Chris Smith (1) (1964–)

I've been on a bit of a Lord of the Rings kick recently, instigated by watching the extended trilogy once again on their 25th anniversary re-release in cinemas last month. To that end, I remembered a book I still had somewhere from around the time of their original release, and managed to dig it out.

Chris Smith's Weapons and Warfare, despite being a tie-in book to the films, is certainly not low-effort. As well as providing a hefty dose of general lore, it focuses on delivering an almost show more academic level of commentary on the various armies of Middle-Earth – their tactics and, in more detail, their armour and weapons.

Some of this is lore-specific – named swords like Andúril and Glamdring – but much is also real-world armoury knowledge with a Lord of the Rings flavour. The wearing leather or mail or plate, the development of bows, the smithing of swords, but the writing tailored towards describing their deployment in this fantasy world, such as the different armouring decisions made by a mounted Rohirrim compared to an Ithilien ranger or Gondorian knight. Considering many of the props on display in the movies were genuinely forged by the production team, their construction and decoration must also have been thought-out by the real-life smiths and prop artists – and Weapons and Warfare provides all this in a lore-friendly way.

I was fascinated by all of this when I was younger, and this book was the first time I recognised there was more that went into making a sword than simply providing a sharp metal stick. Reading it again 25 years later, some of the detail seemed rather dry, but it is a wonderful complement to the fantasy world. For those who want a different perspective on The Lord of the Rings, this is an authentic and rewarding lens, giving further verisimilitude to an already remarkable Middle-Earth. show less

Having previously read Gary Russell's the Art of the Fellowship of the Ring and knowing that there are two companion volumes which focus on the second and third films in the trilogy I expected this fourth art of volume to be a sort of mashup of all three books and to contain much of the same content. Though I would have been happy to revisit some of the same contents, I was pleased to find that instead this book was meant to be an expansion and contain a mixed collection of a whole bunch of show more the artwork that didn't make it into the previous three books. Normally I prefer these types of books to focus on one subject (one movie in this case), but since the story of the Lord of the Rings is one long epic it is actually more useful to see the full range of design work produced over the development of the three films. Russell does organize the presentation of the artwork logically, though, focusing first on the overall visual effects team before featuring the two principle conceptual artists (Alan Lee and John Howe), and finally filling the rest of the book with the communal designs and efforts created by the Weta Workshop. This progression made the story of the creation of the films really come to life, as Russell and the artists discuss how the project evolved through the art design process and how their personal interactions with Tolkien's work shaped their vision. The epic story of the Lord of the Rings in movie form would have been nothing without careful treatment of the visuals, so I am glad that the incredibly hard work of the many artists who worked on this project is featured to wonderfully in Garyh Russell's books. show less

I really enjoyed getting to read about some of the little details concerning the weaponry and fighting styles of the Peoples of Middle Earth.

This book is lavishly illustrated with all sorts of paraphernalia from the movie. If you loved the movies, you'll love this book.

The I too enjoyed Peter Jackson's films, the same liberties he took in the movies are perpetuated in this book, and I have a big problem with that. The book is the book and the movies are the movies, and never the twain should meet--at least not in print.