THE LOST ROAD

by J.R.R. Tolkien ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 30, 1987

In this fifth volume of ""The History of Middle-Earth,"" Tolkien's son Christopher blows the dust off some more arcane Tolkieniana and packages it with thoughtful editorial trimmings. This new, fragmented material, written in the 30's, includes several dizzying first-runs at Tolkien's opaque elf-epic, The Silmarillon; a handy etymological dictionary of Elvish tongues, The Etmologies; scattered miscellany; and, most appealing, the partial text of The Lost Road, a ""time-travel"" story--begun in tandem with C.S. Lewis' Out of the Silent Planet--that begins as a classic adventure but all-too-soon transforms into further Elvish effluvia. While hard-core Tolkien scholars may applaud this minutiae, and Christopher Tolkien's painstaking labors over it, those who recall fondly the grandeur of The Lord of the Rings will want to scurry down the nearest Hobbit hole.

Pub Date: Nov. 30, 1987

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Houghton Miffin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1987

Categories: FICTION