I have exactly four books that I’ve owned for longer than The Silmarillion, which I’ve owned in paperback since roughly 1989. The older books I own are The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King all by J.R.R. Tolkien, and The Story of Ferdinand by […]
Today is the anniversary of JRR Tolkien’s birth; the Professor would have been 122 – a ripe old age, indeed, even for a hobbit. In humble homage to the man who has had such an impact on my life, I offer up this excerpt from a role playing story I […]
The life of fantasy writer J.R.R. Tolkien will be the subject of an upcoming movie, giving fans a glimpse into the mind that imagined the wonderfully complex fictional worlds of The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. According to the Los Angeles Times, the biopic will look at the late British writer’s life story […]
Once upon a time (September 20, 1948, in fact) a baby boy was born to a longshoreman and his wife from the realm of Bayonne, in the land of New Jersey. They named their son George, and the boy was full of stories and songs (well, stories anyway). As a […]
The things we remember most in our favorite novels, are the words that trap our attention, secure a place in our minds that is relenting and not easily forgotten. There have been great novels that include great lines, but sometimes a truly remarkable quote, a great monologue, rests firmly in […]
We love this cool post from our friends at i09: J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit has inspired generations of fantasy creators. But it’s also been an inspiration to tons of architects and designers. Here are all the most breathtaking Hobbit-influenced houses from around the world. Here are a few similar house […]
Who would win in a fight between Tolkien characters and Game of Thrones characters? George R.R. Martin weighs in. Warning: spoilers! Back during WonderCon, MTV consulted Martin about a series of Game of Thrones vs. Lord of the Rings smackdowns: Aragon vs. Jaime Lannister Smaug vs. Balerion Saruman vs. Melisandre […]
On this day, December 3, in 1857, Joseph Conrad was born in Berdichev, Imperial Russia (modern
Ukraine, then a part of Poland). While he settled in England and wrote in English, he always considered himself a Pole. Heart of Darkness, one of the most famous of his 20 novels (which explores colonialism and the attitudes regarding what constitutes a barbarian versus civilized society) is considered one of the best English novels of the 20th century, as is his novel Lord Jim, which chronicles a crew’s abandonment of its disabled ship. Conrad died in England in 1924 at age 66.