J.R.R. Tolkein's Last Book Finally Published (cnet.com) 38
An anonymous reader quotes CNET:
J.R.R. Tolkien fans can get their hands on what might be the late author's final work. The Fall of Gondolin was published August 30 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in the US and HarperCollins in the UK. J.R.R. Tolkien died in 1973, but since his death, his son Christopher, now 93, has edited a number of his father's works, including this one. The book tells of the founding of the Elven city of Gondolin, and is considered one of Tolkien's Lost Tales...
The Fall of Gondolin follows another posthumously published Lost Tale, The Tale of Beren and Luthien, which came out in 2017. At the time, many expected that book to be J.R.R. Tolkien's final published work. Christopher Tolkien even wrote in its preface that it was "(presumptively) my last book in the long series of my father's writings." But now, Entertainment Weekly reports, Christopher Tolkien has written that "The Fall of Gondolin is indubitably the last."
The book is illustrated by Alan Lee, who has illustrated numerous Tolkien books, and along with Grant Major and Dan Hennah won an Oscar for best art direction for the 2003 film, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
The Washington Post includes the book's description of a "hideous mechanical army" deployed in battle against Gondolin, and summarizes the book's plot. "In short, the evil overlord Morgoth -- called Melko here -- seeks to dominate the entire world, but the hidden elvish city of Gondolin remains out of his grasp."
"We are reminded that Tolkien first drafted this story while in the hospital recuperating from the Battle of the Somme."
The book is illustrated by Alan Lee, who has illustrated numerous Tolkien books, and along with Grant Major and Dan Hennah won an Oscar for best art direction for the 2003 film, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
The Washington Post includes the book's description of a "hideous mechanical army" deployed in battle against Gondolin, and summarizes the book's plot. "In short, the evil overlord Morgoth -- called Melko here -- seeks to dominate the entire world, but the hidden elvish city of Gondolin remains out of his grasp."
"We are reminded that Tolkien first drafted this story while in the hospital recuperating from the Battle of the Somme."
Tolkien, not Tolkein (Score:1)
The name is written correctly in the post, but the poster screwed up both the headline and the tags. Probably hasn't even bothered to actually read the books.
Still... (Score:5, Funny)
He's dead and he still writes faster than George R. R. Martin.
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Christopher should get together with Brian Herbert.
They can fight about whose name goes first on the cover of their joint project books.
And we can decide if we want to read them or not.
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Sig oddly relevant for once.
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The difference is that blood relatives can sit on their parents' legacy because of inheritance. Other editors need to survive based on the merit of their work.
J.R.R. Tolkein and his books (Score:2)
I will have to check these other books out. Going to be fun
Just my 2 cents
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Re:J.R.R. Tolkein and his books (Score:5, Funny)
I asked her to check out the Load of the Rings
When I watched it on PornHub I did not expect there to be a book version.
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Ill certainly be getting it (Score:5, Insightful)
The books edited by Christopher Tolkien don’t have the depth or polish that the “real” Tolkien titles do, but that’s understandable - he tries to impose himself as little as possible, focusing on compiling these unfinished tales (which often consist of multiple, conflicting partial stories, sometimes written decades apart) into some sort of a coherent whole while sticking to his father’s words.
I still appreciate and enjoy that I have a chance to read them.
Stolen Idea? (Score:2)
"In short, the evil overlord Morgoth -- called Melko here -- seeks to dominate the entire world, but the hidden elvish city of Gondolin remains out of his grasp."
So, he stole it from Goscinny and Uderzo [asterix.com]?
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So, he stole it from Goscinny and Uderzo [asterix.com]?
Yes, the big news here is that JRR Tolkien stole a time machine from the Kaiser’s forces (which is how he got wounded at the Somme) so he could leap forward a century and steal ideas from a webcomic.
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A webcomic? Are you seriously calling Asterix a webcomic?
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Yes, let’s get worked up over THAT versus not knowing about the Battle of the Somme or who JRR Tolkien was.
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And then the mechanical army was defeated by a very large red-skinned demon with his horns sawed off, wearing a leather jacket, smoking a cigar and wielding a six-shooter the size of a pillow.
He never fired a shot. He defeated them with quips.
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Asterix the Gaul is well established and very long running comic strip, having first appeared in 1959, regardless of how recently it may have appeared as a webcomic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
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So he was stealing from 1959?
Good thanks!
Re: Get a job bud (Score:1)
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If you're not interested in details behind the stories, you probably shouldn't read this book.
Given that it was published two days ago i obviously haven't read it yet,
but i'm certain this book contains material not previously published.
I've never seen Christopher publish anything that didn't add to the corpus.
Beren and Luthien is a good example. We all know that story to pieces,
and last year's publication didn't particularly disrupt anything,
but it was interesting to read the verse form, and there were many