Prompt – A book published in the month of your birthday (August – yippee!)
Medium – Book
About the Book – Christopher Tolkien edits his father’s manuscripts and notes to bring together the story of the fall of Gondolin, the High Elven city of the First Age of Middle Earth. The story is presented as a first draft and then after as newer editions and redrafts which added more information to the story and about the characters. At the end of the book, Tolkien provides additional notes about the supporting characters of the story, including Earendil, the father of Elrond of Rivendell and the namesake of the phial of light that Frodo uses against Shelob in the Lord of the Rings (yes, I know if you haven’t watched Lord of the Rings that will be complete gobbledegook!).
My Rating – 6.5/10. It really pains me to rate this book no higher. I love Lord of the Rings, the world of Middle Earth and the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien. I even have the series of background information books that the Tolkiens developed to give more information about the world. Whilst I know Tolkien’s writing style isn’t for everyone, I quite enjoy it. And I’m a massive fan of the films. But, I think the problem with this book is the multiple incarnations of the story that are presented, all of which are good, but which makes the book extremely repetitive. To be honest, you could just flick through to the original tale, ‘the last version’ and the story of Earendil at the end of the book. I mainly skimmed through the other bits.
If you are a big fan of Middle Earth, it is definitely worth the read. It’s an interesting dive into the culture of the Elves and their last hidden city, as well as foreshadowing elements of the main Tolkien works beautifully. The one main female character, Idril, is great – she’s wise and a fighter and she is listened to by the main male character in the story (which makes a change!) The illustrations by Alan Lee are absolutely beautiful, and I would probably have the book just for those. It’s an atmospheric, enjoyable sojourn in Middle Earth, but it is very unfinished (especially the ‘Last Version’, which is a shame as it is the best of the bunch!) But, having read other books which provide a background into Middle Earth, I can’t say that this has been my favourite.
Would I read it again? Probably not – and its my dad’s book so might need to go back to him at some point!
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