Reviews - Smith of Wooten Major and Farmer Giles of Ham

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93 reviews for:

Smith of Wooten Major and Farmer Giles of Ham

Two light fables that have nothing to do with Middle-Earth. The first ("Smith of Wootton Major") is gentle and Faerie, the second ("Farmer Giles of Ham") is medieval, dragony, and funnily antiauthoritarian. The closest analogue from current literature (for me, at least) would be the short stories of [a:Neil Gaiman|1221698|Neil Gaiman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1234150163p2/1221698.jpg], minus a bit of darkness. Oh, and the illustrations (by [a:Pauline Diana Baynes|7082623|Pauline Diana Baynes|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]) are first-rate.

ostrava's review against another edition

5.0

I read these two what feels like a million years ago by now. But I still love them. I think any fan of Tolkien should give his non-Middle-Earth work a chance, you might be surprised by what you find here.

hsquaredreads's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted

sofer_mahir's review against another edition

4.0

Two wonderful little stories. The first wistful and a little melancholy, the second very comical. And Pauline Baynes' illustrations are wonderfully evocative of medieval decorations.

zeydejd's review against another edition

4.0

Both stories were fun, somewhat whimsical with interesting subtext on the nature of fantasy and heroism in literature.

lloyd_e's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous funny inspiring lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I have only ever given one 5-star review before and that was for The Hobbit. I was torn as to whether or not to give this book a rating so high, as the first story The Smith of Wootton Major was probably like a 4-star book. However, Farmer Giles of Ham was such a charming amazing little read. I enjoyed it cover-to-cover, with a smile on my face. If you want a book that captures the sweet, relaxing, fun fantasy of The Hobbit. Give this a read. Interestingly these are the only stories written by J.R.R Tolkien outside of The Lord of The Rings, and The Hobbit, that weren't published posthumously. I think that shows in the prose of this book compared to some others that were published after his death.