Tag Archives: Tolkien

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 →

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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 , , | 8 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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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Top Ten Tuesday: Best Books I’ve Read in 2018

Posted on July 10, 2018 by

I can’t say it has been a great reading year thus far.  Sadly, I haven’t read that much.  I have only finished 31 books so far this year.  And, while few of those books have been bad or average, even … Continue reading →

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