Meditations on Middle-Earth: New Writing on the Worlds of J. R. R. Tolkien by Orson Scott Card, Ursula K. Le Guin, Raymond E. Feist, Terry Pratchet

If you've ever wondered what other authors of fantasy have to say about the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, then this book is for you. The only thing preventing it from being rated better than it currently sits, is the fact that there are glaring spelling errors in nearly every single one of the Essays contained therein. There are many misspellings of Tolkien's character names and at times it makes it very hard to enjoy the insights. I doubt it will ever happen, but it would be fantastic to see this book updated with the essays properly edited. Apart from the grievances I have over the spellings, each essay is a relatively pleasant foray into how some of fantasy's best-known authors look back on Tolkien. This book would still, make for a great gift for fans of fantasy.

I love anthologies where I read *every single* item.. I bought this originally for the essay by Diane Duane, one of my favourite authors. I was pleasantly surprised to find I liked every single essay, even the ones with conflicting points of view, even the one by Poul Anderson.. (although I did find that one the dryest). That said, these are all by professional authors, so the disease that so often blights academic collections, i.e. wonderful ideas completely killed by inedible prose, is not present. The subjects of the essays vary greatly; there are lots of personal recollections of reading Tolkien for the first time, Esther Friesner talks about how hot people with pointed ears are, Orson Scott Card talks about critical approaches to Tolkien (and it's *fun*!), Ursula K Le Guin talks about rhythmic pattern in Tolkien's prose. There are essays by: Raymond Feist, Poul Anderson, Michael Swanwick (another funny one!), Esther Friesner, Harry Turtledove, Terry Pratchett, Robin Hobb, Ursula Le Guin, Diane Duane, Douglas Anderson, Orson Scott Card, Charles de Lint, Lisa Goldstein, Glenn Hurdling (interviewing the Hildiebrant brothers), and Terri Windling, along with two introductions by Karen Haber and George R R Martin (they had to get the author with the most similar name to J R R Tolkien..). Anyway, if you like the fiction of any of these, you'll probably like the essays.

MEDITATIONS ON MIDDLE EARTH is a collection of essays focusing on J.R.R. Tolkien's works, especially the Middle Earth saga. Some of the more renowned fantasy authors of today evaluate the series that made fantasy a household name. Surprisingly, though everyone agrees that Professor Tolkien opened up the genre to the middle class, not all of the contributors are fans of the actual novels. Insightful and entertaining, each essay is well written with the writer's particular spin. However, this anthology will be loved by those readers analyzing the various cultures in a way that cultural anthropologists would envy or by those fans who cherish Beowulf, which Tolkien felt is the forefather of the genre.Harriet Klausner

I borrowed this book from the library and enjoyed it so much I asked for it for Christmas (and got it). The different authors writing about the influence LOTR had on their lives reminded me of the first time I read the story and the effect it had on me. The drawings that illustrated the book were very well done. I think this should be in every fan's collection and is a must for anyone contemplating following in Tolkien's footsteps and writing a fantasy novel.

This is a collection of 17 short essays about J.R.R. Tolkien penned by contemporary fantasy & sci-fi authors. (Actually, 15 essays are by authors-- one is by bibliographer/editor Douglas Andersson and another is an interview with the Hildebrant Brothers, who are reknowned fantasy artists). As others have noted, the essays are something of a mixed bag. Of them, only three try to take a critical, scholarly, analytical look at Tolkien. This is probably for the best, as authors usually make terrible critics. Of these three, the strongest is Ursula LeGuin's discussion of the poetic rhythms in Tolkien's prose. While thoughtful, it is nonetheless a bit dull-- and frankly, a much better essay on this same subject can be found in _J.R.R. Tolkien and his Literary Resonances_. The weakest of these three, Orson Scott Card's essay on "How Tolkien Means", is also the worst in the whole book. Although his basic contention-- that the essence of Tolkien's fiction lies in "Story" rather than "Meaning"-- is reasonable enough, his point is overwhelmed by an arrogant tone and intermittent rantings against feminists, multiculturalists, literary critics, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Sigmund Freud, James Joyce, people who like James Joyce, modernists, postmodernists, and pretty much anyone and everyone who doesn't share (or whom he suspects might not share) the exact same approach to literature as he does.Most authors here, however, have (wisely) avoided criticism, analysis, and polemic-- and have instead penned more autobiographical essays, reflecting upon how/when/why they first read Tolkien, how it impacted them both immediately and later on, how it changed their reading habits, how it influenced their own writing, and the like. Although these essays all have their own unique character and specific content depending on each author's own experiences and style (unsurprisingly, the essays by Terry Pratchett and Esther Freisner are quite funny), one can't help but note a common pattern of experience. With one or two exceptions, most of the writers here encountered Tolkien for the first time as an adolescent during the 1960s. Most describe reading the _Hobbit_ and the _Lord of the Rings_ as a life-changing event-- as a kind of epiphany or even as a magical experience. Many say that reading Tolkien inspired them to become writers themselves-- and several describe how many of their own early works were specifically modeled on Tolkien. Virtually all observe note that they probably could never have made a living writing the kind of fantasy fiction that they do if Tolkien hadn't proven to publishers that there was a huge market for this sort of thing. Of all the essays in the book, the hands-down best is Michael Swanwick's "A Changeling Returns", an introspective piece that contrasts his childhood memories of reading Tolkien (where he saw mostly magic, adventure, and freedom), with his adulthood re-readings of it (he now sees that the powerful sens

A wonderful collection of great fantasy authors' comments on the greatest fantasy writer of all. I especially like the originality of Raymond Feist's piece on Tolkien. I highly recommend this for the avid Tolkien fan.Please note, this is a collection of commentary on J.R.R. Tolkien written by current fantasy authors. It is not a collection of short stories by those authors. Please don't purchase this just because your favorite author contributed to it (unless you're a collector of anything and everything he/she writes). If you're going to buy it, then buy it because you love Tolkien and you want to see what his peers have to say about him.