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The Lord of the Rings | 
| Author: J. R. R. Tolkien
Creator: Alan Lee
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Category: Book
List Price: $65.00
Buy Used: $29.99
You Save: $35.01 (54%)
Rating:  290 reviews
Sales Rank: 72575
Format: Box Set
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 3
Shipping Weight (lbs): 5.4
Dimensions (in): 9.6 x 6.2 x 4.7
ISBN: 0395489326
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.912
UPC: 046442489324
EAN: 9780395489321
ASIN: 0395489326
Publication Date: March 1988
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Box set w/clean and unmarked pages, light edge wear. Scuffed corners.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The three volumes that make up Tolkien's epic classic The Lord of the Rings are here presented in their standard cloth editions including large format fold-out maps and an extensive appendices. Set contains The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King, with jackets and a box designed by celebrated illustrator Alan Lee.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 285 more reviews...
 Three Heroes: The Wizard, The King and The Little Guy October 22, 2008
Miz Ellen (Bovine Universe)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
JRR Tolkien is the grandfather of modern fantasy; his epic work THE LORD OF THE RINGS continues to inspire writers. Without Tolkien, we don't have Terry Pratchett, JK Rowling, Jim Butcher, Mercedes Lackey -- the list is long. Tolkien took fantasy from the province of children and created a new genre of literature that was the proper playground for adults. He made a place for the myths and legends of the past to come and be welcome in the modern world.
THE LORD OF THE RINGS is a grand epic story set in the world that Tolkien created called Middle-Earth, astonishingly peopled and rich in lore, languages and cultures. (The different languages caused publication errors and inconsistencies in many early editions.) It is fabulous entertainment on so vast a scale that no movie to date has completely captured all the diverse themes and characters. (Yes, Peter Jackson made a great try, but where's Saruman, eh?) It is difficult for a short review to do this great work justice. But part of the impact and fascination of the work can be explained by examining Tolkien's three main heroes.
Gandalf the Wizard is an attractive figure, mysterious and powerful. With his long beard, homespun robes and long staff, he has some of the characteristics of a Biblical prophet, and he is indeed a messenger of the gods, sent to struggle against the evil of the Enemy. He's kind to hobbits and children, good with fireworks and special effects at parties, but he's also capable of chasing away Nazgul and healing King Theoden. He's likable, compelling, magical and not without touches of humor. He can't even die -- he gets sent back to assure that his job gets done.
Aragon is a figure out of legend--the king in exile who will defeat the Great Enemy and restore the kingdom to peace and glory. Spurring him on in his ambition is the great love of his life, Arwen Evenstar, who will chose a mortal life to be his wife and Queen. Aragon changes in the eyes of the reader from the suspicious Strider to the noble king being crowned at Minas Tirith but this is a case of his nature being gradually revealed to us.
Wizard and warrior king are stock characters in traditional fantasy. Tolkien gives us great examples in Gandalf and Aragon, but the compelling edge of his great epic comes from the character of Frodo. Whereas Gandalf has a job to do and is given great powers to help accomplish it, Frodo has only dogged perseverance. While Aragon wins his kingdom and his elven princess, Frodo hazards all he has, and loses it. He sacrifices everything for the Shire, but returns so damaged in spirit that he can not live there.
When I first read this book as a teeny-bopper, I thought Gandalf was cool--galloping around on a fabulous horse and zapping bad guys on winged monsters. Later, I thought Aragon was a heartthrob--so handsome and noble, all the girls are crazy about him. But as I get older, the character of Frodo speaks to me: the little guy, putting one foot after another on a hopeless quest, bearing a treasure that must be destroyed, knowing in his heart that he will fail before the end, and at the last, accomplishing his quest only because he showed mercy to an enemy. Is this fantasy? Or wisdom to armor one in the quest for a life well-lived?
More than 40 years after I first read this, I bowed to the inevitable and replaced my tattered paperback edition with a boxed hardback set. I love having the red and black ink maps of Middle Earth in full fold-out glory.
the lord of the ring 3 book box set July 31, 2008
Kristine M. Lavarn
I enjoyed the books more then the movies because they gave us a lot more information, especialy what was happening in the Shire.
A Great Edition of the Greatest Work of Fiction Ever Written May 24, 2008
Stephen D. Chamblee (Georgia)
I have no intention of debating the merits of The Lord of the Rings. The work speaks for itself; if you are one of its few detractors, your silly comments are not worth a reply, and you should go read some Philip Pullman. Here, I will simply address the quality of this edition.
I recently picked up this set because I needed new reading copies (the pages were falling out of my old ones), and I am quite happy with them. I was very surprised to read some of the other reviews that complained that this edition was of low quality. As far as the pages being a little off-white, my question is this: Is that bad? And if so, why? I can't really understand why that would be a minus, the pages just look older, and the color goes nicely with the brown cloth binding. The second complaint was the font. If you have ever had the pleasure of examining first editions of The Lord of the Rings books (and I have), its the same font that was used on the first printing. Thirdly, there were complaints about the fold out maps being hard to get out. The maps are FOLD OUT and ARE NOT meant to be taken out! If you tried to do it, its your own fault that your book is torn up, so don't complain about it and blame the publisher.The point of all this is that the books look vintage, and the design is very subtle and classy. If you want some garish looking movie cover set, then there are plenty of those for you. But if you want something that looks good on a nice bookcase, then get these.
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