Tag Archives: Tolkien

Throwback SF: Check out my Guest Post on Tolkien at Pages Unbound

Posted on April 4, 2019 by

I am pleased to announce that my guest post on my personal journey reading Tolkien has been posted at Pages Unbound for their Tolkien Reading Event.  Here is a taste. Tolkien chose to live his life as a certain kind … Continue reading →

Posted in Fantasy, Sundry | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Pre-Tolkien Fantasy Challenge: Howard, Moore, and Dunsany

Posted on September 6, 2018 by

The Pre-Tolkien Fantasy Challenge was made by Alexandru Constantin over at the Barbarian Book Club.  The rules are simple: Identify 3 Fantasy stories written before Lord of the Rings was published. 3 stories written before 1954. Review all three on … Continue reading →

Posted in Fantasy, Sundry, Throwback SF | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

Summer School: Tolkien 101 Wrap-Up

Posted on August 30, 2018 by

Annnnd it’s a wrap!  Thank you for joining me for Tolkien 101 this summer.  Counting the announcement post and this one, Tolkien 101 stretched for 19 posts.  I covered The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, all nine movies based … Continue reading →

Posted in Fantasy, Sundry, Throwback SF | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Tolkien 101: On Fairy Stories

Posted on August 24, 2018 by

Fantasy (in this sense) is, I think, not a lower but a higher form of Art, indeed the most nearly pure form, and so (when achieved) the most potent. I made the mistake of thinking On Fairy Stories would be … Continue reading →

Posted in Sundry, Throwback SF | Tagged , | 11 Comments

Tolkien 101: The History of the Hobbit by John Rateliff

Posted on August 16, 2018 by

Writing a post on John Rateliff’s encyclopedic The History of the Hobbit isn’t the problem.  The problem is writing one that doesn’t turn into a 3,000 word behemoth itself.  I will try very hard to keep this post to a … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Throwback SF | Tagged , | 11 Comments

Tolkien 101: LOTR Appendices

Posted on August 9, 2018 by

Even as a kid, I was thrown off when I got to the climax of The Return of the King and there was still half a book left.  There is that overlong denouement (a problem Tolkien was able to avoid … Continue reading →

Posted in Fantasy, Sundry | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

Tolkien 101: The Most Metal Deaths in Middle Earth

Posted on August 2, 2018 by

In the comment section to last week’s post on A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War, Jason from Off the TBR asked when I would do a post on Tolkien’s influence on rock. Obviously, my first thought was that … Continue reading →

Posted in Sundry, Throwback SF | Tagged | 9 Comments

Tolkien 101: A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War by Joseph Loconte

Posted on July 26, 2018 by

Joseph Loconte’s book may not have the erudition of the work of a Tom Shippey or a John D. Rateliff, but A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War may be my favorite work on nonfiction on Tolkien.  It is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Throwback SF | Tagged , | 12 Comments

Tolkien 101: War in Middle Earth Computer Game

Posted on July 19, 2018 by

The work of J.R.R. Tolkien managed to produce one of my three favorite strategy games of all-time—1988’s War in Middle Earth (the other two are Fantasy Empires (1993) and Sword of the Samurai (1989)).  I burned many, many hours playing … Continue reading →

Posted in Fantasy, Sundry | Tagged , , | 16 Comments

Tolkien 101: The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings by Philip and Carol Zaleski

Posted on July 12, 2018 by

At some point even a “101” look at Tolkien has to consider the other Inklings.  I had read both the fiction and nonfiction of C.S. Lewis, but The Fellowship was the first book I read to really cover the other … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Throwback SF | Tagged , | 8 Comments