years, calendars, family trees, notes about language and other good stuff.Overall this one set of books you'll probably end up replacing over the years as you wear them out from reading. You'll smile everytime you open the covers, delving back into Middle-earth, to see old friends and make new ones, in the greatest stories ever told....

From recent 1-2 star reviews, it appears that the backlash against LOTR is beginning. Readers are obviously sick and tired of all the hype. I can empathise with this sentiment - not everyone enjoys LOTR on their first reading, myself included.I first glimpsed this imposing tome when I was 12 years old. My violin teacher noticed that I was a "prodigious" reader, and gave me her copy of LOTR. All 3 novels, collected as one gigantic jumbo-sized paperback novel. I was overwhelmed and confused, to say the least.After that, I vowed never to read LOTR ever again. As far as I was concerned, Tolkien's fantasy was a foreign country. About 15 years later, with the LOTR hype reaching its zenith, I decided to pick up the books again. This time, I was not so intimidated.I found that the biggest problem with the book is it's flowery prose and ponderous passages. Reading Fellowship of the Ring for the first time can be a huge culture shock for the casual reader - there are long songs and poetry, references to historical incidents not directly chronicled in the novel. Tolkien DOES suceed in creating a world, but does so at the expense of alienating the casual reader.If you ever decide to buy this boxed set, I STRONGLY recommend reading "The Hobbit" first. The prose is much simpler and easier to read. There are fewer references to non-referenced historical incidents. If you can enjoy "The Hobbit", then you might want to read the rest of the novels.In conclusion, despite all the hype, LOTR is not for everyone. Reading the Christian Bible would probably be an easier chore. But for those who can adjust to Tolkien's near-biblical prose, it really is a fulfilling literary experience. Just don't expect to "dig it" on the first try. This definitely isn't a Harry Potter book.

Every reader has a "first book" that captivated their heart and took them where nothing had before. Just like a first kiss or a first love, it is something that you always remember. For me, it was the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. J.R.R Tolkien pulled me in with The Hobbit, then entwined me with the next three novels. I think I've read the series (start to finish) over twenty times, and each time I find something new I hadn't seen before, and the delight starts all over again.On the surface it can seem like many other fantasy tales. Elves and Dwarves and Wizards and good vs. evil. We've seen it before; The Narnia Series, The Harry Potter books, more Dungeons and Dragons novels than you can imagine... but Tolkien was there first. He set the bar that all other fantasy novels had to set themselves against.He takes us on this fantastic journey through the eyes of the simplest and most innocent of creatures, Hobbits. They are small, friendly, country folk who view the world of the "big people" as something strange and mysterious and definately not a place that "respectable Hobbits" venture out into... In fact, the whole idea of "adventures" is something Hobbit's just didn't do. But a wise and friendly wizard whom you learn to love, Gandalf, steps into one Hobbit's life (Bilbo Baggins) and does just that...whisks him off on an adventure, and his life (and the reader's) would never be the same again.Where as The Hobbit is a light hearted tale of adventure, The Lord of the Rings takes you to a more serious level, as Bilbo's nephew has to pay the price for the spoils brought back by his uncle... namely his magical Ring. For this ring was none other than the "one ring" made by the dark lord Sauron in his evil quest to dominate all of Middle Earth... Hoping just to get the ring as far from his beloved Shire as possible, young Frodo sets off with his cousins and his faithful gardener, Samwise, to do just that... get rid of the ring. But this task becomes more than any of them could ever imagine in their worst nightmares, and thus an epic fantasy saga is born.I can't recommend any fantasy work higher. It will take you where only dreams can, and you almost hope you can never return.

Anyone reading this is familiar with the books. I bought the boxed set so that I could re-read them. I hadn't read them since I was a kid, and forgot much of the stories. Reading them again with an adult mind, brought much meaning and clarity from them, and I would recommend to anyone that had not read them as an adult, to read them again.The books, physically, were well bound, and printed clearly. I was dissapointed with the maps, but could, with a little help from a magnifying glass, make out most of the important points.If you have only seen the movies, and not read the books yet, I would highly recommend reading them. The movies were 'ok', but they don't begin to touch the whole spin of Tolkiens tale. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but not an epic story as this.

Worth every dollar, the quality of the books its just from another world. Highly recommended