Hazuki Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 So recently I started reading The Hobbit, and I'm liking it so far! One of my friends is a big fan of the LotR series but I never bothered with anything about it because it didn't seem all that interesting, but at this rate I could see myself reading the rest of the books. Is anyone here a fan of LotR? What do you guys think of the books, movies, and whatever else that is out there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defeatist Elitist Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I'm a pretty big Lord of The Rings fan, I loved the books and have read them several times, and while the films aren't 100% accurate recreations of them, they're definitely some of the best adaptions I've seen. The Silmarillion and The Hobbit are sweet too, and I'm totally jizzing myself about the new Hobbit movie(s). Lord of the Rings also holds a special place because even though in a lot of ways it isn't particularly good, it laid the framework for most modern fantasy (even though a lot of its material was borrowed from other sources, it's pretty hard to point to anything before it that was even remotely as similar to it as pretty much everything in the genre afterwards). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazetteer Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Dense. That's really the best way to describe the way LotR is written; Tolkien is very wordy, and wrote in a time when what we would today call "purple prose" was considered desirable. So, don't expect it to be a light read. (Also, the gratuitous songs can get kind of tedious). The Hobbit is much lighter and easier to get through, as it was written as a childrens' novel rather than a fantasy epic. Having read it really ups your geek cred, though, so definitely go for it if you don't mind a somewhat archaic style. It should also give you a better understanding of high fantasy in general, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defeatist Elitist Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I'll also add that having read Lord of the Rings, you'll definitely end up being more discerning as far as fantasy goes, because it becomes pretty obvious how shallow a lot of the genre is when you can see all the copy pastes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Original Alear Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 (edited) I like it, but I like ER Eddison more. Lord Gro is probably my favorite character of all time. This is the worst attempt at a derail I've ever written. How bout dem Ents? I'll also add that having read Lord of the Rings, you'll definitely end up being more discerning as far as fantasy goes, because it becomes pretty obvious how shallow a lot of the genre is when you can see all the copy pastes. Eddings, Jordan, Brooks come to mind. Oh right and Paolini. Edited February 7, 2012 by Jet Black Gunner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Light Lord Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I'm reading again the novels of the Lord of the Rings, in a traduction unfortunately, since I don't have the originals (which I'm still looking for). I also agree that the movies were good adaptations, but I prefer the books the most. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defeatist Elitist Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Eddings, Jordan, Brooks come to mind. Oh right and Paolini. I'd also add people like Tracy Hickman and R.A. Salvatore to that list, because most of that D&D fanwank is pretty LotR based. Unfortunately most of these people fuck up a ton with their shit and totally miss the things Tolkien did right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazetteer Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 (edited) I'd also add people like Tracy Hickman and R.A. Salvatore to that list, because most of that D&D fanwank is pretty LotR based. Unfortunately most of these people fuck up a ton with their shit and totally miss the things Tolkien did right. I would suggest that D&D has had more of an influence on the broader fantasy genre than Tolkien himself; certainly, it has done more to set the tone of the "generic fantasy setting" than Tolkien ever did. D&D did basically lift its races directly from Tolkien, but the tone of the settings and the way magic is depicted are very different in most cases. Tolkien treated magic as a rare thing that your average person had no ability to control -- something as "simple" as a ring that granted invisibility was held up as a wonder, and wizards were a tiny group akin to minor gods. D&D has always treated magic as common place and capable of easy use in direct combat. High fantasy versus heroic fantasy in a really extreme sense, basically. But at the state of a lot of modern fantasy, it's easy to see which idea was the one more people latched onto. Although now we're seeing more of a trend toward ripping off George R. R. Martin in recent years. I kind of miss the Tolkien and D&D knockoffs. At least they weren't completely depressing. Edited February 7, 2012 by Gazetteer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defeatist Elitist Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I would suggest that D&D has had more of an influence on the broader fantasy genre than Tolkien himself; certainly, it has done more to set the tone of the "generic fantasy setting" than Tolkien ever did. D&D did basically lift its races directly from Tolkien, but the tone of the settings and the way magic is depicted are very different in most cases. Tolkien treated magic as a rare thing that your average person had no ability to control -- something as "simple" as a ring that granted invisibility was held up as a wonder, and wizards were a tiny group akin to minor gods. D&D has always treated magic as common place and capable of easy use in direct combat. High fantasy versus heroic fantasy in a really extreme sense, basically. But at the state of a lot of modern fantasy, it's easy to see which idea was the one more people latched onto. Although now we're seeing more of a trend toward ripping off George R. R. Martin in recent years. I kind of miss the Tolkien and D&D knockoffs. At least they weren't completely depressing. Yeah, D&D has definitely evolved away from Tolkien, but in it's original state it was pretty similar too it, and way more low magic (though even then it was probably higher magic than Middle Earth anyway). Regardless, most of the D&D ripoffs also lift a lot of stuff from LotR, and ripping off D&D, as you said, is kind of like ripping off Tolkien anyway. I also think the latching onto the high magic idea sort of demonstrates a lot of the flaws in these terrible fantasy books, because a lot of them end up being pretty ridiculous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stark Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Lord of the Rings is awesome and well worth reading, though personally, after watching the (amazing) movies it's difficult to go back to the books, as they are as mentioned above extremely dense. As far as the whole fantasy rips-offs thing, I feel like that's almost part of the genre at this point. As Defeatist Elitist mentioned, a lot of LOTR's material was also based off other sources, those sources are just more obscure. The only thing that's really depressing is the amount of times you'll see elves + dwarfs + orcs/goblins copy-pasted into other worlds. Oh, and Eragon, which is basically LOTR and Star Wars slammed together shamelessly. Also, The Hobbit movie. December can't come fast enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defeatist Elitist Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Also, The Hobbit movie. December can't come fast enough. Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss. This topic is probably going to make me go watch the trailer another twenty times in a row. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freohr Datia Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I've only read the friendship of the ring, two towers, and return of the king. I've never read the hobbit yet =o Oh and I also watched the 3 movies. I love Pippin and Gimli so much <3 They're so silly and likable! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrangeCrush980 Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 LOTR is a lot different from the Hobbit. Most notably, LOTR is filled with purple prose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defeatist Elitist Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 friendship of the ring I knew it, I knew it! Tell me there's nothing wrong with watching it why don't you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikethfc Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss. This topic is probably going to make me go watch the trailer another twenty times in a row. It's rumoured on imdb that Brian Blessed is going to be playing King Dain. Also as an aside apparently the uni I go to was part of the inspiration for Mordor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rehab Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 My dad and I would read the LOtR trilogy together before bed when I was in elementary school, haha. Was pretty fun, and I enjoyed the movies, but they've gotten kind of hard to recall. Another thing to add to the backlog of things to watch and read, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freohr Datia Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 (edited) I knew it, I knew it! Tell me there's nothing wrong with watching it why don't you? Now I gotta find out if I wanna edit that post or not XD But I also don't know what you're talking about if you're talking about a specific thing so I better go look it up Edited February 8, 2012 by Freohr Abr Datia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Original Alear Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 (edited) Now I gotta find out if I wanna edit that post or not XD But I also don't know what you're talking about if you're talking about a specific thing so I better go look it up It's actually called "The Fellowship of the Ring." As in, the heroes are getting paid to do graduate/postgrad research on the one ring. Edited February 8, 2012 by Jet Black Gunner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freohr Datia Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 It's actually called "The Fellowship of the Ring." As in, the heroes are getting paid to do graduate/postgrad research on the one ring. I knew it was fellowship though, that's why I was wondering whether or not I should edit my post... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Original Alear Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 When you said But I also don't know what you're talking about if you're talking about a specific thing so I better go look it up I thought you meant that you didn't know what he was talking about that was wrong with your post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freohr Datia Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 When you said I thought you meant that you didn't know what he was talking about that was wrong with your post. Ah. I was saying, if there was actually something out there called friendship of the ring (like if they made some sort of youtube poop out there or parody) then I didn't know it XD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fala Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 I've read The Hobbit. Loved it. I've only seen the LOTR movies so... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBM Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Just because a book is based off another one doesn't automatically make it bad. IIRC, Jordan fully admitted that there were parallels between his story and Tolkien's, and that those parallels were intentional. But the parallels are actually rather superficial. And although the style of writing and book is similar, the plot is actually not very similar at all. The Inheritance Cycle is a copy, that's true, but that wasn't why it wasn't great. There were a lot of other, much more serious flaws made by Paolini than a copied plot. LotR itself is, as people have said, rather wordy, and they're great books, and Tolkien basically created a genre, but I, personally, have always felt that Tolkien paid more attention to his world than to his plot or characters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klokinator Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 The greatest travesty in the movies was the complete lack of Tom Bombadillo Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow; Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow. That's all I remember tut tut tut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonLord Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 I've watched all of the LOTR movies, and I'm currently reading the books. I find them to be better, in my opinion, as it goes more in depth with the detail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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