J.R.R. Tolkien may have died in the 1970s, but he remains surprisingly prolific in this, the year 2022. We’ve gotten gorgeous hardcovers of The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings, both featuring illustrations by Tolkien himself. On November 15 a new collection of his writings is being published, called The Fall of Númenor. It’s available to preorder now with an MSRP of $40, but Amazon has it on sale for $34.99. Order it now, and it’ll arrive when it’s published.
Preorder The Fall of Númenor
So what exactly is this book? It’s the first ever collection of J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings about the events of the Second Age, the age when the events in the Amazon Prime show The Rings of Power take place. The book is 320 pages long, and it includes new drawings and paintings by Alan Lee, who illustrated The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit in the ‘90s, before being brought on as a lead concept artist for Peter Jackson’s movie versions.
Prior to this new collection, Tolkien’s writings about the Second Age have been scattered about. He touches on it in The Lord of the Rings (which takes place in the Third Age), and fills it out a little more in The Silmarillion and other writings that have been published over the years. But now, with the Rings of Power show set during the Second Age, it makes sense to gather everything in one place.
The Second Age is when the island-kingdom of Númenor rises and falls. It’s when the Rings of Power are forged and Sauron gathers power and creates Barad-dûr.
Tolkien’s son Christopher oversaw the publication of his father’s works over the years, but he passed away in 2020. The Fall of Númenor is edited by Brian Sibley, another Tolkien expert.
Tolkien Illustrated Editions
As mentioned above, in addition to The Fall of Númenor, an illustrated special edition of The Lord of the Rings has just come out, though it's a pricy purchase.
The standard illustrated edition is a much less expensive alternate option.
And coming soon is a similarly illustrated edition of The Silmarillion. Between these books and The Rings of Power, it's a very good time to be a Tolkien fan.
Chris Reed is a deals expert and commerce editor for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed.
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