The 'Lord of the Rings' Complete Visual Companion

I purchased this item for my 8-year old nephew who discovered it at his school library and could not get enough time with it. It is very popular at his school. Even though he has the other three individual visual companions he still wanted this one as it has pictures that are not in the other books. If you or your child are a LOTR fan you will want to add this book to your ccollection.

I purchased this book because I had been told that it contained all the photos from Jude Fisher's three previous visual companions: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King, which I had seen, but not purchased. While it does have some of the photos, it doesn't have all of them. Photos in certain sections have been replaced by others, and in my opinion, in some cases, the replacements aren't better pictures. Two things would have made this book worthy of five stars. First, if it had been done as an oversize hardcover like its predecessors, and second, if the three individual visual companions had been entirely reprinted in this one volume, and then additional photos added. Now that I have this trilogy compilation, I won't be buying the other three individual companions, but I am sorry not to have those missing photos.

The official, fully authorized full-color guide to the characters, places, and landscapes of J.R.R.Tolkien's Middle-earth as depicted in The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. Fully illustrated with almost 300 color photographs, including stunning new images from the extended director's versions of the Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers and more. The many characters, creatures, and strange lands of Middle-earth encountered by the Fellowship of the Ring in their epic journey are here brought to life: from the magical Elven realms of Rivendell and Lothlorien to the abandoned Dwarven kingdom of Moria; from the wizard Saruman's stronghold at Isengard to the land of the Horse-lords, Rohan; from their last-ditch fortress at Helm's Deep to Minas Tirith, the city-kingdom of the proud Men of Gondor. This omnibus edition also includes brand-new sections appearing in print for the first time, which take the story of the quest of the Fellowship beyond Mount Doom, all the way to the heartbreaking finale at the Grey Havens.

This is a good summary of the three movies as well as the three other visual companions. As the owner of all three previous companions, I found some of this information old, but still interesting. The pictures as well as the end of this companion, which gives good details, is a comprehensive look at the movies with a couple book tie-ins. Overall, I would say it's a great buy if you don't own the other three, and still interesting if you do.

There are two kinds of "Lord of the Rings" fans -- those that have seen the movie, and those that have not. For the ones who haven't, Jude Fisher is like a best pal when it comes to filling in details. Her "Lord Of The Rings: The Complete Visual Companion" not only encompasses the three visual guides she wrote before, and rounds it off with the finales. Things have been reshuffled a little to allow for better flow (why bother with recap if it's all in the same book) and the three visual guides together seem almost seamless. Fisher examines in detail the many characters from mild hobbit Frodo down to loathsome Grima Wormtongue, the places (such as the exquisite Lothlorian) pivotal battles, strange monsters and climactic events like the battle of the Pelennor Fields. "The Return of the King Visual Companion," the last of the three books, was released over a month before the movie was -- therefore, Fisher was restrained from giving away anything that happens after Frodo and Sam reach Mount Doom. In short, it didn't tell us anything about how the movie ended -- would Frodo destroy the Ring, or would it possess him? Would Aragorn become king? Would he marry Arwen? Now that "Return of the King" is almost a year behind us, Fisher is free to include new chapters and beautiful photographs from the last parts of the trilogy. She adds on the climax of the entire trilogy, with Frodo struggling into the heart of Mount Doom, and ends the chapter with the ambiguous line "I have made my choice." No, it's not clear what he chose just by reading. After that comes a chapter detailing the coronation and wedding of Aragorn and Arwen, a chapter about the Fellowship splitting up for the last time, the Hobbits returning home, and a mention of Sam Gamgee's wedding to his beloved Rosie Cotton. In the final chapter (including the loveliest picture in the entire book), Fisher describes Frodo's final departure from Middle-Earth into the west. Fisher has a pleasant, breezy style, and is able to explain the world of Middle-Earth without dumbing down the material. Sometimes she adds background info (such as Frodo's tragic life before coming to live with Bilbo) that was not a part of the actual script, but is essential to the characters anyway. The varied, colorful photographs are quite gorgeous, and the book has been reissued in a trade paperback with glossy flaps. Anyone disappointed that "The Return of the King Visual Companion" did not include the climax and ending will be pleased by "The Lord Of The Rings: The Complete Visual Companion" -- like the trilogy, the visual guides are best read in one big chunk.