Tolkien Week #5

Well Tolkien week is coming to a close, there's been lots of coverage in the media and especially on the internet. The new 'The Hobbit' trailer has been released and celebrations over the book have been world wide. The new movie is literally weeks away and hopefully Peter Jackson will deliver a great experience that finally brings the book to life. So, in closing I leave you with the new movie poster for The Hobbit!

Tolkien Week #4

So today is where it all began 75 years ago with the publication of The Hobbit. As Tolkien would say 'The road goes ever on' and indeed it does with the forthcoming The Hobbit movie. Below, to celebrate the book are a selection of Hobbit covers past, present and foreign.

Tolkien Week #3

So the new The Hobbit trailer has arrived at long last. Duration wise its a massive jump on the first teaser trailer released back at the end of last year, this one being two and a half minutes. Though it is longer Peter Jackson has still been canny with the content in it. It does feel like we've got an expanded version of the original teaser in the fact we've got more of the same with a few extras and nothing much being given away really. However that said we do get a few more lingering moments on characters and places such as Radagast the brown wizard and Dol Guldur in Mirkwood. All in all its a pleasing little trailer and I hope we'll see yet another trailer before the movie release because the content is there and I can't help feeling Jackson is holding back on some characters such as Beorn, the Goblin King and many others, not to mention Smaug.

My only bone of contention is the content really. Being a purist of the novels I did grind my teeth at what went into the Lord of the Rings and what was omitted. I suspect with The Hobbit not being anywhere as voluminous as its sequels this may not be a problem this time around (I hope).  

There is some talk from critics that because the film has been shot at a very high quality (I forget the tech term for it but it's on the movie blogs) and that this reveals too much detail in outfits and prosthetics which detracts from realism. Firstly, I'm not yet seeing that myself, much like with any fantasy genre movie you know ultimately prosthetics are used if CGI isn't, so I've got my head around it in that respect. That said I don't know what effect the high quality detail will have over the duration over the film, it may indeed be a point I flag up, though as I'll only be watching it in 2D I hope not, it remains to be seen though I guess.

I remain optimistic and hopeful Peter Jackson will deliver. He certainly has a great story content there, a whole cast of great actors and most likely some of the best production people in the business. Right up until the end credits role I will have reservations but right now I think its shaping up well.

Click HERE for the new trailer on itunes, its trailer 2 by the way.

Tolkien Week #2

I think it will be two years next month that I've been playing Lord of the Rings Online or Lotro as it's abbreviated as. During that time I've made friends with people from all around the world, in what is a really friendly game community with an international flavour. I play several characters in the ever expanding online world of Middle Earth which relates (I think) to the books by Tolkien.

Part of me loves the gaming side of it but a part of me loves the chance to actually role play characters in such a richly detailed world. The new expansion for Lotro is released next month which opens up most of the Rohan area to explore and adventure in. I don't doubt that I will probably be playing Lotro in another two years time. Here are a few screen shots of my adventures.

Tolkien Week #1

So Tolkien Week begins worldwide. It's seventy five years since the fantasy novel 'The Hobbit' was first published. The American Tolkien society first proclaimed Hobbit Day and Tolkien Week back in 1978 and it's been going over since, getting quite a bit of recognition by all accounts. Hobbit Day falls on the 22nd September and for those of you who haven't read the Lord of the Rings it's the joint birthday of hobbits called Bilbo and Frodo Baggins.

I first fell in love with Tolkien's works back in the early 80s. How or why I came by the book titled The Hobbit is lost to memory now. I do know I found it in the school library aged around 14, of that much I am certain, whether I stumbled upon it or someone suggested it remains clouded in the folds of time.

Back then I wasn't the most academic of students but I read The Hobbit pretty voraciously being enthralled by the fantasy world Tolkien had created containing hobbits, dwarves, trolls, elven kings and mighty dragons. It awakened something inside me that stimulated me to read more and develop an interest in writing. My English went from strength to strength and I do recall coming top of my English class that year with my exam result. My English teacher was a lovely man and he encouraged me immensely though I was just at the beginning of a very long journey.

Next I read the Lord of the Rings. I remember taking all three volumes on a family holiday. We stayed in a farmhouse in the rural village of Scalby in North Yorkshire overlooking the coastal town of Scarborough. Every spare chance available I busily read through the many chapters. I can remember long walks with my dad, uncle and cousin Ben through forests and over hills and they were the perfect compliment to Tolkiens world and imagining it. Though I can't recall every detail of that holiday thirty years ago I can remember a good deal and it seemed magical.

Here I am all those years later, still reading, still writing and still in love as much as ever with Tolkien's books.

J.R.R. Tolkien I sincerely thank you !

.....