A review by lordofthemoon
Farmer Giles of Ham/The Adventures of Tom Bombadil by J.R.R. Tolkien

3.0

This volume collects two of [author: J. R. R. Tolkien]'s short books: [book: Farmer Giles of Ham] and [book: The Adventures of Tom Bombadil]. I've already read the latter, and have reviewed it under another edition here, so I'll concentrate on the former here. This is a fairly short story, aimed at a younger audience, about the titular Farmer Giles and how an encounter with a giant led to a series of increasingly heroic events. Even in this short volume, Tolkien can't resist epic world-building, with the story being a foundation myth for something else (although set in what would become England, and not connected to Middle-Earth at all).

There are some lovely medieval-style "illuminated" illustrations to go along with the story (artist not credited in my edition) which really add to the atmosphere. I can't say the same about the illustrations with The Adventures of Tom Bombadil though. Those are pixelated and low resolution, which is a shame because the originals (in colour in my other copy) are lovely.