Read this one but not as memorable as LOTR or Hobbit. ( )

I hated this book when I read it, still do. I'm not sure where it falls in the canon. It put me off reading anything else by him until the LoTR movies became imminent. ( )

These stories are soooooo different and such fun. :-) ( )

"Smith of Wooton Major" is a delightfully short tale about a blacksmith named Smith. (We find out some of his friends are named Cooper and Miller -- I wonder what they do....) As a boy he eats a magic star that gives him a passport to the land of Faery, where he wanders and has some mostly harmless adventures, until one day he is told he must give up the star to another child.

The story is quite un-Tolkienian in the sense that he barely explains anything. Which is good. I mean, I love the guy, but sometimes he's just too damn wordy.


"Farmer Giles of Ham" is another playful short (though, a bit longer than "Smith") about an agriculturist who accidentally becomes a hero, and as such he is democratically chosen by the townspeople to face a dragon, much to his chagrin. ( )

Great for Tolkien fans but not as in depth as the Middle Earth books. Two "short" stories, one being 60 and the other being 100 pages or so. The first the Smith of Wootton Major tells the tale of a black smith who gets a special gift from faerie at a birthday party for only people born on the 24th. The second has a farmer in a small town has an encounter with a giant and then a dragon who doesn't want to fight. Fun romp in fantasy would be good for younger readers, but definitely shows a Tolkien flair. ( )