The SF Site Featured Review: The Hobbit: An Illustrated Edition of the Fantasy Classic

The Hobbit: An Illustrated Edition of the Fantasy Classic

J.R.R. Tolkien, illustrated by David Wenzel, adapted by Charles Dixon

Del Rey, 140 pages

J.R.R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born of English parents at Bloemfontein, South Africa, on 3 Jan. 1892 and died in England on 2 Sept. 1973. He received his education at Oxford University. After graduating in 1915, he joined the British army and saw action in the Battle of the Somme. He was eventually discharged, after spending most of 1917 in the hospital.

Tolkien was a scholar by profession. He worked as a staff member of the New English Dictionary, Reader then Professor of English Language at Leeds 1920-25, Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford 1925-45 and Merton Professor of English Language and Literature until 1959.

ISFDB Bibliography
SF Site Review: Roverandom
SF Site Review: Farmer Giles of Ham
SF Site Review: Poems from The Hobbit
SF Site Review: Letters from Father Christmas
SF Site Review: The Hobbit

A review by Cyd Athens

Advertisement

Tis the season of The Hobbit. The fantasy story, first published in 1937, remains the same: Bilbo Baggins joins Thorin Oakenshield and his band of dwarves on a quest to recover stolen treasure from the evil dragon, Smaug. Any time good goes up against evil, there is going to be conflict. In this episodic quest, the challenges include trolls, goblins, giant spiders, and a Gollum who has an unhealthy obsession with a ring. Though things go awry, with no more than a couple of twists of deus ex machina, it turns out as well as can be expected in the end.

Charles Dixon's adaptation transforms Tolkien's written words into a comprehensive graphic novel. David Wenzel's illustrations suit the narrative well. They succeed because they don't try to compete with Tolkien's original drawings. This is an expanded edition of the graphic novel first released by Eclipse Books as a three-volume set in 1989-90, and by Del Rey as a single volume in 2001. Six new pages of artwork have been added to this expanded edition.

This book will delight bibliophiles who want something to help them envision Tolkien's world but prefer their pictures in a graphic format rather than moving across a screen.

Cyd Athens indulges a speculative fiction addiction from 45° 29 30.65 N, 122° 35 30.91 W. The public library was Cyd's gateway drug.