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A review by isabellarobinson7
The Hobbits of Tolkien by David Day
Rating: blasphemous stars
I was going to rate this book somewhere around 3 stars, but that was when I still trusted the lore of Saruman David Day. You see, somewhere between me finishing this book and starting another of the same author, (yes, I own multiple. In my defence, they were more or less gifts) I stumbled upon some rather enlightening information surrounding the accuracy of Day's Tolkien-based works. Reddit, as always, was festering with reasons for Day's outright cancellation. While I have no doubt some of those claims are absolutely valid, the damning piece of evidence for me came in the form of legitimate Tolkien scholars calling Day out on mistakes he has either not noticed or refuses to acknowledge. Let's just say there is a reason why there are no official Tolkien insignias on any of Day's work.
I could put a million articles and blog posts here, but I'm sure you don't want to waste your entire morning in the same way I have done. So for the sake of brevity, I will quote this line from David Day's page on Tolkien Gateway, which in no way am I endorsing as the most reputable of sources, but it sums it all up pretty well:
I was going to rate this book somewhere around 3 stars, but that was when I still trusted the lore of Saruman David Day. You see, somewhere between me finishing this book and starting another of the same author, (yes, I own multiple. In my defence, they were more or less gifts) I stumbled upon some rather enlightening information surrounding the accuracy of Day's Tolkien-based works. Reddit, as always, was festering with reasons for Day's outright cancellation. While I have no doubt some of those claims are absolutely valid, the damning piece of evidence for me came in the form of legitimate Tolkien scholars calling Day out on mistakes he has either not noticed or refuses to acknowledge. Let's just say there is a reason why there are no official Tolkien insignias on any of Day's work.
I could put a million articles and blog posts here, but I'm sure you don't want to waste your entire morning in the same way I have done. So for the sake of brevity, I will quote this line from David Day's page on Tolkien Gateway, which in no way am I endorsing as the most reputable of sources, but it sums it all up pretty well:
"Day is notable for his tendency to fabricate false or inaccurate information in his writings, and his books have been repeatedly criticized by the Tolkien community.
The rest of the article includes many quotes from Tolkien academics (aka people who know what they talking about) and I wouldn't be doing my due diligence if I didn't include a link to it here: https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/David...
I will now go and read some actual Tolkien to cleanse my brain.
I have decided not to rate this book out of respect for the artists who put all their hard work into creating some truly beautiful illustrations. They are not to be blamed for the unsavoury words their wonderful pictures are set opposite. I don't know if this will achieve anything, but I feel more comfortable doing so.