desertcart.com: A Middle-Earth Traveler: Sketches from Bag End to Mordor: 9781328557513: Howe, John: Books Review: The Beauty And Drama Of Middle-earth - John Howe's work depicting J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth is instantly recognizable, not only because he worked beside Peter Jackson in bringing The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit to film, but also for the beauty and drama of his art. A Middle-earth Traveler is described as a "walking tour" of Tolkien's world, and indeed it does resemble the sketchbook of an artistic wanderer who delights in capturing quick images of the landscapes and people he observes. Some of the sketches later evolve into finished paintings, but many remain in their original rough but very beautiful states. The book is divided into many chapters primarily dealing with landscapes and peoples from the Third Age of Middle-earth, with occasional glances back at earlier days in Valinor, Beleriand, and Numenor. I enjoyed Howe's landscapes, which are usually rendered in muted tones evocative of morning mists. I also liked his detailed architectural drawings, from hobbit holes to elven flets to massive stone fortifications in Gondor and Mordor. His depictions of hobbits, men, dwarves, elves, and orcs are admirable as well. While it is true that no one artist can completely satisfy every reader of works as complex and beautiful as those of J.R.R. Tolkien, John Howe along with Alan Lee, Ted Nasmith, and a very few others at work today come closest to creating an artistic vision which matches the literary vision of Tolkien himself. Review: Excellent Edition of a Classic - This is one book worth the extra cost. The printing, binding, and illustrations, are top quality. We have read our first copy of Lord of the Rings so many times that the first 17 pages fell off, so we decided to get a more durable copy. This one is really nice. Plus no one writes like Tolkien.
| Best Sellers Rank | #50,831 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #17 in Science Fiction History & Criticism #34 in Science Fiction & Fantasy Art (Books) #139 in Pop Culture Art |
| Customer Reviews | 4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars (2,025) |
| Dimensions | 9.5 x 0.77 x 7.5 inches |
| ISBN-10 | 1328557510 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1328557513 |
| Item Weight | 1.82 pounds |
| Language | English |
| Print length | 192 pages |
| Publication date | October 9, 2018 |
| Publisher | William Morrow |
J**D
The Beauty And Drama Of Middle-earth
John Howe's work depicting J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth is instantly recognizable, not only because he worked beside Peter Jackson in bringing The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit to film, but also for the beauty and drama of his art. A Middle-earth Traveler is described as a "walking tour" of Tolkien's world, and indeed it does resemble the sketchbook of an artistic wanderer who delights in capturing quick images of the landscapes and people he observes. Some of the sketches later evolve into finished paintings, but many remain in their original rough but very beautiful states. The book is divided into many chapters primarily dealing with landscapes and peoples from the Third Age of Middle-earth, with occasional glances back at earlier days in Valinor, Beleriand, and Numenor. I enjoyed Howe's landscapes, which are usually rendered in muted tones evocative of morning mists. I also liked his detailed architectural drawings, from hobbit holes to elven flets to massive stone fortifications in Gondor and Mordor. His depictions of hobbits, men, dwarves, elves, and orcs are admirable as well. While it is true that no one artist can completely satisfy every reader of works as complex and beautiful as those of J.R.R. Tolkien, John Howe along with Alan Lee, Ted Nasmith, and a very few others at work today come closest to creating an artistic vision which matches the literary vision of Tolkien himself.
F**N
Excellent Edition of a Classic
This is one book worth the extra cost. The printing, binding, and illustrations, are top quality. We have read our first copy of Lord of the Rings so many times that the first 17 pages fell off, so we decided to get a more durable copy. This one is really nice. Plus no one writes like Tolkien.
A**N
Primarily sketches, some text.
I love this book. I found it to be as described-it's the author's sketches for film and just apparently to fill out the way things looked in his own head. There is some dialog- not much. But in reading the description of the book, it's what I expected. To me it's one of those things you look at, put aside, and then pick up again. I am enjoying it thoroughly. The book seems well made, with clear illustrations.
S**N
Great Price for a Great Book
It's reasonably priced, you're getting exactly what you asked for[honestly it feels like you're getting bonus material with how much stuff there is], and it's just honestly one of the best 20$ I have ever spent. The ONLY complaint(more like a nitpick) I have is that the edges of the paper cover is rather fragile, so BE CAREFUL. Personally I don't mind if there's some small tears as long as they don't get worse, but just a fair warning for anyone else.
S**N
Howe captures Middle-Earth like he’s been there
Really fantastic images in every sense of the word. Beautiful and thoughtfully executed. Design and details that feel like a first hand account. I would have liked to learn more about John Howe’s approach, his creative process, what he finds important in drawing, etc. But this books know what it wants to be. Which I can appreciate.
M**G
A Must Have
I bought this as a gift for a LOTR loving friend but I found myself flipping through every page before I could bring myself to wrap it up because it was so beautifully presented and engaging! I now plan to buy it again, this time to keep for myself!
C**.
Great for what it is
I don’t really need this right now so I’m going to return it, but the sketches are great and I love John Howe’s style. I tend to not like sketchbooks that much, I’m more interested in paintings, so it’s always a little disappointing to flip through a bunch of sketches. I could see buying this again but just don’t need it right now.
J**M
Beautiful book
The book is beautiful and is a treat for lovers of The Lord of the Rings series, BUT Amazon packaged the book very poorly and the cover was torn in two places. The book was just thrown in a too big box with nothing to keep it from being tossed around. BUY THE BOOK SOMEWHERE ELSE OTHER THAN AMAZON!
L**I
Geweldig boek voor iedereen die houdt van Tolkien en Lord of the Rings. Erg mooie tekeningen, boeiend geschreven en een mooi vormgegeven geheel maken dit boek tot een must-have voor jouw collectie!
A**R
The book itself is great, but could've been delivered with a little more care! The edge of the cover jacket is slightly torn.
A**N
Yani hakikaten çok güzel
T**.
Un libro veramente stupendo
I**E
What a beautiful book. I would definitely recommend this book to any Tolkien fan or any fan of The Lord of the Rings books or movies. The illustrations are fantastic and the information is excellent adding to what you may already know about the franchise. I thoroughly enjoyed flicking through this book and it is one I will keep on the bookshelf for years to come.
Trustpilot
5 days ago
3 days ago
