It seems everyone is now waiting for the release of the Children of Hurin and Tolkien collectors are waiting for the deluxe edition. As we saw in the interview with David Brown there will not come a signed edition, at least not before christmass 2007. And the deluxe edition will match the deluxe editions of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings (it will be blue). In september we will see some nice editions to celebrate The Hobbit 70th anniversary and The Silmarillion 30th. We have a year full of excitement a head of us!

To start the year we see some interesting new interesting books coming out! The first is the publication of The Lord of the Rings: Popular Culture in Global Context by Ernest Mathijs by Wallflower Press on the 30th of january; we know him from From Hobbits to Hollywood: Essays on Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings. Ernest Mathijs is assistant professor in film and theatre studies at the University of British Columbia, Canada. He is the editor of Cinema of the Low Countries and coeditor of Big Brother International: Formats, Critics and Publics and Alternative Europe: Eurotrash and Exploitation Cinema Since 1945 (all Wallflower Press, 2004).

Lord of the Rings: Popular Culture in Global Context brings together leading scholars in the fields of media and film studies to explore the various strategies and implications underlying the global presence of Lord of the Rings. Chapters address how the trilogy has been planned and received as a media business; how it was received by critics and fans, and how spin-offs, franchises, associated media, and indeed the text itself have been affected by its success and appeal. The book covers different national contexts and presents a lively and diverse combination of textual, historical and empirical study.

The second is Tree of Tales: Tolkien, Literature and Theology by Trevor Hart and Ivan Khovacs (Editors). Trevor Hart (Ph.D. University of Aberdeen) is Professor of Divinity and Director of the Institute for Theology, Imagination and the Arts in the University of St. Andrews. Ivan Khovacs is Lecturer at the Institute of Theology, Imagination and the Arts, University of St. Andrews. This title examines the theological relationship between creation and creativity in the works of J R R Tolkien. It provides a fresh reading of these important themes in Tolkien and highlights the multi-faceted nature of Tolkien's own vivid theology and literary imagination.

Also, in february, there will be a reprint of the famous Tolkien's Hobbit and Lord of the Rings Postcard Books. The remarkable success of the Lord of the Rings movies has overshadowed the fact that Tolkien’s words have been inspiring artists for more than 60 years, and there have been many superb visual interpretations of his books. This collection of 40 postcards gathers together a few of the most successful: the iconic work of Alan Lee and John Hope, whose work formed the basis of the film’s rich imagery; the fine art of Ted Nasmith, official artist of The Silmarillion and creator of probably the best-loved of all the Tolkien Calendars; plus a range of artists from those approved by JRR Tolkien himself, such as Pauline Baynes and Cor Blok, to a generation of new fantasy artists for whom Tolkien has inspired their best work.

Featured artists include: Alan Lee, John Howe, Ted Nasmith, Pauline Baynes, Roger Garland, Cor Blok, David Wyatt, Luca Michelucci, Stephen Hickman, Stephen Walsh, Lode Claes and David E. Alter Jr.

The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar (Prima Official Game Guide) (Paperback)by Mike Searle

In 1955, shortly after The Lord of the Rings was published, J.R.R. Tolkien began to worry his creation had become a "vast game" for some readers. This was not good, he wrote, even "for me, who find that kind of thing only too fatally attractive." Now, Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and the imaginary setting he painstakingly built, Middle-earth, has become that "vast game."

Today in Las Vegas, Turbine Inc. of Westwood, Mass., is to announce an April 24 release date for The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, the year’s most anticipated massively multiplayer online game.

Until recently, the job of interpreting Tolkien has fallen to Tolkien experts, not film or video-game directors. While many scholars are tolerant of the blockbuster adaptations, a few would prefer that "Rings" remain a reading experience, not a virtual playground.

An online game "may indeed trivialize Tolkien’s legacy," Wayne G. Hammond, co-author of the J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide, said in an e-mail interview, "if one comes to view The Lord of the Rings as popular culture more than as a work of literature, or feels that it cannot be a serious work of literature if it has outgrowths in popular culture."

"The game may signal democratization," he said, "but it isn’t Tolkien."

So far, reviews on sites like mmorpg.com and GameSpot.com have been positive. Tolkien’s United States publisher, Houghton Mifflin, also is enthusiastic. "Our hope for the new game is the same hope we held during the time of the films," said Webster Younce, senior editor at Houghton Mifflin, "that people who might not have read Tolkien will want to go directly to the source."

The game guide for The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar can also be pre-ordered as from today. It features:

* Detailed quest information and walkthroughs. To gain levels and improve a character's power the guide will tell where to find quests and how to complete them.* Our guide cover group strategies and tactics to aid you in forging a Fellowship. Working with other players is a necessity in current MMO games and no less so in Shadows of Angmar* Complete character outlines and class statistical information will help aid players in choosing and developing a hero. They need to know what a class will be like in ten, twenty, thirty levels so they don't end up with a character that doesn't fit their playstyle. Prima will provide that information.* Detailed maps to cover the sprawling world of Middle-earth. Everything from points-of-interest (POIs) to quest starting points.

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