A joining of giant proportions emerged when superstore book-selling chain Barnes & Noble proposed a merger/takeover of fellow superstore company Borders in the United States. But now rumors have started in the financial community that the government's regulatory FTC may prohibit the deal because it would create too great a monopoly in the retail book trade. The FTC did allow the German-based Bertelsman Group, whose holdings in the U.S. include Bantam Doubleday Dell, to merge with Random House, Inc., effectively giving the multimedia publishing firms control of thirty percent of the book publishing industry in the U.S.

Will the two largest book-selling chains in the largest English-speaking market become one? What will this mean for Amazon.com online and other Internet traders? Will book prices rise or fall? Only Frodo knows for sure.