The "Lord of the Rings" Location Guidebook

This excellent and indispensable guide is thoroughly researched, richly illustrated with photographs, and well written. But while it is an essential book for anyone planning a visit to Middle Earth, it is handicapped by one glaring omission: though several maps are provided, none adequately indicate the locations of Middle Earth's features. This is frustrating for anyone who wishes to use the book as a travel guide (though it is always possible to sort out locations by using the text and the limited maps provided) and a serious drawback for the armchair traveler who just wants to get a sense of how Middle Earth maps onto New Zealand.

Beware of this book! (11/15 people found this helpful)

I bought this book whilst I was in New Zealand and hoped to 'step in the footsteps of hobbits' so to speak. Well, this book is quite misleading. Whilst nicely presented from a first glance, on closer inspection, unless you are prepared to spend hundreds of NZ$'s and days searching, this book is more or less useless.

Out of the 30-odd locations, you can only easily get to 3 of them. All the others require a 2-hour helicopter ride or a 10-hour one-way hike to reach. It will not become clear till you reach New Zealand, just how barren a country it is. It is the same size as the UK with a population of around 3 million. You cannot get to the locations with ease. If you have watched the 'making of' any of The Lord of The Rings films, you will have heard how the cast and crew went by helicoptor to the locations. That's because its the only way! There are NO roads to most of the locations listed.

There is one cool location which you can reach easily in Wellington (the capital). Halfway up Mt. Victoria along a footpath there is the exact spot the Hobbits hid under a tree to escape the Ringwraith. The big tree itself was a prop, but its easy to see where everything happened. I bumped into a Swedish couple at this spot who had travelled to New Zealand just to visit the locations and were pretty dissapointed with the book. They had hiked out to some of the locations with their own GPS (following the GPS co-ordinates listed in the book) and found them to be highly unaccurate.

This book looks very cool but take it from me (as a foiled hobbit-spotter), it is anything but.

An alternative way to discover New Zealand (5/9 people found this helpful)

Ian Brodie has created a marvelous excuse to explore New Zealand away from the traditional "do NZ in a week" type tours. It is a guide that works both for the longstanding LOTR enthusiast and the landscape lover. It also has the advantage that it is easily pocketable and if I can sort out a rental car with GPS I will even be able to follow the references and co-ordinates that Ian has added to the revised edition. The book works therefore on several levels and is surely a must have for Tolkin fans who want to understand the many challenges that confronted Peter Jackson and his team in order to bring the trilogy to the big screen. Oh how I wish I had owned this book last time I visited New Zealand. There are so many places I must have driven by without even realising they were there.

You've got to be there to get the most from it! (7/9 people found this helpful)

If you're going to New Zealand and you are a "Lord of the Rings" fan, then this book is a must. Slim enough to slip into the baggage without disturbing the scales, it is a detailed guide to the places where the films were shot. Detailed descriptions of routes, paths and unmade roads will get you to the places you recognise. You could spend months touring the country just seeking out locations - or just visit some of the places mentioned when you happen to be nearby. Also, the articles from some of the people involved in choosing the locations are interesting.
If you are not going to NZ, then the book is probably only worth buying if you are a hardcore "Lord of the Rings" anorak. The magnificent scenery doesn't really come across in the small format photos - much better to go and take your own pictures!

the best guide to the real middle earth! (14/15 people found this helpful)

My family and I used this book extensively whilst on holiday in New Zealand and my two sons were able to re-enact all their favourite fight scenes in the spot where they were filmed! There is a good amount of detail and "inside information" about the Peter Jackson films to help you to track down the locations used. This book is an indispensable guide for those visiting NZ (a great country over and above the link with the Lord of the Rings films) who are Lord of the Rings fans but I don't think it would be of interest if you were not visiting the country as the main information is about how to find the sites used.

The "Lord of the Rings" Location Guidebook

Ian Brodie

Reader Reviews:

Essential, Though Better Maps Would Be Nice (6/8 people found this helpful)

Beware of this book! (11/15 people found this helpful)

An alternative way to discover New Zealand (5/9 people found this helpful)

You've got to be there to get the most from it! (7/9 people found this helpful)

the best guide to the real middle earth! (14/15 people found this helpful)

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