History of Lord of the Rings
 

Hello..i have the 12 volume history of middle earth..i heard there is another one out to complete the history of LOTR..called the "end of the third age"...Could someone tell me if that is worth reading or buying?

Welcome to Barrow Downs JenFramp... hope you enjoy it here. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

12 volumes you say?!??? I'm so jealous! I only got a few handfuls... [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img]
Sorry, I haven't read it yet... I'm still reading BoLT 2.

Yes, they are worth your money, my friend.
Lo! I say every red cent. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

The volume known as "The End of the Third Age" is the paperback version of "Sauron Defeated" minus the Notion Club papers. It is not a new volume and, as I understand it, contains no new material, but rather less material than was contained in the original hardcover.

Yep, what Mithadan said. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

OK that helps...ok..Silmarillion..Unfinished Tales...which should be read first?

I made the mistake of buying The End of the Third Age, and then had to go back and buy Sauron Defeated so I would have the complete information. Don't waste your money.

I have managed to scrape together all the volumes in the series except Morgoth's Ring which I still need to buy. (It's available--I'm just trying not to bankrupt myself!) Do you have paper or hard copy of the series? I like hardback because I am tough on books, but some of the volumes were so expensive that I was happy to get the paperback. Are they ever going to reprint all the volumes in hard copy? Does anyone know?

I amazingly ran into a hardbound first edition of The Lost Road in a second hand bookstore for $10 so you better believe I snapped that up. Lost Tales II and the Lays of Beleriand in hard copy are not to be found anywhere for a reasonable price. At least I haven't found them. If anyone knows where they can be bought, please let me know.

Oh, I would read Silm before Unfinished Tales. sharon, the 7th age hobbit

[ April 29, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

JenFramp: Silmarillion first. Welcome to the Barrow-Downs, by the way.

Co7A: I finished my hardback collection of the series about 6 months ago. I got lucky on eBay using the "newest listings" function, when someone posted what I was looking for with a "buy it now" option. I suggest you haunt eBay for a while. Prices are becoming sane again now that the movie furor is dying down. You have all 12 in paperback? Where did you get them? I thought only 1-5 was available in the US?

1 thru 5 are, and so are Return of the Shadow, The Treason of Isengard and The War of the Ring (sort of). I've seen them sold as part of a boxed set with The End of the Third Age (for the complete history of the Lord of the Rings), which is why only this part of Sauron Defeated was used. You can buy them individually, they cost about $15 U.S. I bought The War of the Ring. They're not as sturdy as the hardbacks, but they're tougher than the smaller paperbacks.

I have seen the entire paperback set, but they were being sold on a UK site. I don't remember where, but if I find it, I'll let you know.

1-12 are available on amazon.com

Mithadan -- I have some in paper and some in hard copy. I'm surprised to see all 12 are available now in paper from Amazon. Last time I checked, that wasn't the case. Will go look into this as my budget will probably stretch far enough to buy Morgoth's Ring in paper, and that's the last one I need. (Yipee!) sharon, the 7th age hobbit

Mithadan..my apologizes, you are right..they are not all available..you can get 1-9 in paperback from Amazon, but 10,11,12 are only available in hardcover on amazon