Unlike the maps in the back of the novels, these show elevation, climate zones, and vegetation.
Fonstad uses colored or dashed lines to track the movements of the Fellowship, Bilbo’s company, and even Beren and Lúthien.
Unlike many "fan" maps, Fonstad was a professional cartographer. She treated Middle-earth like a real place, applying actual rules of geology and weather patterns to explain why mountains formed where they did or why certain rivers flowed in specific directions.
Fonstad includes a section on "Thematic Maps" at the end, covering population, languages, and even the geology of Middle-earth.
It includes tactical layouts for major conflicts like the Battle of Pelennor Fields and Helm’s Deep.