Lords of Middle-Earth Volume II covers the many variations of Men in Tolkien’s world. That also includes Nazgul. Nazgul are cooler than regular Men, so I’m going to talk primarily about them.

As I mentioned yesterday, these books filled gaps in Tolkien’s writings. JRR only named one of the ring wraiths – Khamul the Easterling – and gives no real biography of any of them. That just wasn’t going to cut it for a roleplaying game, though, so herein you will find nine ring wraiths, boasting names and full histories. The Witch-King of Angmar’s name is Er-Murazor. It doesn’t get much more awesome than that. There’s a lady Nazgul, too. In a nice design touch, each wraith has a totem animal incorporated into their helmet (Er-Murazor’s helm is a kraken). And these aren’t short bios – most run two pages or more. So, yea, if you wanted Nazgul fan fiction, this is your book. I love it.

MERP cover art doesn’t get much better than this Angus McBride cover depicting the face-off between Eowyn and the Morgul Lord. Liz Danforth is the sole interior artist and I think her stuff has a bit more energy here than in Volume I. But maybe I am just a sucker for Nazgul.