“Aragorn: tall, dark, ruggedly handsome, dangerous, brooding, of a royal bloodline, good with horses, a natural leader, slightly superhuman. He’s just like Jay!*” I missed the The Lord of the Rings trilogy the first time around in the theaters, in the early aughts. I was too single-mindedly involved with music and making websites at the … Aragorn: Book Versus Film
The Hobbit (1977) A hobbit is recruited by a wizard and thirteen dwarves to steal back the dwarves’ stolen treasure from the dragon Smaug. Any cinematic treatment of what’s probably the greatest children’s book ever written isn’t going to live up to the source material, but I will say this dated, all-animated version is much … Sci-fi and Fantasy Movies and Series Reviews, Part 46
Noah (2014) The only righteous man on Earth hears from the Creator that He’ll be sending some destruction his way, but there’s something he can do about it. This movie didn’t do well for two reasons. One, because folks wanted The Passion of the Christ, but for Noah, but there was extra-Biblical stuff in there … Sci-fi and Fantasy Movies and Series Reviews, Part 41
In reality, it does mean something, because meaning requires both a communicator and receiver. It’s more accurate to say Tolkien didn’t intend for the trilogy to be anything other than a story. Not all stories have to be intended to be deep or symbolic; I share Tolkien’s distaste for allegory. With allegories, I’m always of … The Lord of the Rings Doesn’t Mean Anything
Warning: many photos ahead.
Most of these recommendations come with the territory of “living in a society flush with books.” They are a given, yet I want to assume that, if you want to write a fiction novel, you are out-of-this-world stupid and in need of guidance. The links are to free copies online where available, otherwise it’s an … Read These 50 Books Before You Write Your First Fiction Novel