Lord of the Rings

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rkoelsch

Guest
I have started rereading Lord of the Rings in preparation for the movie. I advise against this if you think the movie will mimic the book. I like this because I am aware of the difference between film and books. So when the film is not like the book I don't get disappointed. But reading the book gives you a world of background material and lets you appreciate the points the screenwriter and director are trying to emphasize.
 
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Rando

Guest
Love LOTR, read it several times along with, of coarse, The Hobbit, and his more obscure works such as the Unfinished Tales and The Sillmarilion.

May I also sugest Farmer Giles of Ham and Tolkien's wonderfull essay on the nature of faerie tales, but I forget the name of that one...I want ot say "On Fairy Stories" or something like that...but I'm not sure.

Without Tolkien's works of fantasy, I'm convinced that we would not have Dungeons and Dragons, Warhammer, MAgic or any other popular fantasy game. He created the market. I've always said I was going to write an article or essay on the subject, but I doubt it...I'm far too lazy.

Have you not read the books before?

Have you seen the cartoon adaptations of TheHobbit and LOTR?
 
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rkoelsch

Guest
I read the books a couple of times but it was probably 20 years ago. My wife bought me a beautifully bound copy which cost a few clams and was very upset when I didn't read it. But I was working and going to school at night and the thought of reading even for pleasure was repulsive to me. I did see the cartoon versions also. I like that catchy tune,"Where there's a whip there's a way". I thought they were okay for the media at the time but a little disappointed they treated it as a kids movie and not from a more adult outlook.
 
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Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
Yeah, let's give thanks to Tolkien for putting dwarves in a "declining era" spot that has never fully recovered (Warhammer, Iron Tower trilogy)

:D
 
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Rando

Guest
Yeah...dwarves are always on hard times no matter what the setting, huh? I never really noticed it before.

Hmm?
 
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Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
Almost everywhere you go, it's the "elder" races in decline and humans on the verge of taking over. Oh yeah, it's also in the Shannara series...
 
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Zadok001

Guest
Good point, Spidey, never noticed that... :) I'm afraid I won't get the chance to go through LotR prior to the movie's release, so I'll be running on memories from reading them years ago. After the brilliance that was Harry Potter, I have some optimism in me yet...
 
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Gizmo

Guest
I read them once. Hated them. They never shut up singing. Everywhere they go they had to sing a song about it.

Yes its true Lord Of The Rings invented the fantasy epic, more or less. But all that meant was it destroyed all other forms of fantasy writing that had existed before it. As original as it was, we cant really forgive it for spawning the terrible Shannara series or the interminable Wheel Of Time.
Fantasy writing has been in a forty year trough of originality, all the truly original conceptual writing is to be found in Science Fiction.
 
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Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
but is that the fault of Tolkien or the authors who came after it? That's like blaming the first Championship deck for "using good cards" and thus every deck after it is a rip-off.

The problem with fantasy is that there's only so many "traits" that can be considered fantasy. Elves, goblins, dwarves, swords, magic, etc. Science fiction is about "what-if" or "what-may-come", so it has more leeway.

I liked the Shannara series (the first ones), mostly for the massive battle scenes.
 
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rkoelsch

Guest
I think I read the first couple of Shannara books. They weren't bad. I liked the icewind dale trilogy. and the original dragonlance trilogy. I would like to know why they always have to be trilogies?
 
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Rando

Guest
Did no one get my joke?

...or was it not as funny as I thought it was?
 
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arhar

Guest
..but some people LIKE reading the same thing over and over again ;) I personally have been a devoted fantasy fan for the last ten years, and I have no problem with the lack of originality in the genre. The fantasy, after all, is "escapist" literature, and what's better than to escape into the same world over and over again if you like it there? :D

That is not to say that I disagree with Gizmo, on the other hand, I completely agree with the whole statement, especially the part that all originality is in sci-fi. I just wanted to say that it's not a bad thing, it's a good thing! (sorry) :D
 
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Zadok001

Guest
Methinks originality also lives in cross-genre and alternate history, but that's another matter altogether. :)
 
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Apollo

Guest
I rather liked the Lord of the Rings trilogy. However, I must agree with Gizmo on Shannara and (gasp!) Wheel of Time. Shannara was just horrible, and while Wheel of Time was OK, I'm certain Jordan gets paid by the word. Each book could be cut in half without losing anything. As for the fantasy genre, no, it isn't very original. But if the stories are written well, that doesn't matter. Sure, all the books have the same setting, but if it's a cool setting, who cares?
 
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Gizmo

Guest
Personally I really enjoyed Dragonlance, especially the Twins trilogy. I guess I just moved on from reading a book purely to be entertained, I know gravitate towards books that fire my imagination down new paths. Fantasy books, to me, are what I used to read and I`ve just moved on since then.

Each to their own.
:)
 
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Bob

Guest
I read some Forgotten Realms books by R. A. Salvatore, like The Dark Elf Trilogy (a great book, IMO. Well, the first and second parts were good, the third had too many storyline changes. it was OK.), The Icewind Dale Trilogy, and the Cleric Quintet books.

And the Wheel of Time book are good, but they are huge, and I agree with Apollo, that they could be cut in half and not lose anything.

btw, I did NOT get my name from R. A. Salvatore. I joined the CPA before I started reading his books. :D
 
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Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
Boy, how'd this become a discussion on fantasy books? :p

I think we can all safely say that there's great fantasy books like there's poor science fiction books.

I'm re-reading the Belgariad right now, it's just hilarious!
 
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Darkstar

Guest
I am currently re-reading the hobbit, then plan to transcend to FOTR before the 19th. Hope I get done reading in time! I liked the Similirian, but I was in like 7th grade when I began to read it. Too many new characters and places for a 13 year old to keep up with.
 
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