Showing posts with label Tolkien. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tolkien. Show all posts
Friday, October 11, 2024

More (mediocre) content is not better than no content: A rant

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Once in a while you’ve got to let off some steam ( Bennett) . For most, that means punching a heavy bag, screaming into a pillow, maybe goin...
16 comments:
Thursday, August 15, 2024

The Battle of Evermore and the timeless nature of fantasy

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(early metal-ish Friday) That it is told in the language of fantasy is not an accident, or because Tolkien was an escapist, or because he wa...
2 comments:
Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Ruminations on subversive and restorative impulses, and conservative and liberal modes of fantasy fiction

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Two towers, old and new. Liberalism seeks to make anew. Conservatism desires to preserve the time-tested.  The former represents the creativ...
10 comments:
Thursday, December 21, 2023

Feeling like it's time to watch these again

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Have you ever been called home by the clear ringing of silver trumpets? I have. To this book . And to the movies. But it's been a while....
2 comments:
Thursday, October 6, 2022

Secret Fire

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What is the “fire” borne by characters and otherwise present in the works of Cormac McCarthy and J.R.R. Tolkien? “I am a servant of the Secr...
3 comments:
Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Top 10 reasons why I don’t care about Amazon’s The Rings of Power

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The Rings of... Meh. Perhaps you might be wondering, hey, when is that guy from The Silver Key going to weigh in on The Rings of Power? He l...
12 comments:
Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Before They Are Hanged, some thoughts on Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy

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Some hanging... much stabbing. I'm now two-thirds of the way through Joe Abercrombie’s First Law trilogy, having just finished the secon...
Friday, September 9, 2022

Blood Tears, Blind Guardian

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Today's Metal Friday is a cut off Nightfall in Middle-Earth by the great Blind Guardian. "Blood Tears" is typical of the work ...
2 comments:
Wednesday, July 20, 2022

S&S updates: Dunsany, New Edge, book deals, and a fine response to a troubling essay

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Hail to the King of Dreams, baby. A roundup of recent-ish news and updates on the sacred genre. My most recent essay for Tales from the Magi...
5 comments:
Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Fantasy without Tolkien? Yes that happened, and yes it matters.

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My latest post is up on the blog of DMR Books: "Fantasy without Tolkien? Yes that happened, and yes it matters." Check it out here...
3 comments:
Thursday, January 27, 2022

Tolkien’s Modern Reading: A review

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Tolkien: Not just for medieval scholars, anymore. Given that Tolkien was not the first to write secondary-world fantasies for adult readers,...
2 comments:
Sunday, December 19, 2021

20 year anniversary of the Fellowship of the Ring/LOTR films

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I was there, Gandalf. I was there 3,000--err 20--years ago. 20 years ago today New Line Cinema and director Peter Jackson delivered unto the...
4 comments:
Sunday, January 24, 2021

A review of Tolkien (2019)

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I’m currently on a J.R.R. Tolkien kick, having finished both a re-read of The Lord of the Rings and a re-read of Humphrey Carpenter’s outst...
2 comments:
Saturday, January 16, 2021

Tolkien the barbarian

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I recently finished a re-read of The Lord of the Rings , which inspired me to revisit Humphrey Carpenter's authorized biography of JRRT....
4 comments:
Thursday, November 26, 2020

Bloodstone and The Lord of the Rings post up on DMR blog

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During a recent re-read of Karl Edward Wagner's Bloodstone I was struck by what appears to be some parallels and similarities to certai...
3 comments:
Wednesday, January 22, 2020

A salute to Christopher Tolkien and Robert E. Howard

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An important date and some notable news to acknowledge this week. Christopher Tolkien, youngest son of J.R.R. Tolkien and his literary...
Thursday, January 3, 2013

Happy birthday to JRR Tolkien; jeers to Philip Pullman

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Philip Pullman is another notable fantasy author who, alongside the likes of Michael Moorcock and Richard Morgan, has grossly missed the mar...
15 comments:
Sunday, December 16, 2012

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, a review

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Warning: Spoilers follow. As I left an IMAX 3D showing of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey early Saturday evening, I struggled at firs...
18 comments:
Thursday, August 16, 2012

A Brick-and-Mortar Bookstore Score

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Brick and mortar bookstores are as rare as hen’s teeth these days, it seems, and that’s a shame. I enjoy the instantaneous convenience an...
10 comments:
Tuesday, July 24, 2012

The Silmarillion: Thirty Years On, a review

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The 1977 publication of The Silmarillion was a singular event in fantasy fiction. I’m happy to stand corrected, but I can’t think of an...
9 comments: