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| Stirring Rings by Larner | 16 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| Excelsis | Reviewed Chapter: 35 on 3/17/2013 |
| And speaking of fantasy, have you read C.S. Lewis and George MacDonald? MacDonald was an influence on Tolkien. Oscar Wilde (I believe, or I am very much mistaken) also wrote good fantasy works. Author Reply: I was reading Lewis's Christian apologist writing in the sixties when in junior and senior high, and first read his space trilogy at the age of sixteen. My favorite fictional work by him is "Till We Have Faces," and "Perelandra" is my second favorite. I didn't read the Narnia books until I was getting ready to start college in 1968, however. Have almost everything Wilde wrote, including a collection of his fairy tales and all of his plays. (Drama is another obsession.) Terry Pratchett and Terry Goodkind are two of my favorite male fantasy authors besides Merritt and Tolkien, although I sort of got off the Sword of Truth books with his ninth novel. Poul Andersen and his wife based a good many of their books on legends from a variety of sources, as have a good many other science fiction and fantasy writers for both children and adults. So, yes, I do read fantasy books of many stripes, and am a bit of sucker for a good treatment of the Arthurian legends in particular. Le Guin, L'Engle, Hobbs, Elliot, McKillip, Lackey, Kurtz, Kay, Funke, Boston, Eager--the list of authors I have read and admire is endless. I also have a large library on the Holocaust, on archaeology, on true crime, history, brain mapping, history of scientific and technological breakthroughs, poetry, religion, and educational issues as well as specific works associated with special education, visual disabilities, autism, dyslexia, and so on. Rosemary Sutcliff is a heavy influence on my own writing style, I think. And if you will read "Lesser Rings" you will find out how much I admire ancient Egypt. And if you read "Murder Most Foul" you will find out how I've kept up with true crime. | |
| Excelsis | Reviewed Chapter: 35 on 3/17/2013 |
| I see. Thanks for sharing some of your personal literary history. As for myself, I was lost when I stumbled upon the Elves, and became quite obssessed with them. I still love them, and am rather sad that not more people can share their virtues. | |
| Dreamflower | Reviewed Chapter: 35 on 3/16/2013 |
| Gollum's exile begins. The evidence of his treachery was horrible and pathetic and damning. I love Gandalf ousting the Nazgul; he is still an Istari, and the Ring-wraiths are still only Men in their origin! And now the Orcs are starting to gather their strength. Less than half a millenia now until we catch up to "current events"! How long will you continue? Will you stop at the Quest for Erebor, or will you continue to the beginning of the War of the Ring? Author Reply: We are fast approaching the wars between the Dwarves and the orcs and the dreadful attack on Celebrian, and I like to believe there was an agenda behind that particular abduction and the attack on Nimrodel's party. I figured that if Gandalf would seek to deny a Balrog the right to cross the Bridge of Khazad-dum, he would undoubtedly have been willing to do so with a Nazgul. As you noted, they were, after all, merely wraiths twisted from Men. And Smeagol is rapidly devolving to Gollum now. How far will I go? Oh, the ending few chapters have literally been written for years--it's those pesky middle chapters that have stymied me. The ending goes beyond the Ring War, tying up a particular thread from the beginning of this story. Heh! | |
| Sunny | Reviewed Chapter: 35 on 3/15/2013 |
| And so Gollum sets out to find some hole where he can hide from the light of day - and incidentally also keep the Ring hidden from Sauron until Bilbo stumbles over it on his journey. Author Reply: Indeed, Sunny. Even his desire to hide from the truth of his own history he equates with being in sun- or moonlight ends up working to Sauron's despite! | |
| Excelsis | Reviewed Chapter: 35 on 3/15/2013 |
| Or to ask my previous question more prosaically, why do you like J.R.R. Tolkien? Author Reply: Correction--Howard Pyle, not Pine. Oh, good grief! | |
| Excelsis | Reviewed Chapter: 35 on 3/15/2013 |
| What an admirable piece of speculative fiction for J.R.R. Tolkien's universe. Very well done indeed! My curiosity elicited, what drew you to the Lord of the Rings in the first place? Author Reply: Thank you, Excelsis. I became enamored of myths, legends, and fantasy aimed at adults while still in grade school, growing up on Bullfinch's Mythology, "The Golden Bough," and the works of Howard Pine. I was introduced to the work of Abraham Merritt by my mother while in sixth grade. I had literally worn out two copies of "The Ship of Ishtar" belonging to my mother (I have three copies now!) and had been bugging our city librarian about the copy the library owned but that evidently someone else had appropriated, and one day she said, "Well, if you appreciate Merritt at your age, you should like this and the books associated with it," and she handed me "The Fellowship of the Ring." I was lost once we got to the Party. Once I got hold of "The Return of the King" and saw the appendices I knew Tolkien and I were truly kindred spirits, as my own personal alternate universe story also has a heck of a backstory. Everyone in Tolkien's work is equally capable of becoming the greatest of heroes or the worst of villains, so one can truly identify with his characters. I loved the combination of knight errant and Sacred King Aragorn embodies and that Frodo becomes the Wounded King. And EVERYBODY loves Faramir! And how dearly I wanted Gandalf in my life. I've reread the books at least annually since I was thirteen-fourteen, and the PJ movies reawoke the original obsession. I started reading fanfiction in 2003, posted my first story in 2005, and there you have it. I hope this answers your question. | |