Toward the Gleam: A Book Review

I loved this wonderful book and so did my dad. Warning: spoilers ahead!! Knowing ahead of time what this book is about helped my enjoyment of it tremendously, and is the reason I was so looking forward to reading it. But if you don't want to know, don't keep reading!

Lovers of The Lord of the Rings, of which the author is definitely one, will enjoy this tale the most. The main 'character' is Tolkien himself, under the alias of John Hill which he took from the alias used by Frodo. It concerns primarily his discovery of a mysterious box in a cave (which I can't help thinking is really a very long abandoned hobbit hole). It is seemingly made of silver but much brighter than any silver we know (mithril, anyone?) Contained within in an unknown tongue is an even more mysterious ancient manuscript that Hill is able to translate. He is convinced it's a chronicle of events that actually took place thousands of years ago. He feels strongly that this history is something that the world is in desperate need of knowing about, though when he does publish it with some additions of his own, he also leaves some of it for he believes some of it is too dangerous to be revealed lest it fall into the wrong hands. I felt the same awe he did as I looked over his shoulder as he opened the box for what he has found is the Red Book, including Bilbo's Translations from the Elvish. There are scattered references that those who have eyes to see will understand: the Necromancer, the Traitor, the Burglar, the Hero, the Hero's faithful companion, the Grey Pilgrim are all so named. The ring (small r) is mentioned and a Seeing Stone is hinted at. It is exciting too that the manuscript is not the only artifact that survived from that time either. A chapter early on about Tolkien's time at the battle of the Somme is also vividly presented. The Tolkien children and Edith are all there, as well as Lewis and Barfield of the Inklings and other famous figures of the time, referred to only by first name or nickname. It's a fun book, well written and I really enjoyed it and am sorry that it is over. Highly recommended!