David Colbert: The Magical World of Lord of the Rings

By MARGIE THOMSON

On the coat-tails of original genius comes an industry of hangers-on. Colbert has already published his guide to The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter, so it was only a matter of time ...

This latest is, however, highly dip-inable. It's not exhaustive, neither is it elitist academically, and will serve as a good introduction for young readers to the long histories of myth, legends and literature. It addresses such matters as "Why is Frodo in caves so often?" (it's a tradition in legend, and is to do with heroes exploring the dark parts of their souls etc); to "Which epic poem inspired Tolkien?" (an interesting discussion of Tolkien's love for Beowulf follows); to "How did Orcs get so ugly?", and 33 other pressing questions.

Wakefield

$24.95