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dragonclaws18's review
3.0
I was honestly a little disappointed with the fact this book didn't go in depth about the battles but instead talked about where Tolkien found his influence for the elements of his stories.
kraigers737's review
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
jadesx96's review
3.0
Some beautiful artwork and makes a nice companion to Tolkien's work. I would have liked to see a bit more commentary on the history behind the inspiration for some of the battles and found the map illustrations very difficult to digest. I think the copy itself needed better proofreading as well.
angusr's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
1.75
shimons's review
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
bookaholic_in_wonderland's review
adventurous
informative
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: War
lenka_v's review
3.0
A beautifully illustrated book, though the informational value could have been better. It still is a very nice addition to any Tolkien collection.
balrogfemme's review
1.0
Well...it's a very PRETTY book. Pretty cover, pages, nice to hold.
There just wasn't nearly as much effort put into writing the thing.
The structure of each chapter was sloppy at best, feeling less like the author was drawing conclusions and more like he was just listing trivia. The closest he gets to a theory is "this character is kind of like this mythological figure!" With no citations or sources, mind you. The information provided is generally on a pretty basic level, and with the exception of Gesar of Ling all already known to me--and I'm guessing to anyone with a passing awareness of mythology.
I might've given it a two nevertheless, but it's also full of distracting printing/formatting errors and typos. At one point an entire line is missing from the page--one sentence never ends, and then a new one begins.
Finally, despite being pretty, the maps and graphics are remarkably impractical and poorly designed. Someone (the author?) chose to use tiny, awkward, detailed line drawings of each figure as markers for people or forces, with the result that they are difficult to distinguish from each other. Symbols would have been a much better idea. The lines of motion are also confusingly drawn, and despite having read about these battles countless times, I was hard pressed to follow what the heck was going on.
It made me want to reread the original material, so I guess there's that?
There just wasn't nearly as much effort put into writing the thing.
The structure of each chapter was sloppy at best, feeling less like the author was drawing conclusions and more like he was just listing trivia. The closest he gets to a theory is "this character is kind of like this mythological figure!" With no citations or sources, mind you. The information provided is generally on a pretty basic level, and with the exception of Gesar of Ling all already known to me--and I'm guessing to anyone with a passing awareness of mythology.
I might've given it a two nevertheless, but it's also full of distracting printing/formatting errors and typos. At one point an entire line is missing from the page--one sentence never ends, and then a new one begins.
Finally, despite being pretty, the maps and graphics are remarkably impractical and poorly designed. Someone (the author?) chose to use tiny, awkward, detailed line drawings of each figure as markers for people or forces, with the result that they are difficult to distinguish from each other. Symbols would have been a much better idea. The lines of motion are also confusingly drawn, and despite having read about these battles countless times, I was hard pressed to follow what the heck was going on.
It made me want to reread the original material, so I guess there's that?
danastorey's review against another edition
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5