After
my previous report, it looks like the embargoes are lifting from a number of new Hobbit related books. Amazon is starting to show a wealth of
new information, and some of the authors themselves are revealing the
covers of their new works.
The first one, the Almanac 2013 by Paddy Kempshall, is available via Amazon.com here:
The copy I have is titled"Almanac 2013", where the Amazon one is listed as "Annual 2013". I'm making an assumption here but I'm guessing it's the same book for the US market.
Paddy Kempshall is also publishing a Movie Storybook on The Hobbit, but no cover has been released yet, at least none I've found so far. It's
listed on Amazon though.
Next, I saw that
Brian Sibley has revealed the cover of his new book
as well, via his blog and Facebook page. Also, it has been listed for
pre-orders on Amazon.com, to be released on December 14th.
Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Official Movie Guide
Brian Sibley is a long time Tolkien fan, and has written numerous books on the subject. Among his credits is also the 1980 BBC Radioplay of the dramatisation of The Lord Of The Rings - an excellent 13 hour long audiobook. Brian also wrote Sir Peter Jackson's biography, and has collaborated with the artist John Howe on three Middle-earth map books. I had the immense pleasure to meet Brian when he came to New Zealand last year for the research of this new book. Unfortunately I was not allowed to blog about it back then (and neither was he, obviously). He offered to autograph any of his books I might have on my bookshelf, and I was a bit surprised to find so many there - I walked in to our meeting with an almost embarrassing stack of literature! (cryptic: I also met his rabbit - but more on that soon!)
Jude Fisher has also announced her new book via Facebook, and it's also up for pre-orders on Amazon.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Visual Companion
If Jude's previous Visual Companions are anything to go by, they will definitely be gracing my bookshelf the minute they come out. She worked on LOTR books, both separately as three books, as well as a general LOTR Trilogy Companion. Her LOTR books listed characters and locations found in the movies in an easy to read style, great for Middle-earth virgins but also fantastic for the advanced Ringer fans. Well worth adding to your collections!
Finally (and Weta Publishing has yet to announce these officially), I spotted two Weta Publishing books on Amazon, including one with a cover shot.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Chronicles is written by Daniel Falconer, with a foreword by LOTR's Art Director and and introduction by Weta's head wizard Richard Taylor. Sounds good - so just shut up and take my money already! Unfortunately it's also (you guessed it) only up for pre-orders. *sigh*...
Amazon has also listed another Weta book,
Hobbit Art (a Hobbit Film Tie-in). No further details are available on that one yet.
