Lotr

[M-50]

Does anyone else like this series? I love it. It is excellent and the detail is amazing! Has anyone read The Silmarillion? If you have not, I advise you to do so because it makes the whole LOTR, Hobbit series make sense. The Silmarillion was the first, first book in the series of the ring.

[yumisan]

yeah...it was awsome but many words i could not understand.it was the first full collection i read finish.read The Hobbit too and it was interesting.i think i like it better than LOTR trilogy.read the Hobbit just within two days.^^

[MatsumotoRangiku]

Yes it is action packed though I tried to read it but could not read it well I want to read it again and see if I pick up more.

[Nomadic Dragon]

I'm a real Tolkien nerd so to speak, you can ask me most anything about the LOTR series or the Simarillion and I would most likely know the answer. rohil..I wouldn't go as far to say that the Simarilion is the first book in the series of the ring..it doesn't even talk about the rings of power because they were forged in the the second age, the Simarillion is about the first age and the creation of all Arda and the history of the elves. The Second age is really not written about except in other history texts and the appendix in the back of the Return of the King. The Third Age is the setting for the LOTR series and by the end of them it's transitioning into the Fourth Age. So as you can see the Simarillion isn't really related as far as storywise to the LOTR series, the only thing tying them together is some common characters.

[M-50]

I'm a real Tolkien nerd so to speak, you can ask me most anything about the LOTR series or the Simarillion and I would most likely know the answer. rohil..I wouldn't go as far to say that the Simarilion is the first book in the series of the ring..it doesn't even talk about the rings of power because they were forged in the the second age, the Simarillion is about the first age and the creation of all Arda and the history of the elves. The Second age is really not written about except in other history texts and the appendix in the back of the Return of the King. The Third Age is the setting for the LOTR series and by the end of them it's transitioning into the Fourth Age. So as you can see the Simarillion isn't really related as far as storywise to the LOTR series, the only thing tying them together is some common characters.
Agreed about the common characters but the reason why Sauron is bad becuase of Morgoth and how the elves did not accept him as an ally. Also it is about why all the elves leave Middle Earth and about Reanor and the two lights in the crystal balls and why one of them is in Gondor. Also why the white tree on the courtyard of Gondor is the last one in the whol of Middle Earth.

Plus I probably know more about LOTR (and just that) than you.

[Elelith]

I could answer pretty much any question on LOTR or the Hobbit. But I'm not completly clued up on the Silmarillion. Loved it though.

The Valar Quenta is just the best. I love the stuff about the Valar in the beginning and about the creation of stuff. Some of the fanart for Yavanna Kementari and Elbareth Gilthoniel is really beautiful.

[Riku42]

I have read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and I love them...but The Silmarillion lost me. I just was in way over my head there. I read all of it, but it was a huge struggle.

[Someguy1]

i also read the hobbit and lotr, but Silmarillion is...different and i only read like a couple of chapters. maybe i should reread those books again, it's been like 3 years since i read them.

[Nemesis0521]

For some reason I didn't really like the books. I love the movie though.

[Elelith]

GAH! Blasphemer, get out of my personal space! The movies pale into nothingness compared to the books. They are good action films, but rubbish story.... Yare, yare what is the world coming to?!

[sherenetms]

I got the books- read them all in less than 4 days. Really love the way how tolkien wrote the epic.I got The Lay of Beleriand and the Hobbit as well. I read the Silmarillion and really love it. I even got a book on the the books. Lol. And also quizes and the illustrated storybook. My friend and i even made Fics about the epic!
I have the VCDS-extended version and cinema version. Love the extra scenes especially the one in Lothlorien, where Haldir is quarreling with Aragorn, look really amusing and was wishing that one of them wold fall of the tree eventually. I watched the movies over and over again until the dialoques got stucked in my head. Even have the soundtracks.
I have the collectibles and the stickers and the posters(Lots of posters) and even the Lotr Monopoly. ROFL....got that one for my birthday. =)
I have all Legolas and Lotr pics and wallpapers.
I also have the PS2 games. really nice. Never got to play till the end, though.

Still.....nothing beats the books collection. The MOST ORIGINAL of them ALL. Lol. I'm still reading it from time to time. Tolkien is the one who aspires me to be a writer now. He's the best writer i've ever seen. His works are simply PERFECT. I am still hoping that someday his books will be used as a Literature component in our schools, as used in other countries. Am really hoping though the chances are very thin.

Tolkien!! YOU'RE THE ONE!!

[Ghost Bios Bane]

You people are not alone out there I to am a LOTR maniac

[sherenetms]

Oh YAY!! high five* Tolkien fans rejoice!!

I'm looking forward to the Unfinished Tales. Wasnt really sure what it is about though.

[airswifter]

*High five*
Is his son going to complete the book for him?

[Azalea]

Wo0t! TOLKIEN pawns!

yeah, i wonder who his descendant is and whats he doing now...

[Nomadic Dragon]

Christopher Tolkien is the one that puts out the other books such as the Simarillion, the Unfinished Tales, The Book of Lost Tales 1 and 2, The Shaping of Middle-Earth, The Lays of Beleriand, and The Lost Road and Other Writings(yeah I know a lot but there are more..I'm trying to collect them all). He doesn't write them he just puts together the manuscripts his father left. The Book of Lost Tales had me confused for so long(It's the earliest of the manuscripts so some characters have different names..very confusing).

[Sanzora]

I like Tolkien and all. though I do sometimes find his writing to be a little drawn out and tedous... But I love his ideas and imagery, that makes up for it! :D

[Elelith]

He just has a way of telling a story that is quite unreal. The level of detail makes it seem like you are actually there. For me, even the most complicated of plot lines just flows really well.

Ace writer..... *bows to his awsomness*

[Unholy]

I must admit being the non reader I am, have been unable to get through the entire LOTR trilogy, though what I have read is masterful, it can just be well... slow at times.

The movie, is excellent, you can go on and on about how they changed the mvoie from the book, but if you actually watch the Appedicies that come with the extended DVD's (I have watched all 6 discs of apedicies many times :)) you can understand why they changed alot of the things.

Tolkien let the rights to the movie go for nothing because he called it unfilmable book, and in fact it is, thats why it had to be adapted. The movies are not to be Lord of the Rings exactly, rather an interpretation of Lord of the Rings much like many people interpret other things. Everyone working on the movie had a deep respect for LOTR as a literary work and they tried their best to stay true to Tolkien as they went.

The movie is Great, by far the best Book to Movie adaptation I've personally ever scene, espcially when adapting something so epic and classic as the LOTR trillogy. The books too are great, I've read about half of all of them :P

LOTR is just a damn good story, and the movie opened up alot of others like myself to at least try the story which I am in love with and I have every intention to finsh reading all of it (I bought the series of books) as soon as I can, just with so many set works to read already and working on BP etc, just don't get the time, but I will, before i die, read LOTR at least once :)

[sherenetms]

Tolkien actually rewrote line after line after line just to make sure that the story is perfect. Can u imagine how many times he rewrite every single paragraph just to ensure that he gets his message to his readers? He's a true master when it comes to the series.

[Azalea]

Damn, really? Thats hard work, he must've been smiling on the other side when it was made into a movie trilogy :D

[izza]

wow, never knew that.. he really put a lot of work into this, didn't he? =D
His writing is so descriptive and his ideas well plotted out. His work is simply amazing.
I wish I had more of an attention span to be able to actually read through of his books though =(

[Osoheil]

I read the hobbit a long time ago, I liked it a good bit. I tried reading the fellowship and two towers.. ick. I just couldnt get into them at all. I picked up the similarrion (spelling) and it felt like I had to be a damn linguistics expert to figure it out, it just was not appealing to me.
Now Sword of Truth on the other hand.. Plenty of gore, adult themes, Right up my alley.

And yes he was probably a perfectionist as is evidenced in his writing. I do not think he did it because he wanted to get the message across better, he was probably like me and could not release something until he thought it was damn well near as perfect as he could make it.

[Sosai Wakasaki]

I've read the Silmarillion, the hobbit, the unfinished tales and lotr...Tolkien is a genius!!! I love the creation of the midle-earth!

[~black butterfly~]

although the way he narrates it makes it sound really long.... like his imagination and the way he created the characters...

[kaede822]

i like the way he writes his story and i also like the distinction between characters...they have their own personalities.... i like the narration... he must be d*mn proud of his work especially now that its a very popular movie!

[Nemesis0521]

To tell you guys the truth, I like the movies but not the books so much. I really don't know why...

[yumisan]

yes..yes...although the he narrates and writing the story to long.to me,it is the way how he describe every single details from the background,the setting and the character's personalities was deep and clear.can imagine how the story goes so well.he must had put in lots of hard work doing the story and making his own language.cheers for him for making such a good story.

[generaldane]

i have read the hobbit and all three of the books and i must admit that this is one of the most classic interesting story ever there is never a dull moment i love the books so much that i read all the appendices a learn about how the sword was broken and how the ring survive in detailed tolkien is deffinately a master of writing damn all this talk of lotr makes me want to re- read the books :biggrinki

[Gyousei-Sama]

Silmarillion huh? Thanks for telling me about it, never knew it was first, first in the series. XD

[Nomadic Dragon]

Really the Simarillion isn't part of the LOTR trilogy..the events in the trilogy are the events of the third age that lead up to the beginning of the fourth age. The Simarillion is about the creation of Middle Earth or Arda and what is called the First age and the war of the Simarils.

[sherenetms]

Still, it's worth reading. And the part about Niniel is really pathetic though...pathetic and ridiculous but interesting to read...

[hikari_taicho]

O.o :eek13: I've read this series 3 times...lol

[konberry]

I've read The Hobbit, and the first two books of lotr... :p:

[Kazmiz]

lotr rulz, pwnz, ownz, and any other netslang word which means 'is the best' that I can come up with

read the hobbit, the trilogy, the silmarilion, still can't bring myself to read the other books since they're so huge

btw, wazza!!!

[Miyata]

The LOTR trilogy is probably my favourite set of books ever. I am currently reading the Hobbit because I thought since the LOTR Trilogy was so good, the Hobbit must be a pretty good competitor.

[TwilightFlower]

The Hobbit is good, but in a different way than the trilogy. The Hobbit is written with a much younger target audience. As such, it has more whimsical moments than the trilogy. It also cuts out a lot of the long talking, not much action, scenes that make the trilogy so difficult for some people to read. I love the books but I think you have to have a lot of patience to get through them. A lot of people die around the Council of Elrond scene because it is really long and not much actually happens.

The benefit of this style is the wealth of detail. If you can appreciate the level of detail that's in the books, the depth of knowledge that Tolkien possessed about his world and its inhabitants, then you can pretty much make it through the books no problem.

One thing that interests me about Tolkien's technique is that he would sit down and start writing and if something didn't work, he would scrap the whole thing and start over from scratch. I think it helps the continuity factor a lot because then you're pretty sure that you won't contradict yourself from edits to older writing.

Although it is a tad bit frustrating that there are so many versions to different tales. Reading Unfished Tales was rather confusing.

[SHiKaMaRi]

I read the first and second book, my brother didn't get the rest -.-
But it was good, i enjoyed the books. Read it over again a few times. Very interesting, exciting, and very well written

[Karakura Red]

i liked it, very well written and great movie too... but i thougth it was a bit draggy and the story was quite slow smtimes i just wanted Tolkien to get on with it lol... I still like it though.

[C.Payne]

Only read the fellow ship, never read the rest, watched all the moviesthough, ok I guess.

[hajinmon]

It was a good series, but I thought it was just too long. I prefer The Sword of Truth series (more action and stuff). Movies are almost never as good as the books. When you read, you use your own imagination. When you watch a movie based on a book, you see someone else's imagination. Someone else's imagination is almost never as good as your own because two different people might view beauty in a different way. I know this is very cliche but "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Always read the book before watching the movie.

[TwilightFlower]

Actually, Lord of the Rings had a very good adaptation of the books. Not much was really altered. Granted, there were a few things that had to be changed, but overall, the movies are a very good representation of the books.

[raisins]

I really like LOTR and the hobbit. tolkien work is really amazing =P
i manage to read finish the whole book -^^-
mayb i should read it again when i hv the time

[Sado Yasutora]

I've read the Hobbit and the first LOTR books right now I'm reading Return of The King. The Hobbit has definitely been my favorite.

[Alienor]

I've read the entire book (yes, it's one book in three volumes^^), the Silmarilion, the book of lost Tales, and the Hobbit...
I used to know the pellenor fields battle by heart, I had read it over and over so many times...
Now, I noticed I haven't reread it for a year... I must start it again^^.

[yanagi_28]

i don't like the books that much...I tried to read them but the words are just...well...COMPLICATED!!! I really love the movies though!!!I especially love Legolas' character!!

[sherenetms]

^ HAHAHA...lol. Another Legolas fan!! Me too!! *high five*

The books are good, especially if you're trying to improve your English. I still remember the first time i read the book i had a dictionary by my side. For me, the beauty of the language makes it even more interesting.

[deto]

started to read lord of the rings in german, untill today i've read it about 3 times. during my stay in england i couldn't resist to buy lord of the rings in english i've read that one 2 times so far.

after that i got myself the silmarillion and unfinished tales. both very interesting books. but i had a hard time to read the silmarillion, sometimes i had to go thru a page 2 times to understand what the heck i just read :D

have also some booklets with single stories about hurin and his children, the fall of gondolin. can only recommend those books. only the hobbit is missing but i never felt like reading it.

[yanagi_28]

legolas is just soOOOOooo CUTE!!!

how cool is that...LOTR in german 3 times??? could'nt even go through the english version!!! I salute you DETO!!!!

[d2d2]

they were amazing movies :Domo :headbang :musak: :redbiggri :winking56 :whatevah: :lol :eek13: :sad :face82: :biggrinki :biggrinlo :toocool:

ther were amazing battle scenes in the second and third movie :Domo

again they were great movies :Domo

[adorkable]

@ d2d2
The edit button is there for a reason.

As to keep onto topic, I've only watched the movies. I did start reading the books a while ago, but I was too lazy to finish them :P

[sherenetms]

only the hobbit is missing but i never felt like reading it.

OMG!! The Hobbit is one of the best!! I love it!! Seriously, if i could, i would love to collect every book written by Tolkien. But the price.....whoa!.....I would have a hole in my pocket soon.

[Kazuma Shawn]

The books are far more greater than how the movie does..As usual for most of the adaptations from books in the stores..This is what my analysis come to..

THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING : The book itself talks more on the surrounding of Middle Earth,that's to say the location background..Tolkien described every detail of Middle Earth in such way that most of the readers will be awed at the beauty of Middle Earth..Locations included such as Shire,Bag End,Brandywine Bridge,Buckland,The Inn of the Prancing Pony,Tom Bombadil's home,Weathertop were so impressively described,tolkiens's fans were hoping much better view in the movie..But the movie itself had cut away certain spots and locations and yet missing out those 'touches' that tolkien had in his book..

More to come in another week...

[deto]

true the books are more valuable than the movies, but Peter Jackson did an awesome job nonetheless. packing such a content in a movie is amazing. if you wanted to bring all the contet from the fellowship into a movie you wouldn't be done after 6 hours.

i strongly suggest for everyone who loves the movies and haven't read the books, do so! after a while reading you can't stop. i remember how it started. i came home after the first movie and told my mom "this would be a book i'd read" and i haven't read any books to this point in fact until that day i despised reading books :D so one day later when i got home from work i saw that pile of 3 books on m table....yes a pile....i mean they were thick. i was like "wth have i done..." anyway i started reading. i thought i read 1 chapter every evening before i go to sleep.... well i usually ended up deep in the night after 3 chapters ;)

[M-50]

I completely agree with you deto. READ THE BOOKS!! No matter how good the films are, Jackson couldn't put every single scene and detail from the book into the film. And some of the tibbits of information that Jackson couldn't put into the film are actually quite important to the overall series.

[deto]

yes alot of characters are lost and don't even appear even if they would give you a pretty good idea, who is how strong and such. for example you hear gandalf saying that it's a "Balrog of Morgoth" but the ones that have seen the movie never get to know who is this Morgoth? how powerful was he? how powerful is Sauron and how powerful are others? what is a valar and what is a maiar?

kinda essential things in the whole universe, lord of the rings is just a piece in a whole universum. if you think about the ages before lord of the rings. you can catch a glimpse of one of the big battles but there are more wars,
the Dagor Bragollach and the Dagor Aglareb, aswell as Nirnaeth Arnoediad. far bigger battles! i'd die to see them on the big screen :)

[sherenetms]

^ Lol, yeah. I agree. I would love to see more of those ancient wars come to life on the screen.

I still like the movie, nevertheless. I collected the movie series and the book series and i always enjoy going through them both again and again. Although i started out with the movie ( i didnt know about the books until the movies came out), i have no problem understanding the storyline, maybe because the names are all too complicated and strange to me at that time. However, for those who are interested to get to know Middle Earth and it's dwellers a little more in detail, you should try the other books that J.R.R Tolkien wrote.

[yanagi_28]

i salute you guys...for your tremendous brain power!!!!

hehehehe.....

[deto]

why? what has it to do with tremendous brain power O_o ;)

[Kazmiz]

Have any of you guys read the Children of Hurin yet? It's just been published by his son post-mortem. Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to get it yet, but I will as soon as I see it.

[deto]

Have any of you guys read the Children of Hurin yet? It's just been published by his son post-mortem. Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to get it yet, but I will as soon as I see it.

yes i did read that. i strongly recommend it since it gives a pretty good view
on other things that happend in an earlier age.

if i remember right i bought a version that had 2 other books included
(the fall of gondolin) and something else, not sure if it was the story of feanor or
something else.

anyway if you find it, buy it and read it. you won't regret doing it.

[slave_car]

w8 isnt the children of Hurin just a part of the Unfinished tales... cuy i think it is... and both of these other stories that u jest mentioned too
i think its great and it fills up some parts of the Silmarillion, although it doesnt really need filling up... btw i love everything j.r.r. wrote... i think that the man was a genious...i red nearly everything i heard of that he wrote... and i`d gladly read it a few more times :DDD

[rei]

i've read the hobbit... it was scary... a lot of hi falutin words and it put me to sleep... never finished it

[raisins]

children of hurin...
*puts that in mind*

the hobbit is nice =D

btw, cute ava deto!

[Mighty Aramir]

Started reading them before the movies and always liked them, My favorite is The Hobbit, 'cause the Silmarillion, or at least The Quenta Silmarillion, looks like a Bible, the rest, wasn't so amazing

[Mount Gay]

Well I have read the Hobbit and LOTR a few times each and I think they are awesome(some of my favorites). But when I read Silmarillion I was totally lost(only read the first 50-100 pages).

[slave_car]

i can't believe u ppl... how can anybody like lotr and the hobit... and not like the silmarillion a hundred times better?!? :S
c'mon the chars are like million times more powerfull and cooler... and the battles, the places, i mean everything is so much more amazing... i just don't understand u ppl...

[raisins]

/me have not read or seen the silmarillion :(

[slave_car]

@teddyen: fortunately old pet jackson hasnt gotten his fat dirti hands on that relic too : ))) but if he does i hope he wont make it just for the money like he did with lotr ( the movie IS ok... but who read the book knows what im talking bout )

[omega255]

lord of the rings- the best book ever.
i haven't read the hobbit, but i will sometime. i tried reading the silmarillion, but got bored after about three pages

[deto]

the silmarillion is a hard piece to read i agree, but if you go thru the first couple
pages it's getting better. the problem is just, there are so many places, so many
characters, so many names ... it's huge and you are easily lost within this
universe. but alas if i'm unsure about something i use my LOTR Encyclopedia and
look up the stuff.

and yes the children of hurin is part of the unfinished tales, but there were also
separate book available focusing only that particular story.
but if you have unfinished tales, stick to that.

[shunten_satsu]

His descendant has already done some annotations and bibliographic stuff. I'd hoped he would do some background info on the other wizards (the Blue wizards that disappeared early in the Simlarillion) and stuff like that, but apparently it's just not gonna happen.

People are putting me in their sigs... why?