Lord of the Rings

One of my friends was a fan boy when he was quite the youth, and he wrote a fan letter to Tolkien when was about 12. Tolkien hand wrote him a note in return. He still has it (now in a safety deposit box). One of the things Tolkien did talk about in the letter was his working on the Silmarilion (which of course, he never finished and his son had to take the project over).

RAMOSS said:

One of my friends was a fan boy when he was quite the youth, and he wrote a fan letter to Tolkien when was about 12. Tolkien hand wrote him a note in return. He still has it (now in a safety deposit box). One of the things Tolkien did talk about in the letter was his working on the Silmarilion (which of course, he never finished and his son had to take the project over).

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WOW!!!!! That is one terrific story. For us serious Tolkien collectors, that would be a Holy Grail object. If you friend ever needs some quick cash - I am right here with wallet open.

I am fortunate enough to have first US editions of THE HOBBIT and all 3 LOTR volumes. HOBBIT has a reproduced dust jacket but is otherwise in great shape and is a true first edition. All three of the LOTR volumes have original dust jackets and are in great shape as well.

My pride and joy is an autographed JRRTolkien record album -POEMS & SONGS OF MIDDLE EARTH. Tolkien singed it on the backside right above his photo. And yes, its been authenticated as his real autograph.

So your friends letter would be loved and well cared for should that need ever arise.

Tolkien's books are among the greatest and most classic in the Fantasy genre, inspiring most things that followed that weren't T.H. White Arthurian style bits.
T.H. White's Once and Future King though much, much dryer than Tolkien's stuff is another good classic bit.

My favorite bits were always with Gandalf who could sound like a proper scary wizard but also a fatherly type, especially when giving some of his heart-felt speeches.

If you want to try something more modern but also very well written, Steven Brust has two particular series that are very interesting. The first is the Taltos series about a thief/witch/assassin and is written more like modern fantasy (his jhereg, a dragon-like scavenger that is telepathically connected to him calls him "Boss"). Then you have the Phoenix Guard books which happen hundreds to thousands of years before Taltos and are written more in the style of Dumas' Three Musketeers style with ore formal language that gives it a feel of an "older time" than the other books.

Hope the recommendations are Ok. I love fantasy storytelling. I dabble in it myself.

haymarket said:

WOW!!!!! That is one terrific story. For us serious Tolkien collectors, that would be a Holy Grail object. If you friend ever needs some quick cash - I am right here with wallet open.

I am fortunate enough to have first US editions of THE HOBBIT and all 3 LOTR volumes. HOBBIT has a reproduced dust jacket but is otherwise in great shape and is a true first edition. All three of the LOTR volumes have original dust jackets and are in great shape as well.

My pride and joy is an autographed JRRTolkien record album -POEMS & SONGS OF MIDDLE EARTH. Tolkien singed it on the backside right above his photo. And yes, its been authenticated as his real autograph.

So your friends letter would be loved and well cared for should that need ever arise.

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Since the letter was to him personally, I doubt all the money in the world would buy it.

I give Tolkien High marks for the most part. But after reading hundreds fantasy novels, I am left with the impression that some aspects were over developed, and some under developed. The world he built is huge and detailed, with histories and songs, poems and legends, various races and cities, all with their own peculiarities. But magic is so simple.

I really like first person magic, the struggle of wills, the learning curve, mechanics, etc. Its where someone like Jordan or Modesitt really excelled, and that really helped pull me into those books. Tolkien magic is based on something that was made long ago, the art of its making lost in time. Or magical creatures. Magic used by actual characters is simply stated as having happened. Gandalf waves his staff and says some archaic sounding words and bam, curse broken. Or, something is so powerful it is beyond his ability to wave his staff and stop, so he can only wave his staff and slow it. Jordan got into the weaving of elements, learning new techniques, rules and mechanics about its use, individual magical limits.

I suppose we all read these book for different reasons, and LOTR is certainly superior in other ways. It's also from an earlier period than Jordan and Modesitt, who most likely looked at his approach and improved on it, instead of starting where Tolkien did. Also, perhaps I simply need to give it another read, it's been a good 12 years or so.