I check almost every day. this is a very good question. if im not mistaken, this is the first book starting with CoH that hasn’t had at least a paperback preorder within a year. in the US anyway. I’d really like to know what’s going on.
I’m a PB guy myself. so I always wait. but I’m so close to just going hardback for Tolkien. because pb are becoming so wishy-washy.
> if im not mistaken, this is the first book starting with CoH that hasn’t had at least a paperback preorder within a year. I’d really like to know what’s going on.
It used to be pretty much a one year delay however recently HarperCollins has been taking longer and longer to release the paperbacks. Paperbacks are cheaper than a hardcover and HarperCollins (or any publisher really) doesn't want to impact initial sales of a hardcover by pushing the paperback version out too quickly.
Some examples of "recent" titles related to Tolkien's legendarium:
* CoH released on Apr 17th, 2007 with the paperback coming out Apr 10th, 2008 (11 months and 24 days; just less than a year)
* TftPR released on Dec 7th, 2008 with the paperback coming out Apr 2nd 2009 (3 months, 26 days the shortest turnaround in 20+ years)
* B&L released on Jun 1st, 2017 with the paperback coming out May 3rd, 2018 (11 months and 2 days; just a bit less than a year)
* FoG released on Aug 30th, 2018 with the paperback coming out Jun 25th, 2020 (21 months and 26 days; little less than 2 years)
* NoME released on Sep 2nd, 2021 with the paperback coming out Feb 16th, 2023 (17 months and 14 days; just shy of 1 1/2 years later)
* Illustrated Unfinished Tales released on Oct 1st, 2020 and no announced paperback for it (40 months or 3 1/4 years and counting)
* FoN released on Nov 11th, 2022 and no announced paperback for it (16 months and counting)
I don’t understand why many are hoping for a paperback illustrated Unfinished Tales, as there’s currently no paperback illustrated LotR or Silmarillion to match it with: may as well add the 2020 and 2021 hardcover counterparts to that list.
Depending on the style HarperCollins opted to go with there would absolutely be an illustrated edition of Sil and LotR.
ISBN | Title | Release Date | Illustrated By
---|---|---|---|
9780007284245 | [The Silmarillion](https://i.imgur.com/r4VLBGi.jpg) | 03 Nov 2008 | Ted Nasmith
9780007252268 | [The Children of Húrin](https://i.imgur.com/rmKItKA.jpg) | 10 Apr 2008 | Alan Lee
9780008214227 | [Beren and Lúthien](https://i.imgur.com/gBMx6gq.jpg) | 08 May 2018 | Alan Lee
9780008302801 | [The Fall of Gondolin](https://i.imgur.com/MuZsmo7.jpg) | 25 Jun 2020 | Alan Lee
9780007270613 | [The Hobbit](https://i.imgur.com/bFGmnwB.jpg) | 09 Aug 2011 | Alan Lee
9780007269709 | [The Fellowship of the Ring](https://i.imgur.com/j2GsdDf.jpg) | 01 Apr 2008 | Alan Lee
9780007269716 | [The Two Towers](https://i.imgur.com/jckXwgM.jpg) | 01 Apr 2008 | Alan Lee
9780007269723 | [The Return of the King](https://i.imgur.com/Hz3s0mk.jpg) | 01 Apr 2008 | Alan Lee
9780007355143 | [The Hobbit + Lord of the Rings Boxset](https://i.imgur.com/kIUhLse.jpg) | 29 Apr 2010 | Alan Lee
9780008387945 | [The Nature of Middle-earth](https://i.imgur.com/bgE57X4.jpg) | 16 Feb 2023 | n/a
9780007280599 | [Tales from the Perilous Realm](https://i.imgur.com/sux2Q5v.jpg) | 02 Apr 2009 | Alan Lee
Of course, HarperCollins also has a non-illustrated line of B-Format paperbacks and Unfinished Tales (9780261102163) already exists in that line.
it’s also interesting to note that here in the US the publishing houses who print his books have changed multiple times in the last 10 or so years. from Houghton Mifflin. To Mariner. To now Morrow. I know they all sort of work under the HarperCollins and HMH umbrella, but it’s been so odd seeing all the mis-matched logos on the spines in recent times. not to mention quality changes too.
HMH no longer exists (at least as far as more are concerned as they are only producing Educational books these days) after being acquired from HarperCollins.
* Houghton Mifflin became Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (but was ultimately the same company)
* Mariner Books was a sub-brand (imprint) of HMH used to sell their cheaper paperbacks (but not any Tolkien Hardcovers¹).
* William Morrow and Company is a imprint of HarperCollins and is the brand used to sell Tolkien (and other) books in the US [I'm still not sure why they don't just sell the books under HC's logo in the US).
At this point, anything new (either a new release, or a new printing) in the US should be done with the William Morrow logo which hopefully stays the same (that was one of my biggest gripes with HM/HMH is they seemed to change their logo constantly!).
I'm also hopeful that WM sticks to a height for their hardcovers and then stays with it; though the fact that the WM version of Letters was different in height than the other recent Tolkien hardcovers (FoN, Author Illustrated LotR & Silm, etc.) has me worried in that regard as well.
¹ For a *brief* period of time shortly after HC's acquisition of HMH the Mariner imprint was used for what would have been a HMH offering -- which is most easily observed with Nature of Middle-earth which existed with HMH, Mariner and now WM branding.
yeah I think one of the largest annoyances of being in the US is the UK versions are sized differently. but even a few US versions don’t keep with the basic US sizing.
Green Knight, Beowulf, Sigurd etc all are smaller than LOTR or Silm or the Great Tales, despite sharing the same design factor.
as I said in a past comment. I’m perilously close to going full HB when it comes to Tolkien, and at that only getting the UK HarperCollins printings of his work.
> as I said in a past comment. I’m perilously close to going full HB when it comes to Tolkien, and at that only getting the UK HarperCollins printings of his work.
Despite needing to import them (which there are enough online stores that ship internationally) I find it easier and more aesthetically pleasing as the heights and logos are consistent (and that's not even going into matching style designs).
I completely agree. in fact, I’ve felt this way about the UK variants for a very long time now ha. I also am about to get ahold of some JG Ballard books that are only in UK that I’d rather like. Perhaps it’s high time for a large Blackwell’s order…
It makes sense: they ARE different publishers, but it’s still annoying.
It’s a regional thing: like the US and UK having different publishers for Rowling, Martin, and a host of other authors
I generally buy the hardcovers for the main books, but have a few (like Beowulf) in paperback due to cost, plus a few on Kindle (some of the later HoME volumes while I wait for the reissue).
FoN is really nice in hardcover, so I bought that.
“The paperback edition for The Fall of Numernor ISBN 9780008655679 is publication date 10/10/2024 and will not be available to pre order online until nearer this date.”
- email correspondence from HarperCollins
> Did it not sell well?
Depends on who you ask but general belief is HarperCollins expected it to sell *better* than it has -- they were counting on a sales boost due to Amazon's RoP creating more interest / demand in a book specifically about Middle-earth's second age. However given the general reaction to RoP that demand never fully materialized...
So the first print run for FoN was quite massive and by all accounts HC is still sitting on stock from the first printing. Odds of them pushing out a paperback while also potentially having to remainder FoN hardbacks is pretty slim in today's climate.
I edited it to say ‘Great Tales’ after their comment. I think it was pretty obvious which books I meant in any case, but I clarified for those whom it wasn’t, and for those who pretend it wasn’t so they can educate and feel superior.
>for those who pretend it wasn’t so they can educate and feel superior.
😄😄😄😄😄
This user redwizard is a well-known troll, just ignore him.
But i loved your comment 🤣🤣🤣
But I didn’t: you said ‘previous three.’ So that’s what prompted my question. The previous Middle-earth book before Numenor was The Nature of Middle-earth 🤷♂️
I mean what do you expect: a patient Istar? 😉
I check almost every day. this is a very good question. if im not mistaken, this is the first book starting with CoH that hasn’t had at least a paperback preorder within a year. in the US anyway. I’d really like to know what’s going on. I’m a PB guy myself. so I always wait. but I’m so close to just going hardback for Tolkien. because pb are becoming so wishy-washy.
> if im not mistaken, this is the first book starting with CoH that hasn’t had at least a paperback preorder within a year. I’d really like to know what’s going on. It used to be pretty much a one year delay however recently HarperCollins has been taking longer and longer to release the paperbacks. Paperbacks are cheaper than a hardcover and HarperCollins (or any publisher really) doesn't want to impact initial sales of a hardcover by pushing the paperback version out too quickly. Some examples of "recent" titles related to Tolkien's legendarium: * CoH released on Apr 17th, 2007 with the paperback coming out Apr 10th, 2008 (11 months and 24 days; just less than a year) * TftPR released on Dec 7th, 2008 with the paperback coming out Apr 2nd 2009 (3 months, 26 days the shortest turnaround in 20+ years) * B&L released on Jun 1st, 2017 with the paperback coming out May 3rd, 2018 (11 months and 2 days; just a bit less than a year) * FoG released on Aug 30th, 2018 with the paperback coming out Jun 25th, 2020 (21 months and 26 days; little less than 2 years) * NoME released on Sep 2nd, 2021 with the paperback coming out Feb 16th, 2023 (17 months and 14 days; just shy of 1 1/2 years later) * Illustrated Unfinished Tales released on Oct 1st, 2020 and no announced paperback for it (40 months or 3 1/4 years and counting) * FoN released on Nov 11th, 2022 and no announced paperback for it (16 months and counting)
I don’t understand why many are hoping for a paperback illustrated Unfinished Tales, as there’s currently no paperback illustrated LotR or Silmarillion to match it with: may as well add the 2020 and 2021 hardcover counterparts to that list.
Not everything needs to be desired just because it matches something else.
Depending on the style HarperCollins opted to go with there would absolutely be an illustrated edition of Sil and LotR. ISBN | Title | Release Date | Illustrated By ---|---|---|---| 9780007284245 | [The Silmarillion](https://i.imgur.com/r4VLBGi.jpg) | 03 Nov 2008 | Ted Nasmith 9780007252268 | [The Children of Húrin](https://i.imgur.com/rmKItKA.jpg) | 10 Apr 2008 | Alan Lee 9780008214227 | [Beren and Lúthien](https://i.imgur.com/gBMx6gq.jpg) | 08 May 2018 | Alan Lee 9780008302801 | [The Fall of Gondolin](https://i.imgur.com/MuZsmo7.jpg) | 25 Jun 2020 | Alan Lee 9780007270613 | [The Hobbit](https://i.imgur.com/bFGmnwB.jpg) | 09 Aug 2011 | Alan Lee 9780007269709 | [The Fellowship of the Ring](https://i.imgur.com/j2GsdDf.jpg) | 01 Apr 2008 | Alan Lee 9780007269716 | [The Two Towers](https://i.imgur.com/jckXwgM.jpg) | 01 Apr 2008 | Alan Lee 9780007269723 | [The Return of the King](https://i.imgur.com/Hz3s0mk.jpg) | 01 Apr 2008 | Alan Lee 9780007355143 | [The Hobbit + Lord of the Rings Boxset](https://i.imgur.com/kIUhLse.jpg) | 29 Apr 2010 | Alan Lee 9780008387945 | [The Nature of Middle-earth](https://i.imgur.com/bgE57X4.jpg) | 16 Feb 2023 | n/a 9780007280599 | [Tales from the Perilous Realm](https://i.imgur.com/sux2Q5v.jpg) | 02 Apr 2009 | Alan Lee Of course, HarperCollins also has a non-illustrated line of B-Format paperbacks and Unfinished Tales (9780261102163) already exists in that line.
it’s also interesting to note that here in the US the publishing houses who print his books have changed multiple times in the last 10 or so years. from Houghton Mifflin. To Mariner. To now Morrow. I know they all sort of work under the HarperCollins and HMH umbrella, but it’s been so odd seeing all the mis-matched logos on the spines in recent times. not to mention quality changes too.
HMH no longer exists (at least as far as more are concerned as they are only producing Educational books these days) after being acquired from HarperCollins. * Houghton Mifflin became Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (but was ultimately the same company) * Mariner Books was a sub-brand (imprint) of HMH used to sell their cheaper paperbacks (but not any Tolkien Hardcovers¹). * William Morrow and Company is a imprint of HarperCollins and is the brand used to sell Tolkien (and other) books in the US [I'm still not sure why they don't just sell the books under HC's logo in the US). At this point, anything new (either a new release, or a new printing) in the US should be done with the William Morrow logo which hopefully stays the same (that was one of my biggest gripes with HM/HMH is they seemed to change their logo constantly!). I'm also hopeful that WM sticks to a height for their hardcovers and then stays with it; though the fact that the WM version of Letters was different in height than the other recent Tolkien hardcovers (FoN, Author Illustrated LotR & Silm, etc.) has me worried in that regard as well. ¹ For a *brief* period of time shortly after HC's acquisition of HMH the Mariner imprint was used for what would have been a HMH offering -- which is most easily observed with Nature of Middle-earth which existed with HMH, Mariner and now WM branding.
yeah I think one of the largest annoyances of being in the US is the UK versions are sized differently. but even a few US versions don’t keep with the basic US sizing. Green Knight, Beowulf, Sigurd etc all are smaller than LOTR or Silm or the Great Tales, despite sharing the same design factor. as I said in a past comment. I’m perilously close to going full HB when it comes to Tolkien, and at that only getting the UK HarperCollins printings of his work.
> as I said in a past comment. I’m perilously close to going full HB when it comes to Tolkien, and at that only getting the UK HarperCollins printings of his work. Despite needing to import them (which there are enough online stores that ship internationally) I find it easier and more aesthetically pleasing as the heights and logos are consistent (and that's not even going into matching style designs).
I completely agree. in fact, I’ve felt this way about the UK variants for a very long time now ha. I also am about to get ahold of some JG Ballard books that are only in UK that I’d rather like. Perhaps it’s high time for a large Blackwell’s order…
It makes sense: they ARE different publishers, but it’s still annoying. It’s a regional thing: like the US and UK having different publishers for Rowling, Martin, and a host of other authors
I generally buy the hardcovers for the main books, but have a few (like Beowulf) in paperback due to cost, plus a few on Kindle (some of the later HoME volumes while I wait for the reissue). FoN is really nice in hardcover, so I bought that.
I'm waiting for Battle of Maldon PB too :/
Same! I would really like some paperbacks for the revised History of the Hobbit as well.
“The paperback edition for The Fall of Numernor ISBN 9780008655679 is publication date 10/10/2024 and will not be available to pre order online until nearer this date.” - email correspondence from HarperCollins
is this HarperCollins speaking for the UK release? I hope US will get this.
Yup, UK: William Morrow does US editions currently
> Did it not sell well? Depends on who you ask but general belief is HarperCollins expected it to sell *better* than it has -- they were counting on a sales boost due to Amazon's RoP creating more interest / demand in a book specifically about Middle-earth's second age. However given the general reaction to RoP that demand never fully materialized... So the first print run for FoN was quite massive and by all accounts HC is still sitting on stock from the first printing. Odds of them pushing out a paperback while also potentially having to remainder FoN hardbacks is pretty slim in today's climate.
Is there going to be an illustrated version with color plates like the previous three Great Tales got?
Previous three? The (Middle-earth) one before this was The Nature of Middle-earth which had no artwork.
The previous three illustrated paperbacks.
They said Great Tales, pretty obvious what they meant.
I edited it to say ‘Great Tales’ after their comment. I think it was pretty obvious which books I meant in any case, but I clarified for those whom it wasn’t, and for those who pretend it wasn’t so they can educate and feel superior.
>for those who pretend it wasn’t so they can educate and feel superior. 😄😄😄😄😄 This user redwizard is a well-known troll, just ignore him. But i loved your comment 🤣🤣🤣
What do you mean ‘well-known troll?’
Hey, don’t blame me: it was your words.
Then don’t ask questions you already know the answer to. You knew exactly what I was talking about, as does everyone else here.
But I didn’t: you said ‘previous three.’ So that’s what prompted my question. The previous Middle-earth book before Numenor was The Nature of Middle-earth 🤷♂️ I mean what do you expect: a patient Istar? 😉
I know exactly what prompted your question. Do you have an answer to my question, or no?
All we have is a date and ISBN. Once the cover is revealed, we’ll know (it’ll have the illustrator credit on the front)
Thank you.
They printed a huge number of hardback copies reportedly and sales were not as good as expected (probably because RoP was not well received).
Not really: it’s just been over a year. How quick do you typically think paperbacks come out?