Glorfindel of Gondolin

Houghton Mifflin has come out with a new edition of the Silmarillion to match the great box set of the Lord of the Rings that they put out two years ago. The spines of the dust jackets (do dust jackets have spines?) are identically styled, so anyone with the box set, but no Silmarillion, should get this edition. Bellissima!

This edition is very similar to an earlier version which I have. Both are illustrated by the most overlooked of the glorious triumvirate of Tolkien illustrators extraordinaire: Ted Nasmith.

If you've never read Tolkien, and want to know why you should, browse through the paintings on Nasmith's site. His paintings give me goosebumps. Lee conveys the culture, Howe the action, but Nasmith does the landscapes of Middle-Earth better than anyone else. This new version of the Silmarillion just stuffs in new Nasmith illustrations, and that makes it worth getting, even if you already have a few Silmarillions lying around already.