The Atlas of Middle Earth is a semi-official reference for J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth. In it, Karen Wynn Fonstad provides a plethora of meticulously-researched and carefully-drawn maps in broad categories:
- The First Age
- The Second Age
- The Third Age
- Regional Maps
- The Hobbit (maps focused on the routes/journeys mentioned in that book)
- The Lord of the Rings (ditto, though here we also get maps of five key battles)
- Thematic Maps (looking at landforms, climate, vegetation, population, and languages of Middle-Earth)
The maps are in varying levels of detail and accompanied by explanatory text. Two examples follow.
Though intended more as a reference, I really enjoyed this work and read most of it. As a visual learner, I appreciated the maps of the pre-LOTR Ages (covered in
The Silmarillion or other works). The author did her homework and has considerable artistic talent. She is honest about all the uncertainties—Tolkien's voluminous writings in this world occasionally clashed or omitted details—and does a good job handling those. I view this as 'semi-official' because it holds as true as possible to the Tolkien canon shares a publisher with him, yet I don't think this is officially blessed by the Tolkien estate. Whatever the case, this is a good volume for those who love both maps and Middle-Earth.
Rating: A
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