Beren and Luthien takes one of the three key chapters from the Silmarillion (which I highly recommend reading first), and goes in depth with a much longer story with better developed characters. Tolkien was constantly revising the story of Beren and Luthien and this book compiles all of the drafts of the story in chronological order. Some versions are written in verse, others in prose. This book is not a complete narrative but rather a collection of incomplete versions of the same story.
The illustrations are amazing. Alan Lee does great characters and landscapes and all of the images look beautiful.
This hardcover edition of Beren and Luthien is presented with a matte dust jacket with one of Alan Lee's illustrations on it. The spine looks great on display, with gold lettering adorning the illustration. Harpercollins has been releasing most of the middle earth books as matching hardcovers: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, Unfinished tales, The Children of Hurin, Beren and Luthien, The Fall of Gondolin.
The book has a sturdy cover that is comfortable to hold. The size is perfect. If it were any larger it would be hard to hold comfortably, and if it were smaller it would make the illustrations hard to see. The pages are quality thick paper and the font is good. The pages with illustrations on them are glossy, so the colourful images show up nicely but the main pages are matte. My only complaint with this edition is the binding. I own the matching copies of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings which have a sewn binding. This edition is glued so the binding has less longevity and the pages are harder to turn.

This review was first published on Kurt's Frontier.
Synopsis:
The story of Beren, son of Barahir (human) and the elf maid Lúthien takes place in the Eldar Days, the First Age of Middle Earth. Because Thingol, king of the elf kingdom of Doriath and father of Lúthien, disapproved of his daughter's love for a mortal man, he sends Beren on an impossible quest, to retrieve one of the Silmarils from Morgoth, the Black Enemy. This sets into motion a story of love and loyalty, and the two lovers venture into dangerous lands to achieve the impossible. Their story becomes the stuff of legend in Tolkien's universe.
Review:
The tale of Beren and Lúthien is not as well-known as Tolkien's more famous works: The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. Tolkien references the story frequently in the Lord of the Rings. The relationship between Aragorn and Arwen is thought to mirror the story. The full story is first told in the Silmarillion. However, the story went through several revisions since Tolkien first conceived of it. According to his son Christopher, he revisited it several times. Beren and Lúthien takes the reader on a journey through the mind J. R. R. Tolkien as he crafted one of the most beloved stories in his legendarium, next to the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

Christopher put this together nicely, but overall no new ground is covered for those who are very familiar with Tolkien Snr's posthumous publications put forth by him . Having said that, credit must be given to Christopher Tolkien for dedicating himself to the world his father created and millions around the world have come to love and enjoy because of his continued efforts to share Middle Earth with us. The story of Beren and Luthien is a love story like no other, and I'm rather glad to have it in my Tolkien collection anyway.

Although I have waited for over 3 weeks for the book to arrive, it's worth it! The book is wrapped with a cardboard and in perfect condition. Recommend this bookstore to every book lover who enjoy authentic books.