Customer Reviews

The Magical Worlds of Lord of the Rings

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

David Colbert is best-known for his "Magical Worlds of Harry Potter," a relatively matter-of-fact background guide. Now Colbert produces "The Magical Worlds of Lord of the Rings," with its insights into the literature, legend, and religion behind "Lord of the Rings.

Colbert does a fairly good job of giving us insights into the myths (Norse legends), literature ("Beowulf," the book "Babbitt," Shakespeare's influence on faeries and elves), religion (the source of Galadriel: Mary, mother of Jesus), and Tolkien's own opinions at the time (industrialization destroying the beautiful countryside where he grew up).

Colbert makes some rather obvious errors (usually linked with the "Silmarillion" rather than "Lord of the Rings"), but nothing too awful. Overall he does a pretty good job of addressing common questions like "How Many Languages Did Tolkien Invent?", "Who Was Tolkien's First Dark Lord?" or "How Did Orcs Get So Ugly?". He writes breezily and conversationally, as if addressing a bunch of listeners.

Does "Magical Worlds" stand above other Tolkien guides? Nah. It's a pretty good guide for entry-level fans, but long-time fans will already know much of this material. However, fans who are new to Middle-Earth and who don't know a lot of the background will probably find this invaluable. If you have only seen the movies, or are only just tackling the books, this is a good place to start answering your questions.

"Magical Worlds of Lord of the Rings" is a pretty solid beginner's guide to "Lord of the Rings" and its background material. New to Middle-Earth? Then you may just find your answers here.

Although easy to read, and good for those who have seen the movies and not read the book, I would not really recommend this to anyone who has read the books and is looking to expand on their knowledge of Tolkien's world. There are a few mistakes and often times (to my horror) characters are compared to Harry Potter characters. If you want a good bed time read this book is probably for you. But if you are serious about getting to know Tolkien, try something else first.

I found David cobert's peice very informative, clear, and at times very profound. However, as a Tolkien fan, having studied The Silmarillion, and having read Tolkien's works numerous times, I found several errors in this book.

Certainly there can be different interpretations of works, but Colbert seems to have had misconceptions about both the Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. I found that most of the time he knows what he's talking about and is learned in the books, but I also find that he doesn't understand some of the things Tokien wrote. For example, Colbert says that humans were given Numenor as a reward for helping the Elves. It is quite clear in The Silmarillion that waht Colbert states isn't exactly what occurs. It was, yes, a land given to Men by the Valar, to not just any humans, but the Edain. These are not just Men, they have Elven blood in them. This is the place of the Edain, distinct from ordinary men of Middle-Earth. Colbert fails to make this distinction. Also, in Colbert's chapter on religion in The Lord of the Rings, he calls the Valar "angelic spirits." Indeed that they may be, but to the Elves these are like gods with Iluvatar being the supreme god and creator of the universe. Colbert states that Hobbits do not belive in gods, but when Frodo is stabbed by the morgul blade of the witch-king at Amon-Sul (Weather-Top), he screams out "O Elbereth! Githoniel!" which are in reference to the Valar. I found other discrepancies, but I will spare them for the sake of time.

Again, Colbert wrote this book for any one to read within a matter of hours ( I read it in 2) and wrote its very clearly. He does, however, fail to remain true to some of the facts in the history of Middle-Earth. Some elemtents are also not developed for the reader, whether having read Tolkien or not, to understand.

As of the writing of this review, the third movie installment of the Lord of the Rings has just been released into the theaters.  With all the hype over each release of The Lord of the Rings, it seems incredible to me that there is anyone who is not familiar with at least the story line of this epic.  Yet, it seems that almost daily I meet people who have not the faintest idea of what the trilogy is about.  They have not seen the movies; they have not read the books, they do not know what Hobbits are, they never heard of an Ent, and they have no idea of what a Orc is.  If  this describes you, you need this book. 

Well written and easy to read, it can serve as a primer to the uninitiated or as a resource to the most avid fan of LOTRs.  What makes this book so interesting is that Colbert delves into the thinking of Tolkien as he wrote the Ring trilogy as well as the medieval literature that inspired him.  Now before you prejudge this book and dismiss it as an uninteresting tome, I beg you to reconsider.  It is really a fascinating read. 

The huge success of the Lord of the Rings revival can be attributed to a large part to the September 11 attack.  There is a war between good and evil, light and darkness going on and people need to know that good will prevail.  But the Lord of the Rings is more complicated than merely good verses evil; it is a story of the complex motives and emotions that govern us.  The Magical Worlds of the Lord of the Rings will help deepen you understanding of these great themes.

Better than Leslie Ellen Jones's "Myth & Middle-earth": by not pretending to give anything more than simple, basic explanations of the most obvious mythic parallels, and delivering them in language not overly cutesy, Colbert succeeds at his modest task surprisingly well.

The Magical World of the Lord of the Rings reveals many of the inspirations and real-life stories behind Tolkien's trilogy. As with most contemporary sci-fi/fantasy movies or series, this trilogy was based on many different myths and legends that inspired Tolkien (many being of Scandinavian origin). Although it may be filled with info that hard-core fans already know of (most of the references are taken from other biographies of Tolkien and the trilogy), this book is likely suitable for fans who have become recently interested in the books and/or movies, or those long-terms fans who may not know as much of the trilogy's "story-behind-the-story" as they thought.

Being a fan of these books since I was a kid, when I first picked this up at the airport I assumed it was likely loaded with background info that I already knew; and that only the casual "movie-going" fans weren't aware of. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the content and stories revealed about the series that I did not know - for instance, that the scene in "the Hobbit" concerning Bilbo's discovery of the Ring was originally different - before Tolkien decided to follow up "the Hobbit" (originally intended more as a children's book) with the more sophisticated LOTR trilogy. Tolkien came up with a creative and plausible reason for the modification to "the Hobbit" that fit into the overall storyline of LOTR.

Overall, this should be an interesting and enjoyable read for fans of the series. Some readers may feel a bit cheated by a pretty quick-paced, large-worded, read for $13.00; however, I was personally surprised by the amount of content included within the pages. Though the chapters were short, they were concisely written, and seemed just about right for the subjects they dealt with. The author could have made the chapters longer to make the book seem more worth the money, but I don't think this would necessarily have made the book any better - just longer.

I found this an entertaining and enjoyable read, and I recommend it. I also learned a lot more about the interesting legends and fables, themselves, that LOTR was based on. Further, I'll even admit that I liked the book well enough to consider buying the "behind-the-pages" book on Harry Potter; even though I have yet to read a single Harry Potter book or see the movies. Even though this isn't a classic (and I'm not sure I'd call it "amazing"), I give it 5 stars as I think it hits the mark on what it was shooting for - an interesting and even educational read (as well as an easy one) about one the most influential series out there.

This put quite simply is a great book. It's easy to read, very user friendly, and don't be put off by the fact that it is just over 165 pages.
Fans of Tolkein (myself included) will enjoy this book tremendously for several reasons.
1) It's bang up to date, and incorporates comparisons between the new movies, and the original text
2) It's fairly chronological in helping even the newest visitor to Tolkeins World's, gain some understanding
3) It's unbiased, unopinionated, and objective in its explanations.
But above and beyond all of this it is one of the few recent books that has NOT fallen into what I refer to as "shameless commercialism". Whether you know all of Tolkeins works backwards, or have only seen the recent hit movies - this will help you enjoy one of the finest works of fiction of the 20th Century (and it was others far more eminent than me who said that). I first read the Hobbit in 1975 and have been a fan of Tolkein ever since, but since the enormous success of the wonderful recent and upcoming movies have been saddened by the seemingly endless line of "experts" offering in depth and (in their opinion) inciteful explanations as to the mind, the work, and the "hidden" messages of Tolkeins texts. There are a lot of worthless products out there at the moment simply trying to cash in and ride the gravy train - I'm happy to recommend this book, as NOT one of them. Enjoy.

Did you know that, our word excellentis derived from "excalibur"?meaning, beyond human standards, or pleasing to the gods. That what this book does, it gives the root of legends. Its a must readalong with. The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter, and,The Sorcerer's Companion. This is why, i like children's booksto get the same, info. I would had to pour through, dozens of books. in many libraries, [been there, done that.] And never Really, get the answers to my questions.These simple books answer most, questions in a fun easy to read style.

Tolkien's epic fantasies deserve a strong reader's supplement, and David Colbert's Magical Worlds Of Lord Of The Rings will appeal to any teen interested in the folklore and legends behind his Middle Earth worlds. From Finnish sagas to Shakespeare and King Arthur, Magical Worlds Of Lord Of The Rings draws together insights from other works of fiction and fable to lend added depth to Tolkien's creation.

Subtitled The Amazing Myths, Legends, and Facts Behind the Masterpiece, this book was obviously put together with the audience in mind that has been only now exposed to Tolkien's work through the latest film treatment. For instance, the final chapter discusses Frodo's actions in Mordor and since Peter Jackson, at least, has not put his vision of this on the silver screen, the chapter is segmented off as a "spoiler." Author David Colbert knows how to do these books, as he wrote the successful The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter. However, even the would-be Tolkien scholar and hardcore fan with well-worn and well-known copies of all the books will find this tome interesting. The index, bibliography and glossary make for handy entrances to the book, laid out like an encyclopedia. Colbert initially places the Tolkien mythology into the greater sphere of ancient European and Near Eastern mythology. This is pretty tenuous and could be good fodder for heated debate among those that appreciate Joseph Campbell as much as J. R. R. Tolkien. The inspiration from Tolkien's knowledge of ancient English and North European lore is well-trodden ground for the initiated, but this presents it in an easy to read manner with plenty of line drawings that will be entertaining for any reader, whether they just saw the movie or can quote Gandalf chapter and verse.