I liked it well enough. It feels more like a love letter to Middle Earth featuring several successful sci-fi and fantasy authors than meditation on his works. Many of the essays are really just what Tolkien's works mean to each of them and how he inspired them to become authors in their own right.

Some of the essays, while still quite personal, also discuss the depth of Tolkien's craft and point out parts that really stuck out to them that I had never noticed before. Ursula K. Le Guin's essay on the language, rhythm and structure is one such example

This book was compiled in the year before the first film adaptation of the Lord of the Rings was released and many more successful fantasy authors have since appeared on the scene. I'd be interested in seeing a sequel of sorts published. How the films and the text have inspired new authors and discuss what it is that helps Tolkien remain popular in the 50 years since his passing.