Meditations on Middle-Earth

by Karen Haber (Editor), Robin Hobb (Contributor), Ursula K. Le Guin (Contributor)

NOMINATED FOR THE 2002 HUGO AND LOCUS AWARD

When J.R.R. Tolkien created the extraordinary world of Middle-earth and populated it with fantastic, archetypal denizens, reinventing the heroic quest, the world hardly noticed. Sales of The Lord of the Rings languished for the better part of two decades, until the Ballantine editions were published here in America. By late 1950s, however, the books were selling well and beginning to change the face of fantasy. . . . forever.

A generation of students and aspiring writers had their hearts and imaginations captured by the rich tapestry of the Middle-earth mythos, the larger-than-life heroic characters, the extraordinary and exquisite nature of Tolkien's prose, and the unending quest to balance evil with good. These young readers grew up to become the successful writers of modern fantasy. They created their own worlds and universes, in some cases their own languages, and their own epic heroic quests. And all of them owe a debt of gratitude to the works and the author who first set them on the path.

In Meditations on Middle-earth, sixteen bestselling fantasy authors share details of their personal relationships with Tolkien's mythos, for it inspired them all. Had there been no Lord of the Rings, there would also have been no Earthsea books by Ursula K. Le Guin; no Song of Ice and Fire saga from George R. R. Martin; no Tales of Discworld from Terry Pratchett; no Legends of Alvin Maker from Orson Scott Card. Each of them was influenced by the master mythmaker, and now each reveals the nature of that influence and their personal relationships with the greatest fantasy novels ever written in the English language.

If you've never read the Tolkien books, read these essays and discover the depthy and beauty of his work. If you are a fan of The Lord of the Rings, the candid comments of these modern mythmakers will give you new insight into the subtlety, power, and majesty of Tolkien's tales and how he told them.

Genres: Fantasy, Essays, Literary Criticism, Anthologies, Fiction, Reference, Literature

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Karen Haber is the author of nine novels including Star Trek Voyager: Bless the Beasts, and co-author of Science of the X-Men. In 2001 she was nominated for a Hugo for Meditations on Middle Earth, an essay collection celebrating J.R.R. Tolkien. With her husband, Robert Silverberg, she co-edited Best Science Fiction of 2001, 2002, and the Best Fantasy of 2001 and 2002 for ibooks and later, co-edited the series with Jonathan Strahan through 2004.

Her recent work includes Crossing Infinity, a science fiction novel of gender identity and confusions. Other publications include Exploring the Matrix: Visions of the Cyber Present, a collection of essays by leading science fiction writers and artists, Kong Unbound: an original anthology, an essay in The Unauthorized X-Men edited by Len Wein, and Transitions: Todd Lockwood, a retrospective of the artist's work.

Her short fiction has appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction magazine, the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and many anthologies. She reviews art books for LOCUS magazine and profiles artists for various publications including Realms of Fantasy. She is currently at work on a major survey of fantasy and science fiction artists to be published in 2011.

Reviews

[Mary Catelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

A series of essays on Tolkien.

The commonest one was "the impact The Lord of the Rings had on my life and writing". A lot of them picked it up in the 60s or 70s when, really, there wasn't that much fantasy about. Terry Pratchett actually got pointed at Beowulf when he asked for more books like it -- fortunately he noticed books that had guys with helmets on theri covers and dived in. (That shelf was marked History, BTW.) One discussed Bored of the Rings and how it taught her the comic effect. One actually found "On Fairy Stories" the one with deep impact. Another's first reaction was how on earth can I keep on writing when the most amazing book has already been written.

Also discussion of his treatment of elves, analysis of his patterns, and a few other looks about.

[Alatea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the authors' insights were completely new and scarily clever, but it was mostly what I've already know - Tolkien was a genius.

[Inés Platero Gracia · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was interesting to read this book not only because of the anecdotes and points of view of each author but because it's like we are from different times. This book was published on 2001 (when I was 3 years old) and that same year Peter Jackson's movies were released. For these authors, their youth as the youth of their sons were marked with the book written by Tolkien, while in my childhood I grew up no reading The Hobbit, or There and Back Again or The Lord of the Rings : I grew up watching the films, over and over and over again. My parents had read those books and as I turned into a creepy teenager I always saw them storing dust while I didn't find the pull to read them (it takes me a lot to read something after watching an adaptation). However, when I was like... 16 or 17 the Hobbit movies were starting to go out and as I saw how Peter Jackson exploited a book that I knew that was so thin, I was intreguied to see what was real of those adaptations. So I read the Hobbit. I cannot say that I was amazed, but I didn't feel either that it was written only for children. I was more focused on comparing the cinematographic adaptation with those few pages and furious with Hollywood and Peter Jackson for destroying Tolkien's work. Later I continued with The Community of the Ring and... I found it the weirdest thing that I've ever read. It was not bad, it couldn't be bad. It was so worked and elaborated and so detailed that it overwhelmed me (note: it overwhelmed the teenager that most of the time was rereading YA books like The Hunger Games, Divergent, Twilight or reading more YAs). I finished it feeling certain... dissapointment. I loved the movies of the Lord of the Rings (I still do) and I wanted to love the books as well. I tried to read The Two Towers, but I quickly got bored and I abandoned it, deciding that Tolkien's books were not for me. However, after reading this book, years after my failed attempt to fall in love with the book The Lord of the Rings, I think that maybe now I'm ready for it. Maybe the "me" of today, who does not reread more YAs or reads ONLY YAs is capable of see and understand the beauty that Tolkien allowed the world to see.

[Steven Poore · Rating 2 out of 5]

A curio of a book that somehow has aged more than Tolkien's original works. Ninety per cent of these essays start with variations on the theme "I first read Lord of the Rings as a child in the mid-1960s, in suburban college/rural ninth grade, and The World Changed Forever." (Terry Pratchett gets a pass for being the sole non-American). There's a lot of happy nostalgia here, where every other student couple must have been named Bilbo and Galadriel. What really ages the book is the fact that the contributors first wrote these "meditations" so that the volume could tie in to the cinematic release of Peter Jackson's Fellowship of the Ring movie. An entire generation has gone into the West since then. After the fourth, fifth, or sixth iteration of "When I first entered the Shire," you really do start to feel that you're stuck in Puddlefoot's Retirement Home on a Sunday afternoon with tea and scones.

There are exceptions, of course. Ursula Le Guin casts a more scholarly eye at the rhythms in Tolkien's prose. Orson Scott Card pontificates on the positivity of "escapist" literature. Douglas Anderson hits a target he didn't know he was aiming at when he wonders whether the then-upcoming movies will "become the lens through which our society views Tolkien".

You could be tempted to call this a cash-in with the advantage of twenty-plus years of distance, but there are certainly some moments of interest. Not enough on their own to make this worth actively seeking out (the Le Guin essay is also available in her collections The Wave in the Mind and Dreams Must Explain Themselves, the Pratchett in A Slip of the Keyboard) unless you include the lovely pencil illustrations from the ever-excellent John Howe.

[Miguel Angel Pedrajas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este recopilatorio de artículos y reflexiones sobre lo que la obra de Tolkien, J.R.R. supuso para la literatura de fantasía no deja de ser eso, experiencias, vivencias en primera persona e ideas de la revolución del género.

Son bastantes los autores y autoras reconocidos que plasman en las páginas de este libro sus artículos. Muchos de ellos, coinciden en muchas de las reflexiones. Algunos de estos escritos se hacen mucho más técnicos, analizando la prosa y la estructura que Tolkien usó en "El Señor de los Anillos" y "El hobbit". Pero en general, el libro está orientado a ensalzar la figura de Tolkien y la evolución que supuso para el género fantástico. Así que es recomendable para los fans del autor de la Tierra Media o curiosos del género fantástico.

Quizá lo que más he echado en falta en su lectura es que la selección de autores hubiera sido de diferentes nacionalidades. Creo que el único autor que aparece y que no es estadounidense es Terry Pratchett, y casi todos hacen las mismas reflexiones o cuentan experiencias similares. Estoy seguro que haber invitado a otros autoresy autoras de otras partes del mundo habría enriquecido el resultado final.

[Daniela Valentina · Rating 3 out of 5]

kind of meh, still good though

[Laura Gaelx]

Me ha reactivado el amor por Tolkien y hecho recordar lo que supuso para mí, también, cuando lo leí por primera vez con 11 años. :_)

[Nicholas Gourlay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally written on 8.30.06 on www.sffworld.com.blog/779.html
I did sometyhing illogical for me a few hours ago. I read an essay while engrossed in a novel. I don’t do things like that. It requires too much concentration for me, especially just reading any essay. But maybe, just maybe, I’m evolving.
I put down ‘Clan of the Cave Bear’ by Jean M. Auel to read ’How Tolkein means’ by Orson Scott Card. Maybe I had a hair up my butt, but I just felt it had to be read. No time like the present. And I am thoroughly glad that I did. I have been a member of the Barrowdowns.com forum for about 5 years now. And I have put so many holes in my copy of ‘Lord of the Rings’ that you would mistake it for swiss chesse. So it was a relief to read this:

“What Tolkien wrote is obviously not ‘serious’ but ‘escapist’.
“Those who read ‘seriously’ have no possibility of escape. They are never inside the world of the story (or at least cannot admit it in their ‘serious’ discussion of it – God forbid they should be caught committting the misdemeanor of Naïve identification). They remain in the present reality, perpetually detached from the story, examining it from the outside, until – aha! – the sword flashes and the literador stands triumphant, with another clean kill. It is a contest from which only one participant can emerge alive.
“Escapist” literature, on the other hand, demands that readers leave their present reality, and dwell, for the duration of the story, within the world the writer creates. “Escaping” readers do not hold themselves aloof, reading in order to write of what they have found. Escapists identify with protagonist, care about what they care about, judge other characters by their standards, and hope for or dread the carious outcomes that seem possible at any given moment in the tale. When the story is over, escapists are reluctant to return to prison of reality – so reluctant that they will even read the appendices in order to remain just a little longer in a world where it matters that Frodo bore the ring too long ever to return to a normal, that the elves are leaving Middle-earth, and that there is a king in Gondor.”
-
- Taken from “How Tolkien Means’ by Orson Scorr Card – Meditations on middle Earth (pg 157-158)

Although I don’t fully agree with this, the basis is solid for me. My experience reading LOTR the very first time was magical. Never will I read it the same again. That applies to all novels of course, but must novels I read I do go into them a ‘escapist’ metality. The other times I have read LOTR I went to work with a ‘serious’ mentality, trying my hardest to break down structures, over turn rocks for hidden meanings, searching my heart and sould for all symbols, metaphors and allegories (even though Tolkien declared his distast for allegory in all its form, when Catholicism is such a part of you…) The experience just hasn’t been the same. I actually hadn’t even noticed it until I read Mr. Cards essay.

“Because Tolkien , like most storytellers in most societies throughtout history, value stories as stories, not as essays in disguise.” – “But Tolkien was a convert to Catholicism, and the deep story of Catholicism was a part of this worldview. It is bound to show up in his stories, not in an allegrical, conscious, encoded way, but rather as the-way-things-work.” – OSC

This written from a man that is a devout Mormon, and has portrayed some of his characters with Mormonism as his worldview (ex: Ender). I loved the Ender series, and once more will read them again. I think the next time I read it (LOTR/ENDER), I shall, ‘Get back to my reading roots’ and enjoy it all over again. The great storytellers are the ones whose characters become as real in our memories as our friends and family. My experience will never be the same as another’s but at least I’ll have one.

[Jim Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a varied and sometimes fascinating collection of essays by writers about their encounters with J.R.R. Tolkien and Middle Earth. Numerous writers credit Tolkien with opening the market for modern fantasy novels. Many, including Robin Hobb and Lisa Goldstein, report that their first reacton upon completing LOTR was to look around for more of the same. Others say that they immediately sat down to write something like LOTR. Many remembered the circumstances of their first encounter with Tolkien. Esther Friesman describes LOTR as a "gateway drug" on her path to reading and writing fantasy. Diane Duane says that it started her on her path to writing.

Raymond Feist calls JRRT the grandfather of current fantasy writers; his primary influences were Fritz Leiber and older writers of adventure stories. Poul Anderson notes that LOTR deals with "questions fundamental and timeless: the nature of good and evil, of man, and of God." Anderson was published by Ace when LOTR appeared, and he swore that he would no longer work with them because of their copyright violations regarding the US publication of LOTR. Ace eventually ceded the rights to Ballantine, which brought out LOTR and many other fantasies. Anderson points out that fantasy was the mainstream of literature from Homer until the onset of realistic fiction in the nineteenth century. He notes that JRRT drew heavily from northern myths, although significantly his elves are more like seraphim.

Michael Swanwick points out the overriding theme of loss that pervades LOTR: the elves are preparing to leave, the Ents are becoming more tree-like, and many other signs including the rise of industry. Swanwick lists two responses to the loss that attends the ending of an age: one can try to seize the power to ward off change, as do Saruman and Denethor, or one can accept the changes that come, as do Frodo and Elrond. Swanwick notes the many coincidences that help Frodo and his fellows as they begin their journey, with both Elves and Bombadil appearing in the nick of time twice. His theory about Frodo's journey with the ring is that it tests those he encounters: Gandalf, Galadriel, Boromir, Faramir, Sam, Gollum. He sees Sam and Gollum as aspects of Frodo (as did UKL, many years ago); as they become themselves, Frodo fades. His path is essentially mystic, beginning with the wound that he received on Weathertop. Frodo actually fails in his mission--who could expect otherwise?--and receives mercy rather than victory.

Terry Pratchett claims that the landscape, rather than the characters, is the hero of the book. LeGuin contributes an interesting look at the rhythmic patterns of Tolkien's prose, which I had seen before in her [The Wave in the Mind]. Douglas Anderson points out that LOTR is merely the final installment in Tolkien's much longer history. Lisa Goldstein praises JRRT's style, saying that his hint of archaism echoes other examples and alerts us that we are reading about a heroic age, with people who are somehow more than we are.

Orson Scott Card draws a distinction between serious writing, which he calls domesticated, and writing for escapism, which he considers wild. Serious writing requires experts to extract meaning. He makes fun of those Smart People who read and analyze [Ulysses]. His distinction between reading for analysis and reading for pure pleasure is simplistic and overdone, but he does have a point: LOTR is the sort of book that people inhabit. He also claims that Sam is the real hero of the book, because he is the only person who givers up the Ring willingly.

[Buchdrache · Rating 3 out of 5]

Das hier ist eine Sammlung von Essays verschiedener Autoren rund um Tolkien. Viele berichten dabei vor allem von ihren Erlebnissen mit Tolkien: wie sie auf ihn kamen und wie er sie geprägt hat. Das ist ganz nett zu lesen, während man dasitzt, geflissentlich nickt und sich denkt: »Darin erkenne ich mich wieder.« Allerdings auch ein wenig obsolet, weil das hier wahrscheinlich ohnehin nur diejenigen lesen werden, die selbst Tolkien mögen. Interessanter sind dagegen jedoch die Autoren, die den sachlicheren Ansatz wählen und verschiedene Aspekte Tolkiens beleuchten. Besonders hervorgetan hat sich da Ursula K. Le Guin, die Tolkiens Sprache untersucht, besonders im Hinblick auf Metrum (ich wusste nicht einmal, dass es Sinn macht, auch Prosa nach einem Metrum zu untersuchen!) und die Bedeutung von Richtungen. Auf jeden Fall ausgesprochen lehrreich! Auch Terry Pratchett und Douglas A. Anderson haben mir sehr gefallen. Außerdem gibt es einige Zeichnungen John Howes, einem der bedeutsamsten Tolkien-Illustratoren, den ich selbst sehr schätze. Natürlich waren diese Zeichnungen einfach wundervoll!

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the essays are close to five-star, others are one-star, so my three star rating is an average of the seventeen essays compiled in this anthology.
I would recommend this book if you are are one of those people who loved Lord of the Rings and then tried to find other books like it (the essays will all tell you that you will never find another book like it, but there are quite a lot of credible recommendations for older fantasy works written pre-Tolkien, and warnings to approach with caution anything written after him because it might be an awful rip-off of a rip-off of Tolkien).
My favorite essays were Douglas A. Anderson's on the scholarly and critical reaction to Tolkien's fiction and Ursula Le Guin's on Tolkien's rhythmic pattern. I would have liked a more academic style, rather than having to read seventeen personal stories about how a kid discovered Lord of the Rings and read it in a tree fort/on the school bus/by a fishing hole, but I guess you can't blame people for wanting to share something that changed them.

[Michael Bafford · Rating 4 out of 5]

An anthology of essays by authors – mostly well-known – who recall their introduction to Middle Earth and/or give their own view on the subject, or an aspect of the subject.

As in all anthologies some of the efforts are more successful, and/or more in my taste. I found that the writers I like were generally better and more interesting, and the obverse. Raymond Feist, for example, says: "[Frodo], along with Sam, Meriadoc, and Pippin, were willing to brave tribulations that the larger, more 'classic' heroic figures were unwilling to confront, the obvious evils of Sargon, the twisted ambition of Saruman, the tragic Gollum, and the insidious lure of the power of the One Ring itself." (p. 13) Surely not.

Several authors argue that Tolkien wrote literature and not, in Terry Pratchett's phrase, a "cult classic", or mere Fantasy.

I like Orson Scott Card's thesis that the real hero of Lord of the Rings is Samwise Gamgee. I seem to recall reading his essay somewhere else earlier, but in any event I totally agree with him. His How Tolkien Means also confronts the epithet escapist as bandied by modernist and post modernist literary critics who, as he points out, have totally missed the point.

Ursula LeGuin presents the very literary Rhythmic Pattern in the Lord of the Rings in which she analyses not only meter used in various situations or by various speakers but also the rhythm of the book as a whole: "The rhythm that shapes and directs his narrative is noticeable, was noticeable to me, because it is very strong and very simple, as simple as a rhythm can be: two beats. Stress, release. Inbreath, outbreath. A heartbeat. A walking gait. But on so vast a scale, so capable of endlessly complex and subtle variation, that it carries the whole enormous narrative straight through from beginning to end, from There to Back Again, without faltering...
What are the elements that establish this long-distance walking pace? Which elements recur, are repeated with variations, to form the rhythms of prose? Those that I am aware of are: Words and phrases. Images. Actions. Moods. Themes..." (p. 105)

Ms LeGuin digs deeply into the chapter Fog on the Barrow Downs, noticing action-reaction and other "recurrent elements": dark-light, resting-travelling, fear-courage, confusion-clarity etc. This is deeper than most readers, or I, ever go but is fun once you begin to notice and adds an extra dimension to the story.

Other writers mostly talk about what they were doing when they first discovered Middle Earth and how it affected them. They liked it.

[James Hecker · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’ve ever wandered the paths of Middle-earth and found yourself longing for a fireside discussion with fellow travelers who get it—who feel the deep magic of Tolkien’s world in their bones—then Meditations on Middle-earth is a book you’ll want to add to your collection. Edited by Karen Haber, this anthology gathers some of the greatest fantasy authors of our time to reflect on how Tolkien shaped their imaginations, their writing, and, in some cases, their very lives.

The lineup alone is enough to make any Tolkien nerd’s heart race: Ursula K. Le Guin, Terry Pratchett, Orson Scott Card, Raymond E. Feist, and many more. Each brings a unique perspective—Le Guin, as always, delivers an elegant and incisive take on Tolkien’s storytelling, while Pratchett (because of course he does) offers a wry and humorous look at the legacy of Middle-earth in fantasy. Some essays are deeply personal, others more analytical, but all of them share a common reverence for the Professor’s unparalleled world-building and mythic depth.

The beauty of this collection lies in its variety. Some writers explore the linguistic genius behind Tolkien’s constructed languages, others revel in the sheer epicness of his battles and adventures, while a few dive into the deeper philosophical undercurrents of The Lord of the Rings. There’s an almost mythological reverence in many of these essays, a recognition that Tolkien didn’t just write a series of books—he crafted a legendarium that continues to shape the genre to this day.

Many of these essays describe the author’s first introduction to The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings and how the experience went on to influence their writing but also how it affected their lives.

My own experience was having been introduced to The Hobbit at the age of 11, it became a huge part of my life as I read and reread all of Tolkien’s works that I could get my hands (and eyes) on. Later in life I realized that I had been being formed in the values, philosophies, and theology that the Professor had subtly weaved into the foundations of his works.

Meditations on Middle-earth is like sitting around a great hall with some of the finest storytellers of our age, each raising a goblet in tribute to Tolkien’s genius. If you love Middle-earth like I do, you’ll relate to and enjoy these essays.

[Dan'l Danehy-Oakes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a Byron Preiss book, as I discovered after purchasing it for my Kindle. If you know what that means, you will know that it means a certain level of quality -- no less, and certainly no more.

As an example of "no more," this ebook is terribly proofread. Every single mention of "orcs" is altered to "ores," while Poul Anderson's first name is reliably "corrected" to "Paul" -- even in the dedication of the book in his memory. I came away with the feeling that a spell-checker was used and not attended properly by humans.

But enough of that. What about the contents?

There are a few excellent essays here. Ursula K. Le Guin's "Rhythmic Pattern in The Lord of the Rings" covers an area of Tolkien's style that I have not seen handled frequently, and never as well, as it is here. Douglas A. Anderson's "Tolkien After All These Years" examines mainstream "literary" critics' fraught relationship with Tolkien's work, while simultaneously giving an overview of the posthumous works up to the time of this book's publication (2001, rather opportunistically piggybacking on the Peter Jackson LotR films). There are a few essays well-larded with humorous content, notably Esther M. Friesner's "If you Give a Girl a Hobbit" and Sir Terry Pratchett's "Cult Classic." Poul Anderson's own essay is worth reading, as are Michael Swanwick's, Charles De Lint's, and Lisa Goldstein's. The book concludes with a "Conversation" with Tim and Greg Hildebrandt, which made me understand a little better what they were trying to do with those 1970s Tolkien Calendars (I had always thought of them as kind of bad Maxfield Parrish pastiche), and an envoi "On Tolkien and Fairy-Stories" by Terry Windling, which, naturally, launches off of Tolkien's essay "On Fairy-stories."

I'm probably just as happy not to have read this when it came out. At the time I would have been less well-disposed to it, recognizing it for the cash-in on the movie phenomenon that Mr Preiss undoubtedly intended it to be. Today I can see the quality in a number of the essays printed here.

[Natasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting compilation of essays that explore J. R. R. Tolkien's impact on the literary world, such as: the scale of his world-building, the rhythm of his prose, and his influence on modern writers and readers. Some are quite repetitive––it seems as though every author writing here has a similar story about discovering (and being transformed by) The Lord of the Rings in the 1960s. And the essays are quite dated by this point, as they were written around 2000/2001, before the first Peter Jackson film for The Fellowship of the Ring came out. It's a bit ironic to read Douglas A. Anderson's essay in this volume, where he wonders if "Peter Jackson's vision [will] become the lens through with our society views Tolkien." 3/5 stars

"I started with a book, and that led me to a library, and that led me everywhere." – Terry Prachett

"One variety [of fantasy] has come to dominate both bookstore shelves and bestseller lists. It is sometimes called epic fantasy, sometimes high fantasy, but it ought to be called Tolkienesque fantasy." – George R. R. Martin

"The narrative prose of such novelists is like poetry in that it wants the living voice to speak it, to find its full beauty and power, its subtle music, its rhythmic vitality." – Ursula K. Le Guin

[Roberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a mixed bag of other author's thoughts about Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Some of them credit Tolkien with turning them into authors and recount their first meeting with his books. I enjoyed what one reviewer called the "tree house/school bus/fishing hole" essays the most. I didn't experience anything like they did so this was new to me.

Other authors wrote critical essays. I wish they hadn't, or at least that I hadn't tried to read them through. Although I have read and enjoyed Orson Scott Card's fiction, I should have just skipped the rant that he submitted for this book. Douglas A. Anderson's strangely awkward essay was actually sort of embarrassing to read.

There is an interview, called a "conversation," with illustrators Tim and Greg Hildebrandt who published Greg and Tim Hildebrandt: The Tolkien Years but not one example of their work. All of the illustrations in this book are by John Howe.

[Thijs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of essays from authors on Tolkien. Mostly on how they found out about him (mostly in the 60's) and their take on what makes Tolkien so good/unique, and what makes him move us so much.

It's a great collection, because it offers several different POV's and reasons, and you might resonate more to some then others.

For me two stood out in a negative light:
Esther Friesner says "publishers started trotting out anything by Tolkien, which might or might not have included his laundry lists.", after which she mentions the Silmarillion. And if that is your take, then I cannot take you serious on a Tolkien essay.
The other being Orson Scott Card in which he defends Tolkien and Fantasy from "Serious" literature. In that you can only experience Fantasy and you can analyse and decode "serious" literature. The irony here being of course that the Ender Saga novels are some of the most decodable novels I have ever read (I have not yet read Alvin Maker series). Not bad per sé, just ironic.

There are some absolute gems in there as well though. Particularly Ursula le Guin for me. Douglas Anderson too.

Definitely a reccommend if you want to feel validated in absolutely worshipping Tolkien.

[Kathryn Baron · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations are good. But not quite good enough to keep the volume just for them.

Mostly reflections on how Tolkien influenced the author (which can be interesting if you care for the author - but isn't an insight regarding Tolkien) or the publishing industry - Only two were critical perspectives on Tolkien's work itself (rather than how it is percieved) and only one provided me with a new insight.

One new word: eucatastrophic, fittingly coined by Tolkien himself.

Preface: The Beat Goes On Karen Haber *
Introduction George R. R Martin **
Our Grandfather: Meditations on J. R. R. Tolkien Raymond Feist **
Awakening the Elves Poul Anderson **
A Changeling Returns Michael Sweanwick ****
If You Give a Girl a Hobbit Esther M. Friesner **
The Ring and I Harry Turtledove ***
Cult Classic Terry Pratchett **
A Bar and a Quest Robin Hobb **
Rhythmic Pattern in The Lord of the Rings Ursula K. Le Guin ***
The Longest Sunday Diane Duane **
Tolkien After All These Years Douglas A. Anderson **
How Tolkien Means Orson Scott Card *
The Tale Goes Ever On Charles De Lint **
The Mythmaker Lisa Goldstein ***
"The Radical Distinction" A Conversation with Tim and Greg Hildebrandt Glenn Hurdling ***
On Tolkien and Fairy-Stories Terri Windling **
Author Biographies **

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it well enough. It feels more like a love letter to Middle Earth featuring several successful sci-fi and fantasy authors than meditation on his works. Many of the essays are really just what Tolkien's works mean to each of them and how he inspired them to become authors in their own right.

Some of the essays, while still quite personal, also discuss the depth of Tolkien's craft and point out parts that really stuck out to them that I had never noticed before. Ursula K. Le Guin's essay on the language, rhythm and structure is one such example

This book was compiled in the year before the first film adaptation of the Lord of the Rings was released and many more successful fantasy authors have since appeared on the scene. I'd be interested in seeing a sequel of sorts published. How the films and the text have inspired new authors and discuss what it is that helps Tolkien remain popular in the 50 years since his passing.

[Toni Cifuentes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me ha gustado muchísimo. He leído las tres grandes obras de Tolkien, pero no he acabado ninguna, y este libro me ha hecho sentir (y recordar) lo que es adentrarse por primera vez y a cierta edad en un libro que te abre un mundo de maravillas que se siente tan vivo (o más) que la propia realidad. Es fascinante cada ensayo a su manera. Todos están escritos desde el respeto, el asombro y el agradecimiento hacia un autor que entregó su vida a crear un mundo único e irrepetible (por más que muchos otros lo hayan intentado). Me esforzaré por terminar de leer El Señor de los Anillos, o El Hobbit (o El Silmarillion), pero si no lo consigo, me da igual porque he leído a mi manera las tres (y todo lo demás escrito por Tolkien) gracias a este conjunto de maravillosos ensayos. A lo mejor me flipo mucho, pero es lo que me ha pasado. Y, bueno, es lo que hay, ¿no? Pues eso. Que ya está.

[Danny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting compilation of articles regarding Tolkien and his writings about Middle Earth. The authors are all fantasy writers, some more well known than others.
One of the most enjoyable aspects for me were the numerous references to the history of fantasy literature in recent history. There was a good accounting of how fairytales were deemed as being only for children and how the creation of this genre for adults came about.
There were also a great many references to other authors and other articles about Tolkien and his life, his marriage and how his life experiences, especially in World War I helped shape Middle Earth.
I enjoyed reading instances of how Tolkien’s writings impacted the lives of the authors, and influenced their decisions to become writers themselves; very enjoyable for me.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding and wide-ranging anthology of essays concerning Tolkien's work and how it impacted the lives of several top fantasy writers. It did strike me as a bit dated (being published in 2001), with several authors describing their first encounters with Tolkien's work, most of them in the 1950s or 1960s, when life was quite different than the way it is now. (Disclosure: I myself am a child of the 1970s, not much had changed then, so the essays really echoed my own first encounters with Tolkien's work.). Most of the essays are quite good. I'd love to see an update of this book, featuring Gen X, Millennial, or Gen Z authors, if only to see if the times they were raised in affected how they perceived Tolkien.

[Tadeusz Pudlik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most of the pieces are quite bad, but there are some gems. Michael Swanwick had re-read the novel recently to their nine-year-old, and has interesting thoughts on how children vs adults experience it. Terry Pratchett is intelligent and insightful ("the scenery has more character than the characters"); I was surprised that he used to re-read it once a year (though not any more at the time of writing).

Harry Turtledove mentions in passing Tolkien's letters, and specifically letter 246 from the Carpenter collection, in which Tolkien discusses the immediate aftermath of the Ring not being destroyed by Gollum and Frodo, and the question of how to judge Frodo's failure to reject the ring.

I only made it about halfway through before drifting off to other things.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Frodo travels through Middle-earth like some kind of God-sent integrity test. The wise, if they were truly so, upon seeing that he had come to visit, would shriek, 'Oh, no! It's that fucking hobbit! I'm not in!' and slam the door in his face. Here is the true purpose . . . not to destroy the source of power but to test all of creation and decide whether it is worthy of continuance."

Some of the essays were really good, and some were kind of dull, but if you're a fan, the collection is definitely worth reading. My favorites: the pieces by Michael Swanwick, Diane Duane, and Terri Windling.

[Susan Ferguson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought I had already read this - had it for a long time, but looking it over discovered I hadn't.
These are essays written by authors/illustrators for whom the discovery and reading of Lord of the Rings changed their lives and opened up new worlds to them. Edith Friesner's essay was a wonderful read - I laughed most of the way through it. Raymond Feist's was also quite good. I enjoyed the interview with the Hildebrandt brothers on their experience and their calendars. Ursula Le Guin's was an interesting essay, speaking of Tolkien's rhythm of language. There were many good stories and ideas on Tolkien by top ranked authors - many of whom I had read. A very enjoyable book.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

An eclectic mix of essays on Tolkien by a gaggle of authors. Some are dry and technical, some are critical or ambivalent, but the majority are early converts, people who, like myself, found Tolkien at a key time of their late childhood or young adulthood, as did I. We were fortunate enough to be exposed to The Hobbit in English class, and, for a small group of us at least, it changed our lives, and dominated our teens.
It's over 25 years since I read LOTR, so I have a certain nostalgia about Tolkien, and a certain trepidation over reading it again. One day...

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fantastic collection of essays by some amazing authors in the speculative fields writing about their experiences with Tolkien’s works. As is always the case with these sorts of books, some essays were stronger than others, but I felt those that were strong were very strong. It’s always fun reading about how others discovered Tolkien, and even more so how that might have influenced their lives as they went on to become best-selling authors in their own right. And scattered through the book are some beautiful drawings by John Howe.

[Fred Dameron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aroused a lot of memories of summer camp and having the Hobbit read to us campers as a story. This led to reading the Lord of the Rings and a love of fantasy adventure. Any work, such as Poe or the Hobbit, that takes me back to Camp Susquehanna, and those summers from 71 through 75 are always a magical memory and add to the magic and mystery of those experiences. Any work that gives a better understanding of works I have reread is even better, but still tinged with long summer evenings, campfires, horses, haying, and a simpler time.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one! There were a couple essays I did not fully read as I couldn't stand the authors' writing styles, but there were a couple other ones that spoke deeply to my soul and I thoroughly enjoyed. This book was also very insightful to the impact Lord of the Rings had when it first came out. A lot of authors also mentioned Tolkien's essay 'On Fairy-stories', which I now desperately want to read.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartfelt stories from some great authors plus...

While I can't say all of the stories were easy or fun to read, most of them deserve 5 stars. The authors, illustrators and editors poured out their hearts explaining and exploring their love for Tolkien's works. It was a joy to relive my first time reading The Hobbit and The LOTR, while reading about their first times. Highly recommended for fans of Tolkien and the fantasy genre.