Tag Archives: Tolkien

Rings of Power Redux

I finished season one of Amazon’s The Rings of Power show adapting material from the appendices to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.[1] I also did two other things since my last post on the show that affect how … Continue reading

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Recap and Review of the First Two Episodes of Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

Did I watch the first two episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Amazon Prime (Rings of Power from here on out) on Thursday evening as soon as they dropped?  Well, I tried.  I didn’t … Continue reading

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

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

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

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

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Summer School: Tolkien 101 Wrap-Up

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

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Tolkien 101: On Fairy Stories

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

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Tolkien 101: The History of the Hobbit by John Rateliff

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

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Tolkien 101: LOTR Appendices

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

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Tolkien 101: The Most Metal Deaths in Middle Earth

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

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

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

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