A review by dorynickel
The Shaping of Middle-Earth by J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien

1.0

Want to read 5+ summaries of the same stories that you've already read multiple full versions of? Then this is the book for you! Overall, it's very helpful for filling out the picture of the development of Tolkien's world-building, but the story isn't new and it's written as summary, not prose, so it loses all the charms of the previous books. I did enjoy the end sections of QII, and I thought ABII was an especially helpful bird's eye view of the story. Also, this book has the most interesting maps.
Worth owning, and if you really want the full picture of the development of the legendarium, it's worth a one-time read.