I am a fan of the Alan Lee 3 vols. HC set. I shopped around for a while before settling on it, and as DX notes the single-volume book can be a bit hard to hold due to its size.

Also, because its 2nd print color was red, it looked to me inordinately like the Bible, and I found that irritating. I mean, (1) green or blue would have been better choices and (2) if you're going to print 2-color, there are more creative things you can do with it -- see, e.g., The Neverending Story.

The Lee HCs have high-quality glossy pages, with a fairly large type, so they're very readable (though not convenient to read on public transit).

I have the one volume LotR too.

But you are right -- a three-volume would be less awkward.

Do they have the fold-out maps?

I like the one-volume paperback edition, since I can go from reading FotR to checking out something in the timeline or elsewhere in the appendices without trying to find my RotK book.

The separate volumes are smaller and easier to carry, though. The one volume feels like a brick when carrying or reading for extended periods of time.

I just have the cheap $7 3-volume set. I got them before the movies came out so they don't have movie pictures in them. But I also have the Complete Guide to Middle-Earth which is great. It's like a dictionary/encyclopedia for all the LOTR books and the Silmarillion. (It'll even tell you what page of what edition to look at for the actual text and gives definitions - i.e. "Galad" as in Galadriel = light)

Well, I'm saving up my pennies for the RotKEE gift set, for the Minas Tirith statue (with a hidey-hole in the base!) and bonus disc on the symphony. It's only one more month until the release date!

I forwarded the Amazon notice about the EE to my clueless husband. Now I have to wait until Christmas to see if he will follow through on my blatant hint or not.

Oh, I am not running out and buying the hardcovers anytime soon. Usually, I go to a bookstore and look at them and feel overwhelmed.

Waiting for Xmas? You have more fortitude than I do! I'm taking the day off work so I can pick up the gift set at Best Buy and spend the next four hours and ten minutes (!) watching it, followed by a probable viewing of at least a few of the documentaries and maybe even listening to the director's commentary track before going to bed. Yes, I will geek out on LotR Day!!

Well, I'm saving up my pennies for the RotKEE gift set, for the Minas Tirith statue (with a hidey-hole in the base!) and bonus disc on the symphony.

I just pre-ordered mine yesterday. That's why I'm paying down the credit cards, so they'll have room for important purchases like this one. Right?

Unfortunately, with finances as they are, it will have to be a Christmas goodie. I'm even holding off on Buffy 7 though it is killing me.