(#36) / The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – Visual Companion / by Jude Fisher / (Book)

Opening

Bibliographic Information:

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – Visual Companion /

by Jude Fisher

ISBN-13: 978-0618154012/ Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

p. 72/ $7.00 (Amazon)

2001

Body of Content

Summary: The work by Jude Fisher is a complementary text to The Lord of the Rings canon.  In her work, she provides summary-type material to the folklore – information that might have slipped the reader’s or viewer’s attention when reading the official Tolkien works or the Peter Jackson helmed film projects.  This is the first entry in her supplemental sources (she also wrote a second and third companion resource corresponding to the subsequent release of the theatric films).  In her work, she broadly highlights the people classes – of hobbits, of men, of elves, of dwarves, of the wizards, (and) of the dark forces.  She then spends time in each chapter highlighting key figures – key characters within that class group.  The information provides important information regarding the characters, while screen shots of the first film provided a visual context to the narratives. 

Critique: This is a more teen-friendly reference guide to the films and the books written by Tolkien.  The famed author actually wrote something akin to a reference guide – when he wrote the work The Silmarillion.  The book acts like an official history guide to his four Middle-Earth books – the three Lord of the Rings titles and their chronological prequel The Hobbit.  But The Silmarillion does not tell a narrative story – not one that would easily redact into a film.  It serves as a text to provide context, tradition, and history to the events leading up to the books in the narrative canon.

In Fisher’s work, she has taken that same intent – but made a more useable product – particularly with the inclusion of photos as an easy media to provide instant recognition – if a reader has seen the film version.  Given that the canon books include very different types of character names – from Gimli the Dwarf to Legolas the Elf – from the man Boromir to the hobbit Meriadoc Brandybuck – such a visual help to the readers is a welcomed one. (The book also contains a geographic map of Middle-Earth.)

Overall, the companion book acts like a reference book – and in that way, it provides an entry-level encyclopedia into the famed works of Tolkien.

Teaser: Tolkien’s classic work now has a companion resource – in the form of a visually aided encyclopedia.

Information about the Author: Jude Fisher actually is a pseudonym – as Fisher’s real name is Jane Johnson.  She also has written books under the name Gabriel King.  The 51-year-old author hails from England, though she married her husband, a tribal nomad, while researching a story in North Africa.  Besides writing efforts, Johnson served as an editor over some very famed fantasy, science fiction, and thriller genre authors – including Dean Koontz and George R. R. Martin.

Under her real name, Johnson has published five children titles (three of which hail from the Eidolon Chronicles) along with two adult titles.  As Fisher, she has produced a trilogy (Fool’s Gold) and four companion books to the Tolkien books – the last of which serves as a complete companion over the entire canon.  As King, she used the name as a pseudonym – co-writing four titles with M. John Johnson – a few years before using the Fisher name (Wikipedia, 2011).       

Supplemental Material

Genre: Reference / Fantasy

Curriculum Ties: Philosophy – worldviews, mythology / History – culture, geography  

Booktalking Ideas: 1) “Have you ever wanted more information about your favorite characters form The Lord of the Rings series – now is your chance!” 2) “Trace the histories and the events that shaped The Lord of the Rings literary universe!”

Reading Level: The book contains a nice mix of pictures and narrative – ideal for teen audiences (15-19).

Challenge Issues and Defense: The book is more about characters, geography, and history – and overall, it does not carry the violence or magical overtones of the books and film versions.  Challenges may arise to the series or the films – but it is difficult to assess a similar threat to this resource.

Personal Reasons for Inclusion: Tolkien’s classic trilogy is adult literature – and this represents a good redaction to fit younger audiences in the teen demographic.

Last Thoughts

References:

Wikipedia. (2011). Jude Fisher [Webpage]. Retrieved from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jude_Fisher

Listening to (Music):

Artist – Hans Zimmer / Album – “Inception (Movie Soundtrack)”