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Post by Admiral Lithp on Apr 24, 2010 22:04:08 GMT -5
With all due respect, I think that most fantasy writers create worlds to some extent.
As for influences, I do understand the influences. And those influences are largely ancient mythology.
Alright, now that I've read the essay, I'm still not seeing exactly what the guy's points are. Alright, he seems to be saying that Tolkien had a lot of strength with world & character building.
O...kay?
On another note, since there's probably a lot of LotR fans here, does someone want to explain this to me:
If the One Ring is supposed to use people to return to Sauron, why did Gollum get it & immediately hide in a hole for several years?
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Post by Magnizeal on Apr 24, 2010 22:22:09 GMT -5
Because Sauron was in hiding and not, as it were, 'calling' the ring. And Gollum was of hobbit-kind, which are strong against the Ring in the first place, which was why Bilbo was able to give up the Ring at all...
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Post by Admiral Lithp on Apr 24, 2010 22:25:23 GMT -5
Oh. Wait, what was he hiding from? And how did they not notice him building up a bigass military force in Mordor?
You know, I think I remember hearing SOMETHING to the effect that hobbits aren't as affected by the ring, due to their disposition...maybe.
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Post by HarleyThomas1002 on Apr 24, 2010 22:43:43 GMT -5
According to an unnamed source (Family Guy), a giant-ass eagle comes in and saves the heroes when they're falling to their deaths or something and then just fucks off.
Couldn't they have saved a shitload of time for everyone if the eagle just took them to Mt. Whatchamacallit where they throw the ring in and call it a day?
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Post by the sandman on Apr 24, 2010 23:00:10 GMT -5
This: There's a balance between fleshing things out with background and adding pages of sidetrack and description which adds nothing to the story. I loved the Hobbit. I still have yet to read past the first half of The Fellowship of the Ring without feeling like my guide is suffering from excessive amounts of ADD. Ya know, I've read The Hobbit at least a dozen times. It may just be the perfect fantasy novel. It's certainly one of my all-time favorites. But I have never gotten past the half-way point in The Fellowship of the Ring. I own all the books; I've just never managed to get through them. And it's not like I'm an impatient reader. Hell, I've gotten through Moby Dick, Anna Karenina, Hawaii, and War and Peace with no difficulties at all. But LOtR? GOD that thing puts me to sleep faster than 4 Ambien with a whiskey chaser. I've actually used the book as an insomnia cure. And I'm NOT kidding about that.
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Post by renaissanceblonde on Apr 25, 2010 0:36:53 GMT -5
According to an unnamed source (Family Guy), a giant-ass eagle comes in and saves the heroes when they're falling to their deaths or something and then just fucks off. Couldn't they have saved a shitload of time for everyone if the eagle just took them to Mt. Whatchamacallit where they throw the ring in and call it a day? *smirks* Then there wouldn't be a story...
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Post by Vene on Apr 25, 2010 1:35:10 GMT -5
There were other goals that Gandalf wanted to accomplish, that wouldn't have dealt with the mess at Rohan and it wouldn't have allowed Aragorn to take his place as king.
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Post by HarleyThomas1002 on Apr 25, 2010 1:45:05 GMT -5
Okay then.
I really don't know shit about Lord of the Rings as I've only ever seen previews played Battle for Middle Earth and watched Clerks II.
Battle for Middle Earth is damn awesome especially when all you do is zerg rush the opposition with nothing but orcs.
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Post by MaybeNever on Apr 25, 2010 1:56:07 GMT -5
With all due respect, I think that most fantasy writers create worlds to some extent. To some extent, yes. But for Tolkein he had an entire world, it seems, before he wrote one word. 20,000 years of history or something for several nations and races, and thousands of pages of background, more comprehensive than even real-world history books. That's what I'm talking about. Not just a setting, but an imagined world as complete and detailed as our own. That's really what I meant.
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Post by Admiral Lithp on Apr 25, 2010 4:56:09 GMT -5
Right, I kind of knew what you were getting at. I just think that, impressive though his extensive setting is, it's kind of silly that people cite it as a reason for why his writing is so great. He never intended on publishing most of that stuff, so it's not really commenting on his writing at all.
Not that I don't envy anyone who can get even the tiniest fraction of a story that isn't My Immortal finished.
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Post by The_L on Apr 25, 2010 7:50:23 GMT -5
Also, I'm still in the dark about what these things are that writers can learn from Tolkien. I know! Don't write one super-long book--instead, split it into three somewhat lengthy volumes! You'll get more readers, and make tons more money!
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Post by kzickas on Apr 27, 2010 16:07:28 GMT -5
Also, I'm still in the dark about what these things are that writers can learn from Tolkien. I know! Don't write one super-long book--instead, split it into three somewhat lengthy volumes! You'll get more readers, and make tons more money! The fact that doing so let's you get published is an additional plus
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letipex
Full Member
The true ouroboros
Posts: 197
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Post by letipex on May 4, 2010 3:22:47 GMT -5
According to an unnamed source (Family Guy), a giant-ass eagle comes in and saves the heroes when they're falling to their deaths or something and then just fucks off. Couldn't they have saved a shitload of time for everyone if the eagle just took them to Mt. Whatchamacallit where they throw the ring in and call it a day? Plus there is the fact that the eagle couldn't just go flying into mordor when Sauron and the ringwraith were still alive. Powerful as they are, they're still no match for a nazgul and his flying beast. And how did they not notice him building up a bigass military force in Mordor? From what I remember, he was building two separate armies, and used one as a decoy. The necromancer that gandalf took care of and forced to flee south in The Hobbit is in fact Sauron, and while Gandalf himself kinda had doubts and wanted to investigate further, Sarouman reassured him, either because he already had been mind raped by Sauron, or because he was sure he could handle it once the problem became apparent. Any other questions? ;D
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