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The Official Wowhead Book-Club
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Post by
Laihendi
I liked the Shannara books... have pretty much all of them, plus all the Word and Void series as well. Of course, I don't like Tolkien so take from that what you will.
How do you not like Tolkien, the father of the modern fantasy genre, and still like the books directly inspired by him?
Post by
Adamsm
I liked the Shannara books... have pretty much all of them, plus all the Word and Void series as well. Of course, I don't like Tolkien so take from that what you will.
How do you not like Tolkien, the father of the modern fantasy genre, and still like the books directly inspired by him?
/shrug; I have anthology of the three Lord of the Rings books, it took me a year to work my through it(before someone goes snarky, I consumed my anthology of the first three Dragonlance books(100 pages less) in 3 days at my fastest read through), and it just didn't interest me. Tolkien isn't for everyone simple as that. I've only read the Hobbit once, for a school project and I haven't had any desire to pick it back up. The only good thing about the anthology was that I got it for free; had I actually paid money for it, I would probably dislike Tolkien more then I do. And yes, I only read the books because everyone feels that at some point you have to read them.
Post by
149406
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Laihendi
So you don't like how Tolkien creates a detailed world and history for it, and many beautiful stories to take place in it (Lord of the Rings being just one). The Lord of the Rings might seem like the typical epic quest routine, but there are so many other things going on in it. There are so many themes in it, such as the difficulty of seemingly incompatible love, the horror of war, the pain of moving forward in time and leaving the past behind, and wishing things could go back to being like they were, when you know they can't. And Tolkien takes this even further by showing the difficulty of living in a world that you realize you no longer belong in.
Laihendi has read some of those Dungeons and Dragons books (Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms... maybe there are more) and there just isn't anything to them. The only appeal to them is reading a story about some elves, wizards, and dragons, and a big war with some magic sword. There's nothing deeper than that. Tolkien may incorporate those things into his own stories, but they are not what his stories are about. His stories are about the beauty that can be found in life.
Post by
Adamsm
So you don't like how Tolkien creates a detailed world and history for it, and many beautiful stories to take place in it (Lord of the Rings being just one). The Lord of the Rings might seem like the typical epic quest routine, but there are so many other things going on in it. There are so many themes in it, such as the difficulty of seemingly incompatible love, the horror of war, the pain of moving forward in time and leaving the past behind, and wishing things could go back to being like they were, when you know they can't. And Tolkien takes this even further by showing the difficulty of living in a world that you realize you no longer belong in.
Laihendi has read some of those Dungeons and Dragons books (Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms... maybe there are more) and there just isn't anything to them. The only appeal to them is reading a story about some elves, wizards, and dragons, and a big war with some magic sword. There's nothing deeper than that. Tolkien may incorporate those things into his own stories, but they are not what his stories are about. His stories are about the beauty that can be found in life.
And annoying ass singing and dancing hobbits, dwarves and elves who are just yawn causing, a human hero who is boring as hell, the one human 'traitor' does a massive turn and saves said annoying ass hobbits, and the so called Dark Riders are seen for a bit, then most of them die to a flood and just one comes back. I don't like Tolkien's works, simple as that; like I said, it's not for everyone, no matter what people out there think. I was bored to tears reading most of it, as I found it dry, preachy and incredibly stuffy. The love story in it made me roll my eyes so yeah. The only character in it I liked was Gollum.... and even he suffers from massive decay through out the book, going from a threat to a laughable ending, and even his 'heroic'/insane sacrifice at the end just made me go 'whew, finally, he's gone'. As for Gandalf... the less said about him, the better in my book.
And that's fine that you don't like Dragonlance or Forgotten Realms, that's your right; me, if given a chance between reading LotR again or re-reading Dragons of Autumn Twilight for the 15th time... I'll choose Dragons every single time; I just enjoyed it that much more. I don't like the world of Middle Earth, and I don't like the Rings or anything within it.
Post by
Perkocet
I think everyone should read
this book
at least once in their life.
Post by
Monday
So I just finished issue one of "The league of Extraordinary Gentlemen."
It is pure win.
Post by
260787
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
149406
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Neffy
Also, Tom Bombadil? WTF? I mean, I've heard a lot of legitimate reasons for that section's existence, but really it just stops the story dead in its tracks for a looooong time.This. It took me, like, a week to get through that chapter.
Post by
Hyperspacerebel
Also, as regarding the LOTR argument above, no books are for everyone. I love LOTR, but I admit, Tolkien may have benefited from an editor. Also, Tom Bombadil? WTF? I mean, I've heard a lot of legitimate reasons for that section's existence, but really it just stops the story dead in its tracks for a looooong time. LOTR is a great, classic piece of literature, but not flawless, and nothing is loved by everyone.
Bombadil is very much an integral part of LotR, and the entire Middle Earth saga as a whole. Without it there would be no frame of reference to judge the power of the ring come Rivendell. I certainly respect that people might not like certain sections of certain books, but it
is
there for a reason.
Tom Bombadil is not an important person — to the narrative. I suppose he has some importance as a 'comment.' I mean, I do not really write like that: he is just an invention (who first appeared in The Oxford Magazine about 1933), and he represents something that I feel important, though I would not be prepared to analyse the feeling precisely. I would not, however, have left him in, if he did not have some kind of function.
I might put it this way. The story is cast in terms of a good side, and a bad side, beauty against ruthless ugliness, tyranny against kingship, moderated freedom with consent against compulsion that has long lost any object save mere power, and so on; but both sides in some degree, conservative or destructive, want a measure of control. But if you have, as it were, taken 'a vow of poverty', renounced control, and take your delight in things for themselves without reference to yourself, watching, observing, and to some extent knowing, then the questions of the rights and wrongs of power and control might become utterly meaningless to you, and the means of power quite valueless...
It is a natural pacifist view, which always arises in the mind when there is a war… the view of Rivendell seems to be that it is an excellent thing to have represented, but that there are in fact things with which it cannot cope; and upon which its existence nonetheless depends. Ultimately only the victory of the West will allow Bombadil to continue, or even to survive. Nothing would be left for him in the world of Sauron.
And even in a mythical Age there must be some enigmas, as there always are. Tom Bombadil is one (intentionally).
Post by
149406
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Bruunpala
Legend by David Gammel, it got me into the old-fantasy genre and I love him for it.
Post by
Patty
Like I said, I've heard legitimate reasons, I'm just not particularly fond of that part
=P
the rest is golden, though. I really wish they could've worked the Scouring of the Shire into the movie somehow, but that would mess up pacing even more than it already was, heh. It worked in a book, but not necessarily on film.
Yes, books and films are two completely different ball games. The Battle for Helm's Deep in the film is among one of the best cinematic experiences I have ever had, and takes up a disproportionate amount of screen time compared to the book. All because some things work better on screen or on paper, not always through both deviations.
Post by
149406
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Queggy
So I just finished issue one of "The league of Extraordinary Gentlemen."
It is pure win.
Can I find that online anywhere?
Post by
Hyperspacerebel
So I just finished issue one of "The league of Extraordinary Gentlemen."
It is pure win.
Can I find that online anywhere?
TPB
Post by
Adamsm
So I just finished issue one of "The league of Extraordinary Gentlemen."
It is pure win.
Can I find that online anywhere?
Yes... but your not a fan of torrents heh.
Post by
Interest
For some reason I find the Dungeons and Dragons handbooks to be decent reads.
Is this a problem?
Post by
Adamsm
For some reason I find the Dungeons and Dragons handbooks to be decent reads.
Is this a problem?
Nope, I like the Warcraft RPG books to read in addition to the expanded universe stuff.
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