The Hobbit Trilogy Location Guidebook

Great book about the movie for the real fan

The seller was fine. Ships cheapest way so saves money but takes a bit longer. I thought the Revised LOTR was much better as this repeats much of the information in the first book. The item was as described and in good used condition. The stars are for the content of book not the seller who is five stars.

I love this book and highly recommend it! As the title states it is location guidebook for the locations used for shooting The Hobbit movies in New Zealand. However, it is much more than that.Firstly it is filled with photographs taken on set as well as some behind the scenes photos that make this a book that a fan of The Hobbit movies would enjoy - it also has a foreword by Sir Peter Jackson as well as lengthy contributions from Andy Serkis, John Howe, Dan Hennah and some of the people involved in set design and location scouting as well as some quotes from The Hobbit actors. This makes the sizeable coffee table style book a great addition to a fan's collection.Secondly it is filled to the brim with stunning photographs of the locations used for filming. The images themselves are reason enough to want the book - the author, Ian Brodie, is very skillful at capturing breathtaking landscapes - the book is a pleasure to look at and I have found myself unable to walk passed it without picking it up again. Once again this makes it a highly desirable book for a fan of The Hobbit movies but the locations are so beautiful that any fan of NZ would also appreciate this book - whether fortunate enough to travel there or not.Finally, Ian's love for his country and his research of the countryside mean he also recommends places to stop off and visit when traveling from one area to another - so not locations used in shooting but worth visiting for their uniqueness or beauty.I highly recommend purchasing this book ahead of travel if you plan to use it this way (it would equally be worth buying to sit on a coffee table if you're not a traveler) This would enable you to take full advantage of all the websites listed to book accommodation and tours and to learn about the areas you will visit. The book also notes places available to eat and distances from major towns to help with planning - there is also a suggested itinerary in the back to get you started. And for those hiring transport, be sure to grab a GPS as the book has the references to make things even easier!I can't wait to get back to NZ and will be utilizing this book for the trip. Our first trip used The Lord of the Rings Location Guidebook - that book uncovered some of the most amazing places we have ever seen and in our hired motorhome we camped at places not advertised in any travel brochures or books we had seen, making our holiday unique. Looking through this book I am amazed at how many places we are yet to discover on our return!

My partner bought this book for me because we were going on a massive south island tour and I'd previously used Ian Brodie's Lotr location book on my first trip to New Zealand. In comparison, the Lord of the Rings location guide book has tons of accessible locations listed (though the directions are pretty bad and the book on a whole is not well edited.) Contrasty, the Hobbit location guidebook is a book full of photographs of New Zealand and tourist brochure snippets.I'm going on a trip next weekend to Te Anau and went to look if there might be any locations to visit. I look up Te Anau - Full two pages on the town - no mention of the Hobbit. Next four pages, two full page photographs (1st mentioning that the backdrop was used in the film, second lists a forest that is non-accessible to the public). Next two pages - Milford sound, with a mention that "the region was used to portray the Misty Mountains". Followed by another two page photo spread. Next two pages on the valley - no mention of the Hobbit again.The book has very few locations listed. It's padded to a 'full size' book with tons of New Zealand HD photos and lists of other activities to see in New Zealand that you could find out about for free at any iSite.

The Hobbit Trilogy Location Guidebook is practically a beautifully illustrated photo album that pictures all the locations where the Hobbit films were shot.The photos are beautiful and it does make the reader want to visit New Zealand. The book contains some stills and behind the scene photos of the shoot on various locations, but it is not another visual guidebook to the film, but rather a visual guidebook to New Zealand, with some small maps and location directions, (some with GPS references to location sites). It actually surprised me to find lots of references to accomodation, food and entertainment suggestions at the sites, it's not what I would be interested to read.However it is a perfect book who would like to travel New Zealand and make a movie tour of the Hobbit, nevertheless it also comes through that you should almost always try to rent a helicopter to access these locations, so its not a lonely planet guide, how to see New Zealand on a shoestring. Like I said, it's primarily a beautiful photo album, an enjoyable visual journey through Middle Earth landscapes.The greatest lack of the whole guidebook (which really is a silly, and I simply don't get it why it is like that), is that there is NO MAP of New Zealand in the book. Not even a general overview. I may be one of the readers who doesn't know the geography of this island, but I simply have no ide where these locations are.You have miniature maps of areas that foreign readers will not be able to place. It is plain silly that I had to get a computer and use google maps, just to see where the landscape I was reading about is. WHY? I read from comments that the same mistake was made on Ian Brodie's first Location Guidebook to the LOTR films. Why not just put in a map of New Zealand that marks all the spots!? It has already been done on the extended DVD edition to the LOTR films (and I assume it will be done for the Hobbit as well). So that is a bit annoying. To be quite frank after reading about all these wonderful sights, I have absolutely no "picture" or idea in my head how far these locations are from one another, or even where they are exactly. I didn't get to know the geography of New Zealand from the book at all, so if I were to travel there to locate these sites, I wouldn't even know where I would be landing. So it's really not a guidebook on its own right, but a good complimentary literature to a relable travel guide. Maybe all of thisis intentional, and is part of the movie magic. The longer these places remain identified with the map of Middle Earth, and stay e.g. the Misty Mountains, and Erebor the longer they live in our fantasies.

Other half bought this book prior to us going to New Zealand. It has caused me to be dragged around many places and to be asked again and again if I remember a 30-second clip from one of the three films where a particular hill/tree/river was featured. Worse, it has been suggested we watch all three films again, oh, and wait, all three LOTR films again, too,Do not fall into this trap, would-be readers, save your sanity and pass by on this book.

This book was bought as a Xmas gift, so am unsure as to whether it will be enjoyed.It contains All the locations the recipient of book visited whilst in NZ, so am confident it will be appreciated.

Packaging badly damaged but luckily book is intact and it is greeeeeaaat. Just the thing for a hobbit lover for Christmas

Beautifully illustrated, a must for hobbit fans