Book Review: The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien 2005 50th Anniversary Edition

The Lord of the Rings
50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
by J. R. R. Tolkien

I first read The Lord of the Rings when I was in Junior High or High School.  I still have the battered paperback editions that I first read and I've re-read them several times (see below).  I also have the edition of The Fellowship of the Ring that I bought for a college course on the Inklings.  However, I decided after patching up the battered covers of my paperbacks yet again that I should get an omnibus edition before my books fell apart in a way that I couldn't repair.

I then ran across this volume while browsing the shelves at Joseph-Beth and I decided that I needed to pick it up.  Last winter I went ahead and purchased it--I think I used my January $5 voucher for the purchase to take a bit off the cover price of $30, and it was worth every penny.  I'm sure that I'll be rereading this many times over the coming years so that I'll definitely get the full value out of the purchase and likely many times over.

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
     Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone.
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
     One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne.
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
     One ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
     One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
--from J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

My original paperback editions on my shelf of Tolkien books.

This edition incorporates a number of edits over the years made to correct typos in past editions.  Before the text proper begins you can read a note on the text, a note on the 50th anniversary edition, and a forward to the second edition.  The text is of course a classic tale that should be well known to many.  I love the breadth of the scope of the story, the strong sense of verisimilitude, the fascinating and by now familiar characters, it is a joy to reread this story each time I go through it.

In the back of the book you'll find the normal series of maps of the Third Age of Middle-earth.  This is perhaps the only slight downside of the book that the maps are small, but giving the size of the pages it truly can't be helped.  If I ever want to reference better maps I pull out my hardcover copy of Unfinished Tales with its fold-out map or my Atlas of Middle-earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad.

If you're in need of a new edition of The Lord of the Rings or haven't yet read this classic I would suggest you look for this edition.  One further advantage of an omnibus edition is that it reminds you this is one story, not a trilogy of stories like the publication process could make you believe.

Rating: 5.5 out of 5
Summary: A new omnibus edition of the classic story of high adventure and good versus evil.
Technical: 1187 pages, faux leather cover.  Includes appendices, index, and maps.  Text is based off reset edition published in UK in 1994.

~Matt