The Japanese translation of the Farthing trilogy has been nominated for the Seiun Awards under Foreign SF.

The whole shortlist is:

* Eifelheim, Michael Flynn
* World War Z, Max Brooks
* Farthing trilogy, Jo Walton
* El Mapa del Tiempo (The Map of Time), Félix J. Palma
* Hunter’s Run, George R. R. Martin (& Daniel Abraham)
* Un Lun Dun, China Miéville
* Genesis, Bernard Beckett

So that's really cool. It's eligible because all three volumes were published in Japanese last year. Thank you, discerning Japanese fans!

And in other "me, me, me" links, review of Among Others in the Indian Express that notices something about the book no other review has mentioned: Subtly done but very present is another quest — to save the elms of the world from Dutch Elm disease. Saving trees: Tolkien would have approved.. And further to that review, an interview with Aishiwarya.

And SF Site, having already run a Featured Review by Rich Horton, have another one by Paul Kinkaid, Jo Walton's latest novel is already being touted as one of the books of the year. I am not about to dissent from that opinion, except that what most critics have picked out for praise is one of the things that bothers me about the book, and what excites me about it hardly seems to have been noticed by other reviewers.

Game of Thrones will premiere on HBO in a few days. The TV series is based on the epic fantasy books of George R. R. Martin. (No, he’s didn’t steal those middle initials from fellow epic fantasy author J. R. R. Tolkien; his full name is George Raymond Richard Martin.) I’m mentioning the show here [...]

The second map in the Middle-earth Map app series, based on the books by J. R. R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien, the Middle-earth Map II shows the Fall of Beleriand and the rise of Numenor during the Second Age of Middle-earth.

Section: iPhone / iPod touch / iPad, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, iDevice Apps, iDevice Accessories

New iPhone, iPod touch and iPad product announcements for April 13, 2011:

New iPhone, iPad and iPod touch apps

• Squbo.ru has announced the release of Animotion, the app enabling iPhone/iPad owners to create animation while on the go. Designed to provide iOS users with an instant creative outlet, this nicely simplistic app offers painting tools for hand-drawn animation. In addition to the essential tools (such as brush and eraser) Animotion features the Stickman. Thanks to the control points the Stickman is easy to manipulate, which makes him a perfect main character for the animated masterpieces.
• David Vondracek has announced the first release of DropBy 1.0 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users. DropBy delivers a display of your contacts in a particular area. Simply select an area on the map or use your current location and DropBy drops a pin for each contact in your Address book onto the map. Select the pin to view the contacts name and pull up their whole contact card. You can make a call, send an email or text message right from there.
• Alphabet Transmuter 1.0 for iOS will help teach your children ABCs in a new way. Transmutation technology shape-shifts the letters’ outlines, like wires, into each other, creating an animation effect that connects letters into a stream. This allows to see physically how the letters flow into each other. It serves to help children to understand the connectivity of the written speech, since they already know how sounds are meshed together when speaking.
• Dapper Gentlemen has announced Wordicus 1.25, their free multi-language, multi-player word game available for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. With support for English, French, German, and Spanish, players in different countries can play against each other on the same game board in their native language. Players can level up to earn powerups to use against opponents, and earn achievements to increase player rating.
• Francesco Chessari and Nicola Pacini have released Stamp Art Fever 4.0, an update to their popular simulation game for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices. In Stamp Art Fever you are an art-stamp collector, continuously searching for new pieces for your collection, in competition with other collectors of over the world for the most valuable collection. Version 4.0 introduce two new themed sets and new game modes.
• Gutenberg Neto has introduced The Fish Dies in the End 1.0 for iOS, his undersea, pick up and play game featuring a cute little fish trying to survive as long as possible. The fish remains in the same horizontal position, near the left edge of the screen, and as he swims all manner of sea denizens pass from right to left. Predators are avoided by controlling his buoyancy: touch the screen and he rises, release and he descends. The game features 3 difficulty levels and boss sharks.
• Naxx Technologies today introduced Crazy Cam 1.1 for iOS, their laughter-inducing app that gives the user the power to transform any voice during the video recording process. Hear any voice with the Gangster effect, Chipmunk vocal, Helium falsetto, Robot mechanical voice, or Echo echo. All sound morphing is accomplished in real-time, providing an instantaneous audible result during video playback. Crazy Cam allows the user to film scenes guaranteed to be hilarious.
• Richard Blum has announced Middle-earth Map II v1.0. Middle-earth Map II is an original wall sized map of The World of Arda. Based on the books by J. R. R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien, the Middle-earth Map II shows the changes to Arda with the Fall of Beleriand and the rise of Numenor during the Second Age of Middle-earth. See the locations of the Kingdoms in Exile and the founding of Mordor.
• ConIT AG has announced that the latest update to AppZapp 3.0 for iOS is now available. AppZapp helps App-Aficionados keep an overview over the ever-increasing apps in the iTunes Store. AppZapp has received a revamp from tip to toe, making the App even more user-friendly and intuitive. Keep track of your favorite seller with the help of the Seller-Alert. You are instantly informed (via push-notification or email) about any change of the selected seller. AppZapp is now also available for iPad.
• Dear Pink, “... for All Lady’s & lovery people ...” allows you to send text to multiple services, including SMS, e-mail, Twitter and Facebook. “Incorporating the functions of basic needs, it is simple and easy to use app.”
• Coladia has announced Cleopatra: a Queen’s Destiny HD for iPad is now available on the App Store. Cleopatra: a Queen’s Destiny is a Point and Click adventure game, taking place in Alexandria, Egypt, 48 BC.

New apps for iPad only

• Green Onions Supply is proud to announce three new Screen Protectors for iPad 2 tablets. Their protectors transform the optical characteristics of your screen once they are installed. The finishes currently available are Anti-Glare, AG2 Anti-Glare, and their new Glossy Anti-Fingerprint finish. Each finish provides different options to suit your needs, with an emphasis on maintaining and even enhancing your iPad’s performance while adding extra protection.
• The Third U.S. Army’s DVIDS has introduced its free Military 24/7 iPad app. Military 24/7 extends the global outreach of military service members, engages civilians with user friendly interactive elements and connects media outlets with timely incoming footage from the frontlines. These fully searchable news features allow users to stay up-to-date on military missions and operations. Most importantly, all material is created by deployed military personnel.
• IL&FS Education has introduced Xperica HD 1.0, their first education app for the iPad. Xperica is like a virtual science lab which aims at strengthening the understanding of science concepts. With a primary focus on physics experiments Xperica is a first of its kind teaching aid for teachers and students. Featuring a a visually rich and interactive interface, the experiments cover topics like the Archimedes Principle, Pulleys, Resistance, Oscillation, Projectile Motion and more.

New accessories

• Today marks the official release of Cloak 2, a slimmer, sexier, and more stylish redesign of the best-selling Cloak iPad case/stand specifically for the iPad 2. The new-and-improved version features the Cloak’s signature three stand positions, but with a lighter, slimmer profile to compliment the iPad 2.
• Case-Mate—known for its innovative accessories that protect, style and enhance mobile technology—brings innovative design to a new level with its new “Creatures” collection of iPhone 4 cases. Inspired by cartoon art and childhood fun, these creatures come to life in this new collection, which features vibrant colours, tactile elements and fresh, whimsical designs. From mid-April, the Monsta and Waddler cases will be available from stand Q8 at the Gadget Show Live.
• Building on the success of its iA5, 2010’s inaugural app-enhanced alarm clock speaker system, iHome buds a bright new star this spring with the iA63.  Adding a variety of new features while maintaining the same great $99 price point, the iA63 includes an FM Radio, a full feature remote control and a motorized rotating dock that provides a convenient stand for watching videos in landscape mode.

Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

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Independent app developer Richard Blum today announces Middle-earth Map II v1.0. Middle-earth Map II is an original wall sized map of The World of Arda. Based on the books by J. R. R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien, the Middle-earth Map II shows the changes to Arda with the Fall of Beleriand and the rise of Numenor during the Second Age of Middle-earth. See the locations of the Kingdoms in Exile and the founding of Mordor.

The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers (Dramatised) is available as a digital audiobook from Audible.com. The title, provided by BBC WW and authored by J. R. R Tolkien, has also become an American Consumer News favorite.. The digital audiobook The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers (Dramatised), narrated by Ian Holm, Michael [...]

I won The Inklings of Oxford: C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Their Friends earlier this year (in the @bibledude giveaway marathon), and finally made time to review this facinating book from Harry Lee Poe (yes, distant relative of Edgar Allan.) This is both a photo book and a story book, and the [...]

Ron Howard a plusieurs acteurs bankables en tête pour son adaptation de la célèbre saga de Stephen King . L'adaptation des sept volumes de La Tour Sombre semble enfin devenir réalité. Ron Howard a ainsi parlé au Los Angeles Times des acteurs qu'il avait en tête pour incarner le personnage principal de la saga, Roland de Gilead, un pisolero en quête de la mystique Tour Sombre, censée être le pivot de tous les mondes possibles. Alors, qui pourrait être le héros de cet univers entre le western et la fantasy ? " Bien sûr, Daniel Craig et Hugh Jackman sont des grands noms et sur le site des fans de La Tour Sombre, ils en ont tous après Viggo Mortensen ", a expliqué Ron Howard . Ce dernier est en fait le plus crédible, Craig étant partagé entre la trilogie Millenium de David Fincher et les suites de James Bond . Hugh Jackman , lui, s'apprête à retrouver les griffes de Wolverine . Difficile de caler l'adaptation de sept romans dans un tel emploi du temps ! Par contre, Viggo est moins présent sur les écrans (on le retrouvera l'année prochaine dans le prochain David Cronenberg , A dangerous method ), et pourrait tout à fait se lancer dans une aventure de plusieurs épisodes. Détail amusant, la saga de Stephen King est en partie inspirée du Seigneur des Anneaux , de J. R. R. Tolkien. On comprend mieux pourquoi les lecteurs de La Tour Sombre rêveraient de voir l'interprète d'Aragorn dans le rôle !

The Hobbit casting -- and for fans of the original book -- confounding continues. Today word has come that the glimmering Galadriel, a character who was not in the actual J. R. R. Tolkien novel, will be back.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Dramatised), written by J. R. R Tolkien and published by BBC WW, has made Audible.com’s Best Sellers List for the week of November, 11 2010 and is now available in audiobook format from Audible.com. The audiobook version of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship [...]

The Hobbit (Dramatized), written by J. R. R. Tolkien and published by HighBridge Audio, has made Audible.com’s Best Sellers List for the week of November, 11 2010 and is now available in audiobook format from Audible.com. The audiobook version of The Hobbit (Dramatized) was narrated by An Ensemble Cast has received an average ranking of [...]

The Last Englishman: The Double Life of Arthur Ransome by ROLAND CHAMBERS Faber & Faber, 2010, $24.99 390 pages, Arthur Ransome was a popular children's author in England who counted the offspring of A. A. Milne and J. R. R. Tolkien among his millions of devoted young readers.

The only thing I know that J.R.R. Tolkien and Salvador Dalí had in common—or rather, I suppose I should say, the only significant or unexpected thing, since they obviously had all sorts of other things in common: they were male, bipedal, human, rough contemporaries, celebrities, and so on—was that each man on at least one occasion said he was drawn simultaneously towards anarchism and monarchism.

In the case of Dalí it was probably a meaningless remark, since almost everything he ever said was; whenever he got past the point of “Please pass the butter” or “That will cost you a great deal of money,” he generally gave up any pretense of trying to communicate with other people.

But Tolkien was, in his choleric way, giving voice to his deepest convictions regarding the ideal form of human society—albeit fleeting voice. The text of his sole anarcho-monarchist manifesto, such as it is, comes from a letter he wrote to his son Christopher in 1943 (forgive me for quoting at such length):

My political opinions lean more and more to Anarchy (philosophically understood, meaning the abolition of control not whiskered men with bombs)—or to ‘unconstitutional’ Monarchy. I would arrest anybody who uses the word State (in any sense other than the inanimate real of England and its inhabitants, a thing that has neither power, rights nor mind); and after a chance of recantation, execute them if they remained obstinate! If we could go back to personal names, it would do a lot of good. Government is an abstract noun meaning the art and process of governing and it should be an offence to write it with a capital G or so to refer to people. . . .

And anyway, he continues, “the proper study of Man is anything but Man; and the most improper job of any man, even saints (who at any rate were at least unwilling to take it on), is bossing other men”:

Not one in a million is fit for it, and least of all those who seek the opportunity. At least it is done only to a small group of men who know who their master is. The mediaevals were only too right in taking nolo episcopari as the best reason a man could give to others for making him a bishop. Grant me a king whose chief interest in life is stamps, railways, or race-horses; and who has the power to sack his Vizier (or whatever you dare call him) if he does not like the cut of his trousers. And so on down the line. But, of course, the fatal weakness of all that—after all only the fatal weakness of all good natural things in a bad corrupt unnatural world—is that it works and has only worked when all the world is messing along in the same good old inefficient human way. . . . There is only one bright spot and that is the growing habit of disgruntled men of dynamiting factories and power-stations; I hope that, encouraged now as ‘patriotism’, may remain a habit! But it won’t do any good, if it is not universal.

Last week, as I watched the waves of the Republican electoral counterinsurgency washing across the heartland, and falling back only at the high littoral shelves of the Pacific coast and the Northeast, I found myself reflecting on what a devil’s bargain electoral democracy is. These occasional bloodless bloodbaths are deeply satisfying at some emotional level, whatever one’s party affiliations, because they remind us of what a rare luxury it is to have the right and the power periodically to evict politicians from office.

But, as is always the case here below in the regio dissimilitudinis, the pleasure is accompanied by an inevitable quantum of pain. The sweetest wine quaffed from the cup of bliss comes mingled with a bitter draft of sorrow (alas, alack). Tragically—tragically—we can remove one politician only by replacing him or her with another. And then, of course, our choices are excruciatingly circumscribed, since the whole process is dominated by two large and self-interested political conglomerates that are far better at gaining power than at exercising it wisely.

And yet we must choose, one way or the other. Even the merry recreant who casts no vote at all, or flings a vote away onto the midden of some third party as a protest, is still making a choice with consequences, however small. And none of the other political systems on offer in the modern world are alternatives that any sane person would desire; so we cannot just eradicate our political class altogether and hope for the best (anyway, who would clean up afterward?).

Yes, I know: there are good and sincere souls who run for office, and some occasionally get in, and a few of those are then able to accomplish something with the position they assume, and some of those even remain faithful to the convictions that got them there. But, lest we forget, those are also the politicians who often create the greatest mischief. Sincerity, after all, is not the same as wisdom.

A cynical poltroon of infinitely pliable principles is in many cases less a threat to liberty, justice, or peace than someone whose mind has been corrupted with “high” ideals or (worse yet) high ideas. As for all the others, the great majority of politicians—well, bear with me here for a moment.

If one were to devise a political system from scratch, knowing something of history and a great deal about human nature, the sort of person that one would chiefly want, if possible, to exclude from power would be the sort of person who most desires it, and who is most willing to make a great effort to acquire it. By all means, drag a reluctant Cincinnatus from his fields when the Volscians are at the gates, but then permit him to retreat again to his arable exile when the crisis has passed; for God’s sake, though, never surrender the fasces to anyone who eagerly reaches out his hand to take them.

Yet our system obliges us to elevate to office precisely those persons who have the ego-besotted effrontery to ask us to do so; it is rather like being compelled to cede the steering wheel to the drunkard in the back seat loudly proclaiming that he knows how to get us there in half the time. More to the point, since our perpetual electoral cycle is now largely a matter of product recognition, advertising, and marketing strategies, we must be content often to vote for persons willing to lie to us with some regularity or, if not that, at least to speak to us evasively and insincerely. In a better, purer world—the world that cannot be—ambition would be an absolute disqualification for political authority.

One can at least sympathize, then, with Tolkien’s view of monarchy. There is, after all, something degrading about deferring to a politician, or going through the silly charade of pretending that “public service” is a particularly honorable occupation, or being forced to choose which band of brigands, mediocrities, wealthy lawyers, and (God spare us) idealists will control our destinies for the next few years.

But a king—a king without any real power, that is—is such an ennoblingly arbitrary, such a tender and organically human institution. It is easy to give our loyalty to someone whose only claim on it is an accident of heredity, because then it is a free gesture of spontaneous affection that requires no element of self-deception, and that does not involve the humiliation of having to ask to be ruled.

The ideal king would be rather like the king in chess: the most useless piece on the board, which occupies its square simply to prevent any other piece from doing so, but which is somehow still the whole game. There is something positively sacramental about its strategic impotence. And there is something blessedly gallant about giving one’s wholehearted allegiance to some poor inbred ditherer whose chief passions are Dresden china and the history of fly-fishing, but who nonetheless, quite ex opere operato, is also the bearer of the dignity of the nation, the anointed embodiment of the genius gentis—a kind of totem or, better, mascot.

As for Tolkien’s anarchism, I think it obvious he meant it in the classical sense: not the total absence of law and governance, but the absence of a political archetes—that is, of the leadership principle as such. In Tolkien’s case, it might be better to speak of a “radical subsidiarism,” in which authority and responsibility for the public weal are so devolved to the local and communal that every significant public decision becomes a matter of common interest and common consent. Of course, such a social vision could be dismissed as mere agrarian and village primitivism; but that would not have bothered Tolkien, what with his proto-ecologist view of modernity.

Now, obviously, none of this anarcho-monarchism is an actual program for political action or reform. But that is not the point. We all have to make our way as best we can across the burning desert floor of history, and those who do so with the aid of “political philosophies” come in two varieties.

There are those whose political visions hover tantalizingly near on the horizon, like inviting mirages, and who are as likely as not to get the whole caravan killed by trying to lead it off to one or another of those nonexistent oases. And then there are those whose political dreams are only cooling clouds, easing the journey with the meager shade of a gently ironic critique, but always hanging high up in the air, forever out of reach.

I like to think my own political philosophy—derived entirely from my exactingly close readings of The Compleat Angler<</span>!> and The Wind in the Willows—is of the latter kind. Certainly Tolkien’s was. Whatever the case, the only purpose of such a philosophy is to avert disappointment and prevent idolatry. Democracy is not an intrinsic good, after all; if it were, democratic institutions could not have produced the Nazis. Rather, a functioning democracy comes only as the late issue of a decently morally competent and stable culture.
In such a culture, one can be grateful of the liberties one enjoys, and use one’s franchise to advance the work of trustworthier politicians (and perhaps there are more of those than I have granted to this point), and pursue the discrete moral causes in which one believes. But it is good also to imagine other, better, quite impossible worlds, so that one will be less inclined to mistake the process for the proper end of political life, or to become frantically consumed by what should be only a small part of life, or to fail to see the limits and defects of our systems of government. After all, one of the most crucial freedoms, upon which all other freedoms ultimately depend, is freedom from illusion.


David B. Hart is a contributing writer of First Things. His most recent book is Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies (Yale University Press). His previous “On the Square” articles can be found here. The quote from The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien appears on pages 63 to 64 of the Houghton Mifflin edition, published in 1981.

Peter Jackson está empeñado en llevar El Hobbit a la gran pantalla, cueste lo que cueste. El director neozelandés lleva desde 1995 lidiando con un problema tras otro, retrasando el rodaje de la que originalmente estaba pensada como la primera película de la trilogía de El Señor de los Anillos. Tras conseguir los derechos de adaptación cinematográfica, tomar el relevo de Guillermo del Toro en la dirección y superar la quiebra del estudio que estaba desarrollando el proyecto, la legendaria Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), Jackson parece haber conseguido enderezar el rumbo de una producción que tenía todas las papeletas para ir a parar al limbo de las películas malditas de Hollywood.

El pasado 16 de octubre, 15 años después de que Jackson y su esposa, Fran Walsh, decidieran emprender el faraónico proyecto para adaptar El Hobbit al cine, la película recibe por fin luz verde. Un acuerdo de última hora firmado entre New Line Cinema y Warner Bros permitirá financiar los 250 millones de dólares con los que contará de presupuesto cada una de las dos entregas en la que estará dividida la versión cinematográfica de la obra de J. R. R. Tolkien. Las cintas, que se rodarán en Nueva Zelanda en formato 3D, ya tienen fecha de estreno: la Navidad de 2012 y 2013, respectivamente.

Sin embargo, aún quedaba un último obstáculo por salvar y evitar un nuevo parón en la producción: los trabajadores neozelandeses se negaban a aceptar las condiciones del estudio y amenazaban con obligar a un cambio de localización del rodaje. Pero, el primer ministro del país, John Key, no estaba dispuesto a dejar escapar una producción de 500 millones de dólares y medió en la negociación. El parlamento aceptó cambiar la ley laboral, además de llegar a un pacto con Warner para aumentar los incentivos financieros a la producción. El país habitualmente ofrece una reducción fiscal del 15%, que suponía un ahorro de entre 45 y 60 millones de dólares para los productores de El Hobbit, a los que ahora se sumarán 15 millones de dólares más gracias a la nueva legislación.

El acuerdo no ha tranquilizado los ánimos de los representantes de los trabajadores, que han amenazado con más movilizaciones por una ley que permite “a una empresa extranjera demandar que los derechos de los trabajadores en esta industria sean suprimidos”, según aseguró la presidenta de la Federación de Sindicatos, Helen Kelly, en una entrevista televisiva.

A las protestas de los empleados neozelandeses se suman las de algunos fans de la saga, molestos con Peter Jackson por la elección de los actores. Los foros de Internet se han llenado de mensajes contra el actor británico Martin Freeman, que encarnará a Bilbo Bolsón. Consideran que la elección es “igual de idónea que decidirse por John Wayne para hacer de Ghengis Khan”. Sin embargo, Jackson defiende su decisión su decisión asegurando que “a pesar de los rumores, solo ha habido un Bilbo Bolsón para nosotros, Martin Freeman. Es inteligente, divertido y valiente, exactamente igual que Bilbo”.

A pesar de las buenas noticias de los últimos días, El Hobbit sigue caminan al filo de la navaja. Incluso algunos actores meditan abandonar la producción. Harto de que no se cumplan los plazos y las promesas del estudio, Ian McKellan –Gandalf en la trilogía de El Señor de los Anillos–, ha dado un ultimátum a los productores: un nuevo retraso en el rodaje supondría su adiós definitivo y un jaque mate para el proyecto.

No sería la primera vez que una gran superproducción se frena en seco. Hollywood vive una ola de cancelaciones en los últimos meses. Proyectos como la entrega número 23 de la saga de James Bond han quedado aparcados sin fecha. Además, otras muchas cintas ya rodadas han sufrido prolongados retrasos en su estreno. Los últimos trabajos de grandes estrellas del celuloide como Matt Damon, John Cusack, Eddie Murphy o Mel Gibson se han quedado sin sitio en la cartelera por problemas financieros o por los escándalos personales de sus protagonistas.

La última película de Jodie Foster, The Breaver, lleva más de un año filmada y continúa sin fecha de estreno por la caída en desgracia de Mel Gibson. Algo similar le ha sucedido a Eddie Murphy, rodó A Thousand Words en 2008 y no llegará a las salas hasta 2011. Aunque Caso 39, con Bradley Cooper y Rene Zellweger se lleva la palma. Se rodó en el otoño de 2006, seis meses antes de que un joven senador de Illinois llamado Barack Obama anunciase su candidatura a las elecciones presidenciales. En aquel entonces Cooper era poco más que un personaje secundario en la serie Alias, mientras que Zellweger paseaba su Oscar. Hoy las tornas han cambiado. El actor de The Hangover no quiere saber nada de la película, que se ha convertido en casi la única oportunidad de ver a la protagonista de El Diario de Briget Jones en la gran pantalla.

[FOTO1]Falar em literatura fantástica e não citar o ingl&ecirc;s J. R. R. Tolkien é quase um absurdo. A trilogia O senhor dos anéis, publicada na metade dos anos 1950, fez milhões de fãs ao cair nas mãos do diretor Peter Jackson e ganhar as salas de cinema, e ainda alimenta um gigantesco universo imaginário e poético. A influ&ecirc;ncia pode ser percebida nos filmes, nos jogos de videogame e de RPG, e até no mundo dos livros.

Talvez, daqui a algumas décadas, Tolkien e sua Terra Média (expandida em outros livros, alguns inacabados) recebam companhia do norte-americano George R. R. Martin. O universo deste escritor, 62 anos, nascido em Bayonne, Nova Jersey, não envolve criação de novas línguas (como o élfico de Tolkien), anéis diabólicos ou a disputa pelo poder entre orcs, elfos, humanos e anões. Mas é igualmente ambicioso. A guerra dos tronos, primeiro volume da saga de sete livros As cr&ocirc;nicas de gelo e fogo — os últimos tr&ecirc;s ainda não estão prontos —, enfim chega ao Brasil, pela editora LeYa, pronto para arrebanhar uma nova legião de leitores.

Em Westeros, o mundo ficcional criado por Martin, o longo ver&atilde;o está perto do fim. E o inverno promete ser severo. Num continente primariamente habitado por humanos e anões, poder significa prestígio, domínio e sobreviv&ecirc;ncia. A guerra dos tronos, publicado em 1996 nos Estados Unidos, está mais para uma ficção do per&iacute;odo medieval do que para a Terra Média. E a narrativa também não vai fazer os leitores se lembrarem dos longos e densos par&aacute;grafos de Tolkien. Apesar disso, ele não nega o legado deixado pelo ingl&ecirc;s. “Acho que Tolkien é uma influ&ecirc;ncia em todos os escritores de fantasia. Certamente foi em mim, li O senhor dos anéis na adolesc&ecirc;ncia. Mas somos pessoas diferentes, vivemos em mundos diferentes, e necessariamente há uma grande diferença na fantasia que criamos&rdquo;, revelou.
Martin é econ&ocirc;mico, e mesmo assim convincente ao organizar os acontecimentos em capítulos curtos, por meio do ponto de vista de um personagem. A história é contada em tr&ecirc;s eixos. “Acredito no ponto de vista de um personagem. Acho que essa é a maneira como percebemos a vida no mundo real: nós não sabemos o que outras pessoas estão pensando, nós só sabemos o que vemos com os nossos olhos e percebemos com os outros sentidos. Eu tento entrar na pele dos personagens e escrever a história da maneira como os eles percebem as coisas&rdquo;, explica ao Correio.

[FOTO2]Nos Sete Reinos, Eddard Stark é chamado pelo rei Robert Baratheon para ocupar o cargo de Mão do Rei (algo como primeiro-ministro), depois da misteriosa morte do antecessor Jon Arryn. O assassinato foi obra da família Lannister, e a primeira-dama Cersei é a principal suspeita. Na Muralha, que demarca a fronteira dos Sete Reinos, a Patrulha da Noite refor&ccedil;a suas defesas contra ameaças sobrenaturais vindas da Floresta Assombrada: os Outros.

A descrição desses sujeitos desconhecidos vai fazer os leitores se lembrarem dos cavaleiros negros da trilogia dos anéis, os Nazg&ucirc;l. No leste, os irmãos Viserys e Daenerys Targaryen, membros da família derrotada por Baratheon na luta pelo Trono de Ferro, querem vingança e a reconquista de Westeros, a região onde se passa a trama. Entre cavaleiros e donzelas, o personagem favorito de Martin é Tyrion Lannister, um anão que responde pelas passagens mais divertidas do livro.

Na telinha
As cr&ocirc;nicas de gelo e fogo ainda não terminaram, mas os títulos j&aacute; t&ecirc;m compromisso com adaptações para a televisão, pela HBO, canal a cabo conhecido pelo catálogo de seriados (A sete palmos, Família Soprano e Sex and the city). George Martin, que, em 1986, trabalhou nos roteiros do primeiro remake da série Além da imaginação (The twilight zone), vai acompanhar de perto as filmagens, como roteirista e produtor.

A transposição para a telinha deve cobrir um livro por temporada (como acontece com True blood). O primeiro, A guerra dos tronos, tem estreia prevista para mar&ccedil;o ou abril do ano que vem e conta com um nome bastante conhecido no elenco: Sean Bean (o Boromir de O senhor dos anéis) dá vida a Eddard Stark. “Pelo que vi até agora, a série vai ser bem fiel aos livros. Alguns cortes ter&atilde;o de ser feitos. Mas acho que a maioria dos fãs ficar&aacute; feliz. Claro, há sempre aqueles que não vão gostar. Ainda existem fãs de Tolkien que não gostam dos filmes de Peter Jackson, porque ele cortou Tom Bombadil da trama. Mas é uma minoria&rdquo;, acredita o escritor.

A tradução
O selo portugu&ecirc;s LeYa, atuante no mercado editorial brasileiro desde 2009, causou pol&ecirc;mica entre fãs da série épica ao lançar A guerra dos tronos no país. Quando o portal de entretenimento Omelete divulgou o primeiro capítulo do livro na internet, em agosto, descobriu-se que o texto não foi traduzido direto do ingl&ecirc;s, mas adaptado da tradução portuguesa, feita por Jorge Candeias. O tradutor escreveu, em post publicado em seu blog (www.lampadamagica. blogspot.com), que ficou sabendo da adaptação por meio do Twitter. “Reagi com completa estupefação&rdquo;, desabafou. Em nota, a editora disse ao Correio que está satisfeita com o trabalho de Candeias e que pretende concluir a série nos pr&oacute;ximos dois anos.

[FOTO2]A guerra dos tronos

De George R. R. Martin.
Editora LeYa, 592 páginas.
Preço médio: R$ 49,90.

**UPDATE BELOW**I know, I know. We've been reporting on The Hobbit being stuck on movie island with no rescue ship in site for months and months now but it looks as if a deal is close to finally happening between MGM and Warner Brothers regarding the little hariy footed project.Here's the dirt courtesy of the NY Times: After months of negotiation and delay, Warner Brothers and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer are on the verge of an agreement that would allow the director Peter Jackson to begin shooting a two-part version of J. R. R. Tolkien’s “Hobbit” early next year. Barring further hitches — and there have been many, as the studios wrestled with their dual ownership of the project over the last year — a financial deal should be in place over the next few days, according to several people who have been involved in the bargaining. They spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing company policies, confidentiality requirements and the delicate nature of the dealings. Click HERE to read the rest.Alright. So it looks like a deal is going to finally get made. I hope it does because I can't wait to post the 500 casting rumors and stories that are sure to follow, not too mention the hundreds of concept art images and set photos of trees. Man, this is gonna be exciting!**UPDATE**Boy this movie is cursed or there is some foul play going on here. Yesterday it was reported that Jackson's New Zealand WETA workshop set, which houses all of the minatures used for his movies like Lord of the Rings and King Kong, went up in smoke. Here's more from Deadline:Now add fire to the latest list of woes which have beset Peter Jackson's pre-production on those back-to-back The Hobbit films. Flames yesterday engulfed his New Zealand workshop set which would have been used for the Tolkien movies. It took 50 firefighters three hours to quell the blaze in Wellington. All that's left now is a burned out warehouse at Jackson's Portsmouth Miniatures Studio which had been used in the past as a specialist miniatures shooting facility, one of the few in the world, to create special effects for his The Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong. Meanwhile, there's still a standoff between New Zealand and Aussie actors unions, joined by SAG and AFTRA and others, and Jackson, New Line, Warner Bros, and MGM. Cursed I'm tellin' ya! This movie is cursed! Source: NY Times

"The Hobbit" will be in 3-D. That is a measure of how much the movie world has changed in the last year or so. In the dimly remembered recesses of, oh, 2009, people involved with the two-movie version of the J. R. R. Tolkien book, then to be directed by Guillermo del Toro, insisted that 2-D screen technology was just right for a pair of movies that were viewed as being a little more intimate than their sweeping precursors, in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

On this day, September 21, in the year 1937, J. R. R. Tolkien celebrated the release of The Hobbit, or There and Back Again.

In celebration of this glorious, gorgeous day. I will run around barefoot. For celebration on the intarwebs, I bestow upon you one of my favorite clips this year — The Fellowship of the Vuvuzela.

Originally published at AletheaKontis.com. You can comment here or there.

We didn’t know it was possible for someone who reads actual books and is a nerd to have bad grammar and spelling, but apparently it is, as one of them has written us to tell us that we committed “acts of common stereotyping” in our posts detailing Christine O’Donnell’s beliefs about Lord of the Rings. [...]



Lord of the Rings - Christine O'Donnell - Homophobia - J. R. R. Tolkien - Right-wing politics

Next time you read a book by a favorite author or poet, look closely at that page where "previous works" are listed. Sometimes you'll discover a pleasant surprise, especially if you have kids or work with them: a book for children. Some of these have become classics in their own right.

This post is a continuation of Part 1, a necessarily incomplete list of good books for children by celebrated authors of adult fiction, including James Joyce, Leo Tolstoy, Mark Twain, and Amy Tan. Again, the publishers and pub dates listed aren't the only ones, and the age ranges are based on my own judgment or the publisher's.

WORTH TRACKING DOWN

Jarrell, Randall, The Animal Family (HarperCollins, 1997). Ages 8 and up. This is a moving fantasy of how a solitary man finds a family-consisting of a mermaid, a bear, a lynx, and a little boy. The language is poetic and the characters kind and understanding toward each other, despite their differences. This Newbery Honor Book was Jarrell's last work before his death.
--The Bat-Poet (Harper Trophy, 1996). Ages 8 and up. A beautifully written and touching allegory of a poetry-writing bat who can't sleep during the day. When the bat poet's peers make fun of his creative images, he simply stops sharing them. He fares little better with a mockingbird, who, though he admires the bat's poem, analyzes its rhyme scheme instead of feeling its emotion. Finally the bat poet finds an appreciative audience and is able to unleash more of his imagination. Young readers will see the value of being true to one's nature and may also get an increased appreciation for poetic imagery and the difficulties of the artist's life.
--Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1987). Ages 5 and up. Jarrell translated this version from the German, saying he tried to make it as much like the original story as he could. Jarrell also wrote The Gingerbread Rabbit and Fly by Night.

Joyce, James, The Cat and the Devil (Schocken, 1981). Ages 6 and up. This simple story is actually a letter Joyce wrote to his grandson Stephen. (A crucial few lines are in French.)

Keneally, Thomas, Ned Kelly and the City of the Bees (David R. Godine, 1995). Ages 7-12. This is a first-person, inside-a-beehive adventure, written for Keneally's daughters.

Kennedy, William, and Brendan Kennedy, Charlie Malarkey and the Belly Button Machine (Atlantic Monthly Press, 1986). Ages 4-8. William Kennedy began writing this amusing bedtime story with his son when Brendan was four.

Kesey, Ken, Little Tricker the Squirrel Meets Big Double the Bear<</span>!> (Puffin, 1992). Ages 6 and up. Kesey retells a story his grandmother told him about a quick-thinking squirrel that outwits a big, hungry bear. This is an especially good read-aloud book.

King, Stephen,

The Eyes of the Dragon: A Story (New American Library, 1994). Ages 8 and up. King wrote this adventure/fantasy/fairy tale--complete with dragons, princes, and magic--for his thirteen-year-old daughter because she had no interest in his popular horror stories.

Kinnell, Galway,

How the Alligator Missed Breakfast (Houghton Mifflin, 1982). Ages 4 and up. This brightly illustrated book contains absurd characters and situations: a rabbit who tries to fly and then writes a book about it, a strolling bathtub, an alligator who swallows a car, and a porcupine whose haircut makes him look like a hat.

Kotzwinkle, William,

Trouble in Bugland: A Collection of Inspector Mantis Mysteries (David R. Godine, 1986). Ages 10 and up. This is a collection of clever takeoffs on the Sherlock Holmes mysteries.--
Hearts of Wood & Other Timeless Tales (David R. Godine, 1986). All ages. Five fairy tales about such wonders as carousel horses that come alive and a butterfly catcher who dreams he's a butterfly.

Le Guin, Ursula K.,

Catwings and Catwings Return (Orchard, 1990 and 1999, respectively). Ages 5-10. Four winged kittens fly away from the dangers of the city only to find adventures they hadn't expected. The feline characters are provided with realistic histories and human-like emotions. Le Guin also wrote other Catwings tales, including Jane On Her Own and Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings. --
Very Far Away from Anywhere Else (Atheneum, 1976). Ages 12 and up. This story centers on a seventeen-year-old intellectual who longs for and finally finds someone who understands him.--
A Visit from Dr. Katz (Atheneum, 1988). Ages 5-8. A tale of two cats who help cure their young female owner of the flu by curling up on her tummy.

Maurois, Andre,

Fattypuffs and Thinifers (Knopf, 1989). All ages. Two boys find themselves on opposite sides of a negotiating table because the nations of the Fattypuffs and the Thinifers want to fight about their differences.

McEwan, Ian,

The Daydreamer<</span>!> (Bantam, 2000). Ages 8 and up. A ten-year-old boy daydreams about fantastic events in this wryly amusing tale about the imagination and growing up.Oz, Amos,

Soumchi

(Harcourt, 1995). Ages 12 and up. The misadventures of an eleven-year-old boy growing up in British-occupied Jerusalem.

STILL MORE BOOKS

Saki,

The Story-Teller<</span>!> (David R. Godine, 1987). Ages 9 and up. All thirteen of these witty tales are about children. In each, the kids come off better than their petty and predictable elders.

Sandburg, Carl, Rootabaga Stories, Part One

and

Rootabaga Stories, Part Two (Harcourt, 1988 and 1989, respectively). Ages 5 and up. The language in these stories is lyrical, the characters and story lines strange and fantastic. Readers will find such oddities as a broom handle that marries a rag doll, two skyscrapers who whisper together and decide to have a child (who turns out to be a train), and a jackrabbit who jumps so high he never comes down. Saramago, Jose, The Tale of the Unknown Island
(Harcourt, 2000). All ages. This is a wry and surreal fable about a determined man and the king's cleaning woman who prepare a boat to find an unknown island. Instead, they find themselves and love. The tale can be experienced on more than one level, and the unusual lack of "he said, she said" indicators adds a flowing note to the reading.
Singer, Isaac Bashevis, Stories for Children

(Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1985). All ages. These thirty-six tales feature a variety of interesting characters including an absent-minded professor who forgets his own address, a Yiddish-speaking parakeet who plays unwitting matchmaker, and a wise rabbi who battles a wicked witch. In simple prose, Singer writes of magic, fools, love, and deceit.

--The Golem (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1996). Ages 5 and up. Singer retells the tale of the golem, a clay giant who helps the Jews of Prague. Singer also wrote
The Power of Light: Eight Stories for Hanukkah and When Shlemiel Went to Warsaw and Other Stories.Stafford, Jean, Elephi: The Cat with a High I.Q.

(Yearling, 1962). Ages 7 and up. A bored cat smuggles a small foreign car into his apartment so he can have a playmate.

Strand, Mark, Rembrandt Takes a Walk

(Crown Publishing, 1990). This is an amusing fantasy about a boy who visits his absent-minded, art-collecting uncle and finds he can remove food from famous paintings. When Rembrandt steps out of a painting, the boy takes him for a walk around town, where the famous painter is obsessed with drawing everything he sees. Vividly illustratrated.

Tan, Amy, The Chinese Siamese Cat
(Macmillan, 1994). Ages 4 and up. A colorful picture book that tells an amusing fable about the ancestry of some kittens.
--The Moon Lady (Aladdin, 1995). Ages 5-9. A picture book about a long-ago autumn moon festival in China, through the eyes of a seven-year-old.
Thomas, Dylan, A Child's Christmas in Wales

(David R. Godine, 1984). All ages. First published in 1954, this is probably Thomas's most famous childhood reminiscence. The language is musical and should be read aloud for optimum pleasure.

Thurber, James, The 13 Clocks

(Dell, 1992). Ages 8 and up. A complex, funny tale of a prince, a princess, and a wicked duke who's afraid of Now. (Also:

Many Moons, The Wonderful O, and The Great Quillow.)Tolkien, J. R. R., The Hobbit

(Houghton Mifflin, 1999). Ages 7 and up. This fantasy adventure about the mythological kingdom of Middle Earth can be enjoyed both by older children and, as a read-aloud, by kids as young as seven. Tolkien continues the saga in the epic trilogy Lord of the Rings.

--Roverandom (Houghton Mifflin, 1999). Ages 9 and up. Tolkien wrote this fantasy to console his son for the loss of a tiny toy dog.
--Smith of Wootton Major<</span>!> (Houghton Mifflin, 1991). Ages 8 and up. A deftly written fantasy about the odd things that happen to a boy who eats a star at the Feast of Good Children. Tolkien also wrote Mr. Bliss
, Farmer Giles of Ham, and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (poems).Tolstoy, Leo, The Lion and the Puppy and Other Stories for Children (Seaver Books, 1988). Ages 5 and up. Tolstoy wrote these tales for a primer used in a school he founded. His aim was to invent interesting stories that would teach right from wrong while conveying messages about freedom, courage, generosity, patience, and respect for nature. The title story is about a lion that learns to love a puppy that has been tossed to him as food. When the puppy dies, the lion dies of grief.

--

The Fool (Schocken, 1981). Ages 5 and up. A verse retelling of a Russian folk tale. Tolstoy also wrote Fables and Fairy Tales
.Twain, Mark, Poor Little Stephen Girard (Schocken, 1981). Ages 6 and up. A witty short story about a boy who hears of someone who became successful by collecting pins in front of a bank. Other Twain stories for children include

A

Cat-Tale, written for his own daughters; The Stolen White Elephant, about a giant, white, Bible-eating elephant; and Legend of Sagenfeld, a fairy tale.Verne, Jules, Adventures of the Rat Family (Oxford University Press, 1993). Ages 7 and up. A droll literary fairy tale with lots of dialogue to keep the action moving and many intriguing words for younger readers to learn.

Walker, Alice, To Hell with Dying (Harcourt, 1993). Ages 9 and up. Told from an adult perspective, this reminiscence concerns old, alcoholic Mr. Sweet, who is often on the brink of death. The children who are his friends save him with kisses, tickles, and love. (Also:

Finding the Green Stone

.)Wilbur, Richard, Loudmouse (Harcourt, 1982). Ages 6-10. The story of a mouse whose family's safety is endangered because he cannot speak softly.

--

The Disappearing Alphabet (Harcourt, 1997). All ages. "If G did not exist, the color green/ Would have to vanish from the rural scene." And so on. --
Opposites, More Opposites, and a Few Differences (Harcourt, 2000). All ages. A collection of Wilbur's previous volumes of poems (Opposites and More Opposites
), plus some additional poems. This book asks whether, for example, there's an opposite of "sheep" or of "SOS."Wilde, Oscar, The Happy Prince and Other Stories (Wordsworth, 1999). Ages 6 and up. This volume contains nine magical tales first told by Wilde to his own two sons. In "The Selfish Giant," a giant keeps children out of his garden, and spring doesn't come until he has a change of heart. In "The Star Child," a proud boy learns humility as he wanders through his medieval world. (Also:

The Nightingale and the Rose.

)Wolitzer, Hilma, Wish You Were Here (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1986). Ages 9-12. Believable characters, as in Wolitzer's other books for preteens, Introducing Shirley Braverman and Out of Love. She tackles the everyday, the dramatic, and the traumatic-divorce, death, war, shyness, loneliness-with skill, humor, and insight.

Woolf, Virginia, The Widow and the Parrot (Harcourt, 1988). Ages 9-12. This story, illustrated by Woolf's grandnephew, was written at the request of her nephews, Quentin and Julian Bell, for a family newspaper they put out regularly when they were young. They didn't like it; it wasn't as frivolous as they'd hoped.

 * Part 1 of this series is

here

.

* Stay tuned for Part 3 of this series, when I will share books of poems for kids by famous poets.

 

Before I got into Dungeons & Dragons as a kid, I made Super 8mm animated shorts involving clay monsters that swallowed towns.

I was a charter member of the Star Wars Fan Club.

I shouted Bugs Bunny routines (“I will do it with my spear and magic helmet!”). 

I wanted to be a cartoonist for the Boston Globe and an animator for Disney. 

I also jumped to reading J. R. R. Tolkien, and found his swords-and-sorcery realm, Middle-earth, as rich as the setting for D&D. Middle-earth was Tolkien's elaborately mapped and populated setting for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and his various poems, legends, and lost tales. So I wrote novels on an old typewriter: drafts of my own Lord of the Rings rip-offs. (Actual sample text: “It was a time of despair in the land of Rothian. The townsfolk were uprising [sic] and the men from Orean were invading from the north, in the Forgetten Land . . . .”)

Already a storyteller, D&D was a logical imaginative leap.

I didn’t believe in God, or in heaven and hell. But Middle-earth’s lands, or a D&D labyrinth, or a science fiction universe like Star Wars—those were places I could believe in, and visit as often as I liked. D&D’s subterranean realms welcomed me; high school dances and locker rooms did not. Already the consummate dreamer, I was the perfect candidate for escape.

Yet when I look back at evidence of my adolescence --- all my old D&D paraphernalia; my Star Wars fan club newsletters ("Bantha Tracks," it was called); drawings, poems and stories --- the feeling hits me bittersweet. I see a kid --- me, in the 1980s --- trying to prognosticate something better. A desperate kid trying to find a way out.

So naturally, today, I worry about the residual damage. How healthy was it to have devoted so much mental energy to worlds like D&D and Middle-earth that didn’t exist? Had we checked out of real life? What were the long-term effects? Did fantasy escapism explain why the person I’d become at forty now felt unsatisfying, and unsatisfied?

Perhaps my issue was, I couldn’t admit to myself, today as an adult, that I still needed the escapist crutch of a fantasy life to hobble through the real world. Or possibly, that as an adult I would allow role-playing games to consume my life again, intentionally or subconsciously in an unspoken act of self-sabotage, so that no time or energy or mental space would remain to solve my real-life problems. Or was it simply some nameless dread about being stuck in Geekland forever? LIke being Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons.

My other nagging worry has often been that my penchant for dreaming had set me up for a lifelong dissatisfaction with reality. I often dream up parallel lives for myself—fantasy girlfriend, fantasy job, fantasy Pulitzer Prize. My creative undertakings— tree forts to build, comic books to draw, novels to write, films to make, poems to compose—often let me down. When I tried to translate the creative spark into irrevocable form and substance, I’d mess it up. The made thing would become real, but inert, a vast compromise, and inexorably flawed. I came to prefer that other Middle-earth-like place, in my own head, where my cre- ations hang like untouched jewels, perfectly realized.

At time, fantasy as a cultural phenomenon feels vaguely unsettling to me. Has pervasive escapism infantilized an entire generation? Is fantasy in all its forms fundamentally good or evil? Are some subcultures more damaging than others? Deep thoughts.

Perhaps nobody else spends time pondering these matters. Or maybe I just want to reassure myself that I'm not any more of a freak than anyone else.

[adapted from Ethan Gilsdorf's Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms," now in paperback. More info: http://www.fantasyfreaksbook.com]

 

Greg Pollowitz plucks a clip from the CSPAN archives: Christine O’Donnell, communications director at the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, led a discussion on the depiction of women in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. The discussion focused on Bradley Birzer’s...



Christine O'Donnell - Intercollegiate Studies Institute - CSPAN - Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien

By Emi Kolawole Christine O'Donnell's victory on Tuesday has many digging through archives to find footage of the Republican Senate nominee. This digging has produced a 2003 C-Span recording in which O'Donnell delivers her assessment of gender roles in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien "You see Tolkien's wisdom applied to just about everything: Tolkien and communism, Tolkien and industrialization," said O'Donnell, while leading a December 2003 discussion at the Heritage Foundation as communications director for the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI). "In researching this topic I even found a book with a chapter on Tolkien and sexual fetishes." The discussion centered on Bradley Birzer's book "J.R.R. Tolkien's Sanctifying Myth," which was published by ISI in 2003. "It's so surprising, then, especially in today's very hyper-sensitive, post-Gloria Steinem world, that there's such a lack of commentary on Tolkien and women. While we were researching this topic, the only writings that we could


Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien - Intercollegiate Studies Institute - Heritage Foundation - Republican

SÃO PAULO - Fãs da obra de J. R. R. Tolkien podem contar com uma ferramenta na web para se localizarem pelo universo geogr&aacute;fico... ( Vinicius Aguiari, de INFO Online )

Ralph Wood gave a lecture for Big Ideas contrasting J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. Wood begins his lecture by explaining that though the two men have much in common, this commonality has been emphasized to the point of concealing some of their differences. One way Tolkien and Lewis differed was in their writing [...]

I love this quote by Gandalf the Gray from the book Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, “When we

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien It is an awesome book full of adventure and suspense. It does have some bits that drag a bit, but the rest is great. Some bits were pretty creepy. I liked the fact it was not just Frodo’s story, but that in some bits it [...]

I’m currently listening to ‘The Hobbit’ written by J. R. R. Tolkien and read by Ro

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Section: Gaming News, PCs, Game-Companies, Genres, MMO, Role-Playing

Beginning Fall 2010, everybody will be able to experience Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) with the new Free-to-play system. With Free-to-play, anyone can download LOTRO, create an avatar and start exploring every corner of Middle Earth, without the need for a subscription or credit card.

The game will offer a kind of currency called Turbine Points that will be awarded to the players as they progress and level up. These points can be exchanged for different items and customization options at the LOTRO Store. Additional Turbine Points will also be available for purchase at the LOTRO Store.

Players who already had an account in LOTRO will be upgraded to the LOTRO VIP service which includes, among other things, a monthly amount of Turbine Points, priority server access and additional premium content.

Anyone interested in trying LOTRO out can sign up for a chance to enter the beta program, starting on June 16, 2010.

The fantasy world created by J. R. R. Tolkien is one of the richest and most immersive out there. The detail with which he describes every place and creature makes them really come to life and this is part of what has turned his stories into classics and given birth to other numerous fantasy series.

Video games are an ideal media to explore this world and, among the different types that are suitable to the story, online role playing games are the best. The possibility of having a huge persistent world to explore and numerous other players helps in making the world feel real and alive. This is what has made LOTRO so successful.

Read [Turbine] Also read [MyGamer<</span>!>] Website [LOTRO]

Image credit: Turbine

Full Story &raquo; | Written by Christian Morlotte for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article &raquo;

---

In a bittersweet note on a J. R. R. Tolkien Web site, the director explained his decisions for leaving the project in further - if not complete - detail.

In a bittersweet note on a J. R. R. Tolkien Web site, the director explained his decisions for leaving the project in further - if not complete - detail.

Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro who was directing two movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" has stepped down after two years on the project amid studio delays and schedule conflicts.
Hobbit - Guillermo del Toro - J. R. R. Tolkien - Peter Jackson - Film director<</span>!>

El director neozelandés Peter Jackson no descarta dirigir él mismo «El hobbit» -la novela de J. R. R. Tolkien que antecede a la acción de «El señor de los anillos»- tras haber abandonado el proyecto el realizador mexicano Guillermo del Toro por los retrasos y problemas financieros de la productora.

El director neozelandés Peter Jackson no descarta dirigir él mismo «El hobbit» -la novela de J. R. R. Tolkien que antecede a la acción de «El señor de los anillos»- tras haber abandonado el proyecto el realizador mexicano Guillermo del Toro por los retrasos y problemas financieros de la productora. "Si eso es lo que tengo que hacer para proteger la inversión de Warner Brothers, obviamente ése es uno de los ángulos que miraré", afirma en una entrevista publicada hoy por el diario local «Dominion Post». No obstante, el responsable de la trilogía de «El señor de los anillos» recuerda que ha firma...

Here’s some news from J. R. R. Tolkien, J. K. Rowling, and C. S. Lewis fandom that may be of i

#REDIRECT What books did J. R. R. Tolkien write

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	Sauron is character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legandarium / Middle-earth stories. He is a ''Maia'' (a spirit whose cosmic position could be likened to an angel), who was originally a follower of the Vala Aulë, but who became corrupted and became the servant of the evil Vala Morgoth, until the latter was defeated at the end of the Third Age. From that time on he became an independent "Dark Lord", an in that function appears in the narratives of the ''Lord of the Rings'' and other works of Tolkien.		Sauron is character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legandarium / Middle-earth stories. He is a ''Maia'' (a spirit whose cosmic position could be likened to an angel), who was originally a follower of the Vala Aulë, but who became corrupted and became the servant of the evil Vala Morgoth, until the latter was defeated at the end of the Third Age. From that time on he became an independent "Dark Lord", an in that function appears in the narratives of the ''Lord of the Rings'' and other works of Tolkien.
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	Tolkien's Legolas is not dumb, and his hair colour is debated. In various adaptations he has been depicted as blond, and his dumbness-or-not would have to be debated.		Tolkien's Legolas is not dumb, and his hair colour is debated. In various adaptations he has been depicted as blond, and his dumbness-or-not would have to be debated.
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	Legolas is a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, appearing in the novel ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is an elf, and is the son of King Thranduil from the Woodland Realm of Northern Mirkwood. For more extensive information, see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legolas here].		Legolas is a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, appearing in the novel ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is an elf, and is the son of King Thranduil from the Woodland Realm of Northern Mirkwood. For more extensive information, see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legolas here].
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	Aragorn is a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, appearing in the novel ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is a human, leader and uncrowned king of the Northern Dúnedain. For more extensive information, see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aragorn here].		Aragorn is a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, appearing in the novel ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is a human, leader and uncrowned king of the Northern Dúnedain. For more extensive information, see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aragorn here].
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