Das Werk enthält viele Zeichnungen und Bilder, welche die Vielschichtigkeit und Varietät von Tolkiens Welt schön veranschaulichen. Es stehen auch einige Tabellen und Stammbäume über die Herkunft und Abstammung der Menschenvölker, der Elben und der Tiere zur Verfügung.

The title of this book is somewhat misleading. I think a more appropriate title would be: An Illustrated Guide to the History of Tolkien's Mythology: With an Emphasis on Noteworthy Locations and Events. There are some maps, but they are generally more artistic than informative. Not a complete story, of course, but definitely a good read. I certainly learned something of the origins of Middle-Earth by reading it. If you only know the movies, you will still encounter many facts and retellings of events you already know or are aware of. Tolkien created a whole Cosmology and dedicated the myths to his beloved England, which includes the creation of a flat world and the subsequent rounding of this world in to an Earth-like world, which, after the events found in his novels, did indeed turn in to Earth as we know.

In terms of information, the book warns you from the start that it's not telling any full stories. It's giving glimpses at the wider narratives, providing context, such as Tolkien's Creation Myth, and details of events in The Silmarillion that led up to, and provide context for, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. It definitely isn't a bad book. In fact, it's very good, whether you're knowledgeable on the deep lore of Tolkien already, or just starting to develop an interest.

Technically speaking I like this book as an artifact: great illustration selection, nice binding, well-formatted text. But the material is also of the highest quality. The author clearly has a very deep understanding of the source material and has put an amazing amount of effort to present it in the cleanest way possible. Every chapter represents an age in the world of Arda and includes a map, general chronology overview and concise texts explaining key topics, e.g. places of interest, characters, beasts, events. Die Entstehungsgeschichte von Arda ist sehr interessant und anschaulich geschildert und wird gerade denjenigen eine Hilfe sein, die sich bisher noch nicht an "Das Silmarillion" herangetraut haben. Gleichzeitig bieten diese Übersichten aber auch für das Verständnis der "Herr der Ringe" Filme und Bücher einen erweiterten, informativen Hintergrund. Day spricht bewusst an, dass dieser "Atlas" sowohl für diejenigen gedacht ist, die die Filme und Bücher bereits kennen, aber auch für die, die bisher nur die Filme gesehen haben oder vielleicht noch gar nicht groß mit dem Tolkienuniversum in Berührung gekommen sind. What could have saved the book for me, but failed to do so, are the illustrations. To be blunt, I thought the majority of the illustrations were at best boring and I found many of them to be downright ugly. I simply didn't like the style of many of the pieces. They were too stylistic and impressionist for my taste. The best illustration in the book is that of Minas Tirith, by Melvin Grant.. Another flaw with the illustrations was that they depicted aspects of Tolkien's world which I think are best left to the reader's imagination. Seeing someone's crude interpretation of Morgoth, Gothmog the Balrog, and Sauron, for instance, ruins the impression of these monstrous creatures that Tolkien's words create in the reader's mind. It takes a lot of talent, such as that possessed by Ted Nasmith and Alan Lee, to provide accompanying illustrations which enhance the narrative rather than to detract from it. Unfortunately, the quality of illustrations in this book don't come close to that of Nasmith and Lee.Day has published six books of poems for adults and ten illustrated children's books of fiction and poetry. His non-fiction books on natural history include The Doomsday Book of Animals, The Whale War, Eco Wars: a Layman Guide to the Environmental Movement, Noah's Choice and most recently Nevermore: A Book of Hours - Meditations on Extinction (2012). This book chronicles all of this creation myth, one to rival Norse, Greek and other ancient creation myths with striking similarities that turn it in to something that feels as if they are myths from the beginning of time. It is fluidly written, with divine illustrations and so much information Tolkien would have been proud to see others enjoying his Cosmology as much as he wanted them to. It's easy to forget that Tolkien wanted us to have his ideas and thoughts and use them as our own. Middle Earth is a place for us all to explore, and this book helps us to do that. Interessant wird es zum Beispiel dann, wenn es um zusätzliche Informationen wie die Namen der Städte und die (wilden) Tiere Mittelerdes geht.

David Day (b. 14 October 1947 in Victoria, British Columbia) is a Canadian author of over forty books: poetry, natural history, ecology, mythology, fantasy, and children's literature. Internationally he is most notably known for his literary criticism on J. R. R. Tolkien and his works. David Days best-selling books on the life and works of JRR Tolkien include: A Tolkien Bestiary, Tolkien: the Illustrated Encyclopedia, Tolkien's Ring, The World of Tolkien and The Hobbit Companion.

Customer reviews

An Atlas of Tolkien is a very, very pretty book. It's got a lovely cover, and some absolutely stunning illustrations. It's a great look at some very different interpretations of the stories; you won't find anything from the films in here.