New Tolkien book

[fingal]

I'm thrilled to discover that a new book by Tolkien - edited by his son Christopher - has been published.

I've been a huge Lord of the Rings fan since the age of 14, and have read it many times. This book is said to be 'more serious', and I'm uncertain what to expect ... but I'm having a copy!

The neighbourhood I live in has strong links with the late Mr. Tolkien, and every day I see landmarks which would have been familiar to him. This is a very special event for me ... I just hope the new book is readable. The Silmarillion isn't!

Speaking of landmarks, I sometimes visit The Ivy Bush pub. Well, he used that in his work. I wish the beer would improve.

[oz]

It was difficult to read, but I really liked The Silmarillion. I'll have to check out this new one. Thanks for the info.

[techieMoe]

This book is said to be 'more serious'...

Good lord, is that even possible? One of the things I disliked about The Lord of the Rings was how damned serious everything was. Everything was a *dire* need, every evil was an *ancient* one, every quest was *epic*. Not to mention the constant breaks into song written in Elvish. I just got the impression that Tolkein took himself much too seriously.

That being said, I really enjoyed The Hobbit. Perhaps this book will be more of a shorter vignette like that.

[carlosponti]

took me for-godd@#n-ever to read the return of the king because of all the back and forth between characters and at some points it just got so hard to read because he decided to get too detailed.

[fingal]

That being said, I really enjoyed The Hobbit. Perhaps this book will be more of a shorter vignette like that.

I fear not ... there are no hobbits in the new book. I take your point about the seriousness of LOTR. In some ways it reflects British culture (the more historical Anglo Saxon aspects of it), with echoes of mead halls, ancient battles and tall tales of magical events. We like it grim. Having said that, there is a lot of humour in LOTR ... Sort of.

[techieMoe]

I fear not ... there are no hobbits in the new book. I take your point about the seriousness of LOTR. In some ways it reflects British culture (the more historical Anglo Saxon aspects of it), with echoes of mead halls, ancient battles and tall tales of magical events. We like it grim. Having said that, there is a lot of humour in LOTR ... Sort of.

The Brits can do humor in their literature. See Douglas Adams and Grant Naylor, two of my favorite British authors.

I haven't really read much funny fantasy though. I guess maybe the whole genre likes to take itself too seriously. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the Wheel of Time series up until Robert Jordan started stretching the story out to milk his cash cow (around book 8 or 9). I don't mean to hijack the thread here, but does anyone know of any more light-hearted fantasy authors?

[fingal]

I don't mean to hijack the thread here, but does anyone know of any more light-hearted fantasy authors?

Terry Pratchett springs to mind. There's a well known LOTR parody called "Bored of the Rings". I'm also an avid Douglas Adams fan ... I swear by Arthur Dent's dressing gown.

[cheesecake42]

took me for-godd@#n-ever to read the return of the king because of all the back and forth between characters and at some points it just got so hard to read because he decided to get too detailed.

It is hard to follow all those names. I just finished reading lotr for the fifth time (i'm a huge loser. I'm surprised I still have a girlfriend)and this time I flew right through it just from being familiar with all those names and places.