The Book of Lost Tales, Part One (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 1)

Book Description

The Book of Lost Tales was the first major work of imagination by J.R.R. Tolkien, begun in 1916-1917 when he was twenty-five years old and left incomplete several years later. It stands at the beginning of the entire conception of Middle-earth and Valinor, for the Lost Tales were the first form of the myths and legends that came to be called The Silmarillion. Embedded in English legend and English association, they are set in the narrative frame of a great westward voyage over the Ocean by a mariner named Eriel (or AElfwine) to Tol Eressea, the Lonely Isle, where Elves dwelt; from them he learned their true history, the Lost Tales of Elfinesse. In the Tales are found the earliest accounts and original ideas of Gods and Elves, Dwarves, Balrogs, and Orcs; of the Silmarils and the Two Trees of Valinor; of Nargothrond and Gondolin; of the geography and cosmography of the invented world. The Book of Lost Tales will be published in two volumes; this first part contains the Tales of Valinor; and the second will include Beren and Luthien, Turin and the Dragon, and the only full narratives of the Necklace of the Dwarves and the Fall of Gondolin. Each tale is followed by a commentary in the form of a short essay; together with the texts of associated poems; and each volume contains extensive information on names and vocabulary in the earliest Elvish languages. Further books in this series are planned to extend the history of Middle-earth as it was refined and enlarged in later years, and will include the Long Lays of Beleriand, the Ambarkanta or Shape of the World, the Lhammas or Account of Tongues, annals, maps, and many other unpublished writings of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Customer Reviews:

Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-03

This is a look at even more of the Tolkien milieu. This is chock full
of the mythology, looking in even greater detail than The Silmarillion
at the history of the elves and their travels, for example.

This is composed by the kid from notes and other materials that his father left around.

A treasure hunt that is sure to make any tolkien fan fel rich.......2006-03-10

If you are a fan of the Lord and the Silmarillion, then this book will be something that you have to read. These tales are some of the first pieces ever put to paper by tolkien. You will get the full and first version of the beginning, the trees, lamps, morgoth, thu, etc. A real treasure for any fan of the short silmarillion tales who wants the longer version and one that was not linked at the time to the lord at all.

Find out in the later books how all of this evolved and changed to fit into the lord of the rings, aand even make it fit with the hobbit.

Book of Lost Tales one.......2005-09-11

This is a very difficult story to follow sometimes but rewarding if you are a Tolkien nut like me.It leads to alot of insight as to how he formulated his stories in the beginning and what his ideas were also how they evolved into the last stories which are the ones most of us read anyway I think its great!

`Tell me,' said Eriol, `for I long to learn, what was the Music of the Ainur?'.......2005-08-29

When the English seafarer Eriol (or Ælfwine) sails across the westward ocean, he discovers the Elvish island of Tol Eressea. Eriol is enchanted by the magical land and welcomed by the blessed Elves, who reveal to him the true history of Arda, the World. This framework links various myths; between each tale Eriol reacts and requests greater knowledge.

Tolkien originally intended to release his mythologies of Middle Earth as the Book of Lost Tales, but the project never reached a publishable state. After publishing The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien's popularity grew, and he returned to his myths of Elder Days. He spent the rest of his life revising and linking these legends, which he intended to publish as the Silmarillion. Along the way he abandoned the narrative framework of Eriol's sojourn upon the Lonely Isle.

Tolkien died before completing the Silmarillion, leaving behind a chaotic collection of material. His stories were written out of order upon notebooks and loose papers. Over the years, much of the penciled writing became unreadable. Often multiple drafts of a story were written, and there was no indication as to which draft was made last.

J.R.R. Tolkien left a difficult task for his successor. Fortunately, his diligent son Christopher Tolkien was up to the challenge. With scholarly precision he delved into the myths and completed his father's work on The Silmarillion. He had to choose between many conflicting versions of the legends. Later he wrote The Book of Lost Tales to reveal what he had left out and to shed some light on his father's intentions.

Lost Tales shows the evolution of many parts in The Silmarillion. Often Lost Tales has much greater detail - it details the powers and limitations of the gods, as well as the construction of the ships of the Sun and Moon - while the Silmarillion gives briefer, more poetic descriptions, maintaining an air of mystery. Early drafts are often shockingly different; for instance, dwarves were evil beings allied with Orcs, and Beren was an Elf. In the revived Eriol story, Tolkien explicitly links Middle Earth to our Earth; for example, he spells out the origins of England and Ireland and mentions Rome, Babylon, and Troy. Each revelation is fascinating.

J.R.R. Tokien's dedication to his work becomes increasingly evident as Christopher details the evolution of his legendarium. J.R.R. would change a character's name multiple times within a draft, redraft with a new name, and then revert to the original. A single syllable of a hero's name had great significance. Each name was derived from an appropriate word, and for Tolkien language was inseparable from mythology. The lexicon included in the book demonstrates his devotion to perfecting aesthetic and consistent languages.

This amazing book will appeal to a narrow range of people: namely, those who have read and thoroughly appreciated The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and perhaps Unfinished Tales. It is not meant for casual readers. It is a very different work than The Lord of the Rings, with a slower pace. Patient Tolkien fans will love the father's beautiful prose and the son's careful analysis. The Book of Lost Tales is an astounding creation.

-Zach Zelmar

The World on the other side of Tolkien's looking glass.......2005-06-21

`The Book of Lost Tales, Part One and Part Two' by J. R. R. Tolkien, edited by son, Christopher Tolkien, is, according to the editor's Foreword, some of the very earliest works written by Tolkien on the mythology of Middle Earth. Many, it is stated, were drafted in the 1920s, nearly ten years before the start of `The Hobbit'.

This is an important fact, as it means that they were not written to `fill in' details of references made in either `The Hobbit' or `The Lord of the Rings' (LOTR). It means that both of these published novels were narratives of a preexisting world of Middle Earth with a history stretching back thousands of years, to the very creation of the world. This supports the sense of historical depth one has when you read both novels. Early in the Foreword, editor Tolkien addresses this very aspect and the danger that the great depth of history felt in the novels may not transfer to documents that lay out that history. I personally do not sense that danger when I read these works. The intellectual effort required to understand the text and tie it together with all the Tolkienania that has gone before is more than enough to keep me busy. This is the basis of my title for this review, `Fantasy for Grown-ups'.

My experience is that neither `The Hobbit' nor `LOTR' books or movies had a strong appeal to the same audience as the literal and virtual comic book works such as Spiderman, Superman, Batman, Star Wars, Lara Croft (Tomb Raider), or even Indiana Jones. The world in which Middle Earth is set is much more subtly different from our world or the world of `Long ago, and far, far, away...' Even in `The Hobbit' one gets hints that the world of Middle Earth is not our comfortable sphereical planet with a different geography but the same physics, chemistry, and biology. One gets the sense that while the great `Gandalf the Gray' may be called a `wizard', he is not a wizard in the same sense as Merlin or a wizard of `Dungeons and Dragons'.

The most important difference between Middle Earth and our world is that this continent is in the center of a great disk surrounded by seas across which are the undying lands including the Elven island of Eressea and Valinor. The next major difference is that there are beings, primarily elves, which walk the earth and which are literally immortal. That is, they cannot die by natural causes. They can, however, be killed in battle, as seen in `The Two Towers' movie with the death of the elven archer allies helping to defend the Hornburg with Aragorn, Theoden, and the Rohrrim. It is also interesting to see that Gandalf possesses an immortality of an entirely different order, as he survives the great battle with the Balrog in the mines of Moria, a battle that would have killed any ordinary immortal elf.

It would have been interesting to see Tolkien deal with immortality in the same way that John Boorman did in his script for the movie `Zardoz', an easily underestimated movie. (Oddly enough, Gandalf is most like the characterization of Merlin in Boorman's movie, `Excalibur').

Another big difference is that the physics of this world is different from our world. Light, for example, simply does not behave like our notions of light. It is much more like a liquid that can be captured in the Silmarils or in the vial give by Galadrial to Frodo in Lorien. This is part of the reason neither Gandalf nor any other character, even Sauron, seems to use much `magic'. What may appear to us as magic is simply bending the different laws of physics to the will of the magician, as Sauron does in creating the One Ring.

These two books are yet another step removed from the `popular fiction' of `LOTR'. `The Silmarillion' was one step removed in being much more like Hesiod's mythology than Homer's epics. The `Unfinished Tales' were another step removed in that they were close to being stories with extensive editorial annotations. These two volumes, which are really one work in two books are reconstructions of even cruder material. Reading them may be about as much fun as reading Frazier's `The Golden Bough'.

Now, reading `The Golden Bough' can be fun for a particularly intellectual interest, but it takes just a bit extra to gain the same pleasure from these works, as they are not stories from a historical mythology which may explain genuine primitive thought and beliefs. They are make believe! They just happen to be of a type of make believe which is more different than just about any other fiction you can imagine.

The greatest insight I get from these myths on the early history of Middle Earth is on the origins of Tom Bombadil and the Ents. While neither is mentioned, there are ample hints that both are beings who sprung up from the bones of Middle Earth itself, independent of any efforts by the Valar. This explains the total difference between Bombadil and every other character in `LOTR' aside from Treebeard and the Ents. The Elves, the Wizards, Sauron, dragons, and probably dwarves, hobbits, and men all arose out of immigrants from `The Undying Lands' or were created by the Valar.

I find the single most interesting character in these pre `LOTR' stories to be the Noldor (elven) leader Feanor. He seems to have the air of Prometheus about him in that he defies the gods (the Valar) without being an evil force like Melkor / Morgoth or Sauron. When Feanor is not on the stage, my interest drops several notches.

These are the first two volumes of the twelve volume `The History of Middle Earth'. While several of the volumes seem independent, I would not venture to read any of them without having read `The Silmarillion'. They will make very little sense without this background in hand.

The Book of Lost Tales : The History of Middle Earth, Parts One & Two

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The Book of Lost Tales : The History of Middle Earth, Parts One & Two
J. R. R. ( John Ronald Reuel ) with Christopher Tokien Tolkien
Manufacturer: Boston : Houghton Mifflin & Company (1984)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000KI0VJW

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The Book of Lost Tales Part One
J. R. R. Tolkien
Manufacturer: The Easton Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Leather Bound
ASIN: B000IXI376

The Book of Lost Tales, Part One (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 1)

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The Book of Lost Tales, Part One (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 1)
J.R.R. Tolkien
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OVSOCG

The Book of Lost Tales Parts One and Two

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The Book of Lost Tales Parts One and Two
J. R. R. Tolkein
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000VUNY2A

Book Description

NOWHERE TO RUN. NOWHERE TO HIDE.

Fleeing her dark past, Tasya Flynn desperately breaks into a mansion -- and is caught red-handed by its owner, legendary millionaire and cat burglar Ian MacPherson. Fiercely intelligent and strangely attractive, he has been a recluse ever since his partner-in-crime betrayed him, but he is still a man to be reckoned with. Tasya expects him to call the police; instead he offers to mold her into a world-class jewel thief. After all, she needs a refuge and he needs someone to help him retrieve the priceless stone his former partner double-crossed him to obtain. But when the heist goes awry, Tasya discovers the mystery of the stone and embarks upon a perilous and passionate journey. For Ian is on a deadly quest for revenge, and it's up to Tasya to save him from a tragic fate...if she can.

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"NOWHERE TO RUN. NOWHERE TO HIDE. Fleeing her dark past, Tasya Flynn desperately breaks into a mansion -- and is caught red-handed by its owner, legendary millionaire and cat burglar Ian MacPherson. Fiercely intelligent and strangely attractive, he has been a recluse ever since his partner-in-crime betrayed him, but he is still a man to be reckoned with. Tasya expects him to call the police; instead he offers to mold her into a world-class jewel thief. After all, she needs a refuge and he needs someone to help him retrieve the priceless stone his former partner double-crossed him to obtain. But when the heist goes awry, Tasya discovers the mystery of the stone and embarks upon a perilous and passionate journey. For Ian is on a deadly quest for revenge, and it's up to Tasya to save him from a tragic fate...if she can. "

Customer Reviews:

Great Read.......2006-07-30

This was a fantastic read. The story was very exciting. The book combined romance with mystery. For the first half of the book I thought that this would be just an exciting book--but halfway through the time travel element was added. What a nice surprise.

This book would be a great book to take with you on a vacation. It is a perfect beach read. Just make sure you don't have anywhere to go for a couple of days. The book is impossible to put down.

Award-winning paranormal romance.......2005-09-17

Second-story man, Ian "Cat" MacPherson, is coaxed out of his luxurious retirement by his former apprentice, Alex Farrell. Alex covets the mysterious red stone known as the Milagre. Ian, however, is unaware of just how deep Alex's greed lies and he literally falls into the trap laid by his former protégé.

The story then flashes forward thirty years. Cat is sitting in a wheelchair contemplating suicide when a woman crawls through the pet door, intent on robbing him. After this startling event, he reconsiders life and offers her a meal. Soon, they are engaged in cautious conversation and Cat begins to formulate a plan to get revenge on Alex.

Run No More is listed on the 2004 Best Contemporary Romance list by Romantic Times and won a 2005 Prism Award in the Time Travel Category. It is a captivatingly fun romance with elements of suspense and the paranormal. The book manages to create realistic characters even as the storyline dips into areas beyond the mundane.

Jewel Thieves Learn about Love & Magic in this Romance.......2005-06-15

RUN NO MORE by Catherine Mulvany is an engrossing time-travel/paranormal romance that is fascinating in its originality. Since most time-travels usually send the hero or heroine back in time to Old England or the Scottish Highlands, RUN NO MORE is a breath of fresh air, setting-wise, as it takes place in exotic locales like Tahiti and Rio de Janeiro. It's also the first romance I've ever read that revolved around cat burglars on a jewel heist to steal a magic stone. And, it's the first I've encountered that uses Brazilian voodoo as a key plot point.

The characters are all interesting, from crippled hero Ian (a former cat burglar) to young Tasya, his tormented protégé and heroine, to secondary characters ranging from Ian's Brazilian and English pals to his former ex-partner, a double-crossing gambler named Alex. The storyline is fast-paced, and I even became anxious at the very end, wondering if Tasya and Ian were really going to end up together.

My only complaint about the book revolved around Tasya's abusive past at the hands of Richard, who was over-the-top as the bad guy in the story. I had no problem believing in magic jewels and time travel, but Richard's almost cartoon-ish evilness was too much for me to swallow.

Anyway, I highly recommend RUN NO MORE as a different and enjoyable reading experience. If you are like me, you'll want to book a flight to Brazil as soon as you finish this book!

What a great read!.......2004-11-27

I really enjoyed this book. It was so different from so many other romances with a paranormal twist. Ms. Mulvaney's description of how things hooked together from the present to the past was great. I loved both the lead characters - Tasya and Ian, and Paulinho was a wonderful character who added greatly to the story. The only thing that fell a little short was Richard - how he got from Point A to Point B, how he found Tasya at La Magia, how he could get a job there so quickly ... but this is fiction, and it wasn't that big a deal in the greater scheme of things. I really enjoyed reading this book, and I haven't been able to say that about a lot of the paranormals I've read recently. I guess I must be overdosing on vampires and werewolves. This book was different - wonderfully and imaginatively written. Highly recommended, and I look forward to reading more from this author.

Exciting, Fun and Different.......2004-10-23

"Run No More" was a fast-paced exciting story with an unexpected time-travel twist. I enjoyed the Brazilian aspects and since I have friends from Brazil, the macumba and other details rang true. This book incorporates the best from several genres and I highly recommend it to any reader looking for something beyond the ordinary romantic suspense or paranormal.

Average customer rating:

yeah, it's worth it

Run, Little Leather Boy & Run No More
Larry Townsend
Manufacturer: The Nazca Plains Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1881684229

Customer Reviews:

yeah, it's worth it.......2007-01-10

This is a classic must read; it should be required in high school

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Run No More
Larry Townsend
Manufacturer: Badboy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Erotica | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | New Age | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1563331527

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Run No More

Manufacturer: Pocket Star Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0739446398

Product Description

On the run from the past, Tasya Flynn enters a world of revenge, passion, magic and mystery, where she encounters a man more charismatic than she's ever known...and a love more powerful than she's ever dreamed.

Jack Roberts: No more hats for the ring?(Business)(The longtime GOP politician says he doesn't plan to run for office again): An article from: The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR)

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Jack Roberts: No more hats for the ring?(Business)(The longtime GOP politician says he doesn't plan to run for office again): An article from: The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR)
Gale Reference Team
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000LKAOTQ
Release Date: 2006-12-01

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR), published by Thomson Gale on November 22, 2006. The length of the article is 1159 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Jack Roberts: No more hats for the ring?(Business)(The longtime GOP politician says he doesn't plan to run for office again)
Author: Gale Reference Team
Publication: The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) (Newspaper)
Date: November 22, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Page: A1

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Sitting Duck no more.(Sports)(After spending last season on the sidelines, Kiptoo-Biwott appears ready to run): An article from: The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR)

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Sitting Duck no more.(Sports)(After spending last season on the sidelines, Kiptoo-Biwott appears ready to run): An article from: The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR)
Gale Reference Team
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000JGF398
Release Date: 2006-10-06

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR), published by Thomson Gale on September 26, 2006. The length of the article is 1001 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Sitting Duck no more.(Sports)(After spending last season on the sidelines, Kiptoo-Biwott appears ready to run)
Author: Gale Reference Team
Publication: The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) (Newspaper)
Date: September 26, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Page: e1

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Run no more: A sequel to Run, little leather boy

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Run no more: A sequel to Run, little leather boy
Larry Townsend
Manufacturer: L. Townsend
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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Cracking good story

Doctor Who: The Sleep Of Reason (Doctor Who (BBC Paperback))
Martin Day
Manufacturer: BBC Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic | Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
General | Graphic Novels | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
Doctor Who | Media | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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Doctor Who: To The Slaughter (Doctor Who)

Doctor Who: The Tomorrow Windows (Doctor Who (BBC Paperback))

The Book of the Still (Doctor Who)

Doctor Who: The Gallifrey Chronicles (Doctor Who (BBC Paperback))

Doctor Who: Emotional Chemistry (Doctor Who (BBC Paperback))

ASIN: 0563486201

Book Description

The latest in a long line of suicide attempts sees Caroline 'Laska' Darnell admitted to the Retreat, a groundbreaking medical center surrounded by woodland. To her horror, she recognizes the Retreat from her recent nightmares of an old building haunted by ghostly dogs with glowing eyes. But who will believe her stories of an evil from the past that has already made one attempt to destroy the building and all its inhabitants? The mysterious Dr. Smith seems curiously aware of the Retreat's past, and is utterly fascinated by Laska's waking dreams and prophetic nightmares. But if Laska is unable to trust her own perceptions, can she trust Dr. Smith?

Customer Reviews:

Cracking good story.......2007-06-04

I've only been reading Doctor Who novels for a short time, but this one stands out as a great one, even for television-based genre novels. The story is deeply creepy, and keeping the POV characters completely in the dark about the Doctor and his companions was a stroke of genius - the reader might know these people aren't nefarious, but it's sure easy to understand why the other characters might have some concerns for "Dr. Smith" and his colleagues!

When supernatural trouble breaks out at what appears to be a haunted hospital (mental asylum), it's up to this strange Dr. Smith and his companions to untangle the clues to a history of danger, death, and fear to get to the bottom of the trouble.

Nicely eerie, and handled exceptionally well. It makes me wish Doctor Eight and his companions had gotten a little (more) screen time.

Book Description

Dance of the Four Winds recounts the adventures of the American psychologist Alberto Villoldo as he journeys to Peru to explore the visionary ceremonies of the native shamans. Here Quecha masters use the jungle plant ayahuasca to further their spiritual progress along the four paths of the Medecine Wheel. Entering a magical realm of enigmatic sorcerers and powerful animal totems, Villoldo confronts the hidden powers of his own mind as he unlocks the secrets of the human psyche.

Customer Reviews:

Indiana Jones move aside.......2007-09-08

One of the best books I ever read. Great insights! A book one can always return to and learn from. I highly recommend this and Villoldo's other books.

Now one of my favorite books.......2007-07-05

I absolutely loved reading this story, and haven't read any story as stimulating since The Celestine Prophesy.... the difference, of course being - that this book recounts true life experiences. This was an engaging, enjoyable read with many eye opening insights into other ways and worlds. I have vivid memories of the images and experiences described in this book. Fascinating!

good book good seler.......2006-06-29

a great and by-now classic book on the theme of shamanism by an anthopologist and psychologist. I LIKE THIS BOOK BECAUSE HE TRIES IN IT TO DECRIBE HIS PERSONAL EXPERIENCES IN COMMON WORDS

Reality or fiction?.......2005-05-04

For those seeking more info about Dr. Villoldo's lack of detail and other concerns regarding truthfulness in contemporary shamanism, please see "The Selling of the Shaman and the Problem of Informant Legitimacy" which appears in the Summer 1990 issue of 'Anthropological Research', Volume 46, Number 2. Dr. Villoldo is prominently featured.

reads well.......2002-12-19

In this book Villoldo, perhaps one of the most well known teachers of Inca shamanism in the West, describes his initial encounters with the shamanic world. The book is devoted to Villoldo's experiences with two Peruvian healers - don Ramon Silva (an ayahuascero from the Peruvian Amazon) and don Antonio Morales, (a Qero style healer and philosophy professor!). Villoldo's recounting of Peruvian healing practices is gripping and the final chapter, in which he describes the death of his teacher's teacher in a little cottage on the Peruvian altiplano, is simply breath-taking. I also quite liked the description of the "operation" which allowed V. to see energy patterns and his animal allies.

If V. only recounted his experiences with the old shamans, the book would have been superb. Unfortunately, he decided to insert into the book his own personal issues and musings on the nature of reality (which tend to go on and on) and which to me seem to be rather cliche-y. this guy is a doer, not a thinker and all the theory just detracted me from the magic of his experiences. V. also seems to be unduly impressed by his newly acquired Ph.D. in psychology (from a little known local college) as if a degree means anything these days.

Still, I find Villoldo's accounts to be trustworthy and in my opinion this book is a useful read for people interested in Peruvian healing practices and in energy work in general.

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