Results tagged “tolkien”

Thank you for your interest in this contest. Unfortunately the contest has ended. Keep your eyes on Suvudu for more contests, interviews, previews, and more!

In case you haven’t noticed, the excitement level around here for The Lord of the Rings at Radio City Music Hall (more details) is pretty high. Everything about this is wonderful: the movie scores by Howard Shore, the films by Peter Jackson (Fellowship of the Ring will be played during the concert, by the way), and, of course, the books by J.R.R. Tolkien. So we thought we’d take this opportunity to extend to you the chance to win some of the cool stuff that we get to enjoy every day!

And here ends my preamble. Doug Adams, who quite literally wrote the book on the Lord of the Rings’ film scores, has come up with a few questions relating to the film score. Think you have what it takes to win? We’ll present you with his 10 questions, you answer them and send your answers in to us, and if you’ve answered correctly, you’ll be entered to win some sweet prizes.

And what are those prizes? I’m so glad you asked! Here’s how they break down:

Grand Prize:
• Lady Galadriel Sideshow Collectables statue (info)
• The Fellowship of the Ring boxed set soundtrack (info)
• The Two Towers boxed set soundtrack (info)
• The Return of the King boxed set soundtrack (info)
• Billy Boyd with BeeCake CD Soul Swimming (info).

Second Prize:
• The Fellowship of the Ring boxed set soundtrack
• The Two Towers boxed set soundtrack
• The Return of the King boxed set soundtrack
• Billy Boyd with BeeCake CD Soul Swimming

Third Prize:
• The Complete Guide to Middle-earth (info)
• Tolkien 4-copy Box Set (info)
• Tolkien Fantasy Tales 4-copy box set (info)
• Histories of Middle Earth 5-copy box set (info)
• Billy Boyd with BeeCake CD Soul Swimming

Fourth Prize:
• Billy Boyd with BeeCake CD Soul Swimming

So, be sure to read the legal and, if you’re ready, read on to take Doug Adams’ quiz.

Thank you for your interest, but this sweepstakes has ended. Be sure to check back here on Suvudu for more contests, sweepstakes, interviews, articles, previews, and more.

One concert to rule them all. And that’s the truth. On October 9, 2009, the 21st Century Orchestra, conducted by Ludwig Wicki, will gather to perform Howard Shore’s full score of Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring live in Radio City Music Hall. Accompanying them through the concert will be The Collegiate Chorale, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, and Kaitlyn Lusk. There will also be a special appearance by Billy Boyd, who played Pippin in the film.

Click HERE to read Howard Shore’s Foreword for the show.

Oh, and they’ll be showing the film on an enormous screen while the orchestra plays the score in sync with the film. If you have never seen this before, it’ll rock your socks off. The photo above gives you an idea of what you’ll be seeing.

Of course, part of the fun is in attending Radio City Music Hall. Below is a photo of the concert hall where the concert will take place. I won’t even attempt to describe it, just check out the photo below.

Oh, but that’s not all we’re going to give the winner. In addition to your concert tickets, you’ll receive the following:

• boxed set of Howard Shore’s score for Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
• boxed set of Howard Shore’s score for Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
• boxed set of Howard Shore’s score for Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
• The new BeeCake CD, Soul Swimming. (BeeCake, if you didn’t know, is fronted by none other than Billy Boyd)

So, do you want to enter? Here’s how you do it: email us your name and mailing address. That will enter you in to the raffle for the prize package. It’s that simple. Make sure to check out the rules HERE.

Do you want to hear more samples from the show? You can hear snippets of what you’ll experience live here: The Radio City LOTR Concert: Program Notes

Now, if you don’t happen to win the above, don’t worry, there’s a long list of great activities going on over the next few weeks that Tolkien fans can get excited about (most for free). And wouldn’t you know it, we’ve got a full list…

Every once in a while, science fiction and fantasy is given love from the literary world.

Usually only a little love though.

The New Yorker, the long-standing quintessential magazine of New York City known for its breadth of reporting, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, cartoons and poetry, has run an article titled “Seven Essential Fantasy Reads: Going to Second Base.”

Now if the New Yorker was only read in New York City, I’d say their opinion is a small sampling, despite that city’s diversity and population. But the magazine is read all over the world and offers some of the best glimpses into literary fiction.

The writer, Macy Halford, asked her Yale physics friend to come up with the seven must reads for a fantasy nerd. Needless to say, I was interested in what a Yale guy could come up with. Turns out he didn’t do too badly—Tad Williams, Terry Brooks, Guy Gavriel Kay, Robin Hobb, Terry Goodkind, Patrick Rothfuss and Steven Erikson.

Click HERE to read the article.

Dead writers hold silent pens.

Until a “long-lost” manuscript or “extensive” notes are found.

A few days ago, the estate of Michael Crichton announced the forthcoming publication of two posthumous novels—a pirate thriller titled Pirate Latitudes and a techno thriller sequel to Next.

Crichton, who passed away from cancer in November 2008 and who is best known for his novels Jurassic Park, Timeline and The Andromeda Strain, wrote Pirate Latitudes during the same writing period as Next. It was completed long before Crichton’s death.

The second novel, as yet untitled, will be a sequel to the 2006 bestseller Next. According to Crichton’s website, “the new novel will be based on the development of Crichton’s narrative on notes and files,” and will be published in Fall 2010. The estate of Michael Crichton and his agent Lynn Nesbitt are already looking for the co-writer this project will require to be written.

How do I feel about this?

How do you feel about this?

The Fellowship of the Ring was a juggernaut, even before it was released in theaters—for many not very obvious reasons.

When I heard a movie adaptation of Tolkien’s epic work would be coming to a theater in three massive installments, there were several scenes I truly looked forward to viewing on the silver screen.

Above all scenes, however, was the Last March of the Ents found in chapter Treebeard.

I can’t explain why. It probably has something to do with growing up at the base of Mt. St. Helens in Washington State, out in the craggy mountain wilderness where Old Growth trees of various species more than five hundred years old still exist, their limbs gnarled and ancient, their boughs bearing streamers of rich dark moss. Even in a minor breeze the trees appear to move, made more alive than the forest around them. The Ents to me represent all that is good and clean where I grew up, all that is good and clean in the world.

When I first read Lord of the Rings I had just moved to Seattle for college. It was then I first encountered the Ents. Having seen the big city in all of its concrete and cold grey glory, I had a new appreciation for the plight of the trees. I discovered I missed the trees of my youth, still do if truth be told, and the Ents reminded me how wild and wonderful nature can be.

So when the Ents go to war against Isengard, there is just something about pissed off trees wreaking havoc against the establishment that appealed to my sense of cinema—and right and wrong.

Pissed off trees. Gotta love it!

From the moment the Fellowship of the Ring teaser trailer was released—revealing the fellowship led by Gandalf cresting a hilltop en route to Mordor—it was apparent the vast marketing potential the movie held. It had wizards, warriors, dwarves, elves, hobbits and so much more. George Lucas pioneered merchandising in the late 70’s and 80’s, proving money could be made outside of ticket sales, and like Star Wars, the Lord of the Rings movies had a diverse world to draw from and capitalize on in various marketing fronts.

Out of the numerous merchandising licenses New Line Cinema sold, Sideshow Collectibles piqued my curiosity right from the start. It proved, before Fellowship was even released, that it would succeed through quality and beautiful renditions of the movie’s characters. After all, the Lord of the Rings has been around for decades, its readership vast not only in age but in economic means, and Sideshow Collectibles hoped to capture that huge fan base. People were going to want well done figurines and statues to place in homes and workspaces. To miss out on all of that potential would be folly. Sideshow Collectibles rose to the challenge, crafting beautifully detailed polystone statues, toy figures, busts, masks, coins and so much more.

All but one facet from the movies—the Ents!

Sideshow Collectibles created a Treebeard bust. It was a large bust, standing more than a foot tall. But it’s not what I am looking for. Not exactly. I want Treebeard from the roots of his feet to the moss of his head, in respective size to the other polystone figures in the series. With the growing current political and cultural emphasis on being “green” and trying to make the world we live in more environmental friendly, I would imagine there would be a growing desire to have an Ent statue representing how we should be treating our world.

I think we all should get a polystone treatment of Treebeard. Or Leaflock. Or Skinbark. Or Quickbeam. Or any of the others! Maybe holding a boulder or crushing an orc or carrying Merry and Pippin. I want the birch and beech, oak and fir, chestnut and ash, the rowan and the linden. Bring them all out of the forest and into my living room!

So, a challenge to Sideshow Collectibles! Release the Ents!

After all, a wizard should know better!

The following is an original essay by Richard K. Morgan. I hope you enjoy:

“I tell you, it’s no game serving down in the city”

- Gorbag - forgotten orc captain from Minas Morgul

I’m not much of a Tolkien fan - not since I was about twelve or fourteen anyway (which, it strikes me, is about the right age to read and enjoy his stuff). But it would be a foolish writer in the fantasy field who failed to acknowledge the man’s overwhelming significance in the canon. And it would be a poor and superficial reader of Tolkien who failed to acknowledge that in amongst all the overwrought prose, the nauseous paeans to class-bound rural England, and the endless bloody elven singing that infests The Lord of the Rings, you can sometimes discern the traces of a bleak underlying human landscape which is completely at odds with the epic fantasy narrative for which the book is better known.

That little twist of urban angst quoted above is one such trace. It comes at the end of The Two Towers and is part of an on-going set of dialogues between two orc captains at the tower of Cirith Ungol. And for a while - until Tolkien remembers these are Bad Guys and sends the wearyingly Good and Wholesome Sam up against them - we get a fascinating insight into life for the rank and file in Mordor. The orcs are disenchanted, poorly informed and constantly stressed by the uncertainties that lack of information brings. They suspect that the war might be going badly for their side, and that their commanders, far from being infallible, seem to be making some serious errors of judgment. They worry that if their side loses, they can expect scant mercy from their victorious enemies. They mutter their misgivings sotto voce because they know that there are informers in the ranks and a culture of enforcement through terror bearing down from above. They also seem possessed of a rough good humour and some significant loyalty to the soldiers they command. And they’re not enjoying the war any more than Frodo or Samwise; they want it to be over just as much as anybody else.

Happy New Year, all! While most people are content with an intake of friends and champagne on New Year’s Eve, I have realized that there are reasons I edit science fiction—and very few of them have to do with my being one of the “cool” people. Now, granted, I’m sure there are people who might say I’m just being modest (thanks, Grandma), but I think self-awareness is one of my better traits, and, well, after I explain my holiday tradition, I think you’ll be able to judge for yourself if I am being fair to mine person.

For I am a New Year’s Eve marathoner: a person who plants his posterior on a couch and watches—wait for it—all three movies in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The extended versions. For those of you who don’t want to whip out your abacus, that amounts to almost half-a-day of Frodo, Samwise, Aragorn, and Gandalf doing their thing across the splendor of Middle-earth.

Now, there are other sci-fi draws on this day—Sci-Fi Channel has wonderfully picked up where the ol’ New York WPIX left off with the “Twilight Zone” marathon, but with the advent of TiVo, the need (and desire) to sit through a day of commercial television seems paltry and weak compared to the majesty of a little Hobbit-on-Orc action (please keep your thoughts, like the movies, firmly in the realm of PG-13, thank you). So those can be enjoyed later, at my leisure, whereas to watch the whole of Peter Jackson’s opus-like vision of Mr. Tolkien’s opus (collectively: their “opi”), back-to-back-to-back not only fulfills some deep-seated nerd-need, but also bows to a skewed logic that I crave.

This tradition started a few years ago, when I was young and impressionable, and my father suggested we should watch all the movies in a row. Understand: while I am a Tolkien fan, I am also of the opinion (and I am ready to stoically accept the cries of “Blasphemy!” which this next statement is sure to produce) that the movies are better than the books.

Yeah, I know. Ouch.

But I have my reasons: I grew up reading all the people who had themselves grown up reading Tolkien—people like David Eddings, Terry Brooks, and, well, every Dragonlance author TSR could trot out. So, by the time I finally got around to reading The Lord of the Rings, I’ll admit that I found the books to be a bit … tiresome. My father—a man who can watch the movies and point out where a line should have been in the course of the novels (and which character should have uttered it)—almost wrote me out of his will when I told him that. But since I appreciate the movies so much (and still think The Hobbit to be one of the greatest stories, ever), he decided to let such an infraction slide.

He also realized he doesn’t actually have a will, but that’s another matter entirely.

Having done this done this marathon with my parents for three years now (yes, ladies—still single!), I have realized a few things that make such an endeavor possible:

1. Wear comfortable clothes. Face it—you’re going to be a lazy slob for at least thirteen hours, so dress appropriately. While you might think it fun to wear your Gondor Infantry helmet, it probably is going to give you a headache. It might block your vision a bit, too.
2. Make sure you have a snack/beverage plan. You need to have readily accessible munchables that are not overly elaborate in their preparation. Our first year, we kept making little appetizer-like gnoshes, which stretched out the breaks times and really didn’t add to the overall experience. Too, while alcoholic beverages might seem like a nice accompaniment, go for the caffeine. Having recently forsaken the daily intake of caffeine, I made sure to break that for LOTR Day. I mean, it takes two hours for them to leave the Shire! You’re going to want some sort of stimulant.
3. Break times. As the movies are broken up onto two discs each, there are five natural break points, so use them accordingly: use the bathroom, refresh your drink and snack options, and—this is important—stretch. It may seem stupid, but your body is going to fight you on this, and getting the blood flowing will trick it into another two hours of lethargy. It’s not called a “marathon” for nothing—this is an endurance sport!
4. No talking. Maybe this is just a family thing (Yes, I will watch with you, but that doesn’t mean I need to interact with you), but if we didn’t have this rule, we could be making comments throughout the whole thing. Comments, for me, invariably lead to thinking I’m Tom Servo, and the thing is I like these movies. Once I start riffing on a movie, I won’t stop, so it’s best to put the kibosh on the kibbutzing.
5. No pausing! We’ve all seen the movies, so if, for some reason, someone needs to get up, the disc keeps spinning. The worst of this was, the first year we did it, my dad paused halfway through The Return of the King to wish my mom and I a “Happy New Year!” Having been sitting through over ten hours of movie at that point, we were in no mood for such nonsense, and after being verbally chastised (and pelted with various cookies—we were at the cookie phase of our snack-deployment) he realized never to do it again. Even now, when he sees it’s after midnight and wishes us a “Happy New Year,” I can feel my mom tense up, as if she’s about to beat him about the head and neck with a sock full of holiday clementines. She doesn’t, but I can sense it.
6. Have fun! Remember, if you start taking this too seriously (setting up an over/under for orcs slain; groaning every time Legolas starts acting like the guy at the party with a new iPhone and explicates things for us without bothering to use context …), you’re not going to enjoy yourself. And, when you throw in the fact that you’re risking bed-sores for the sake of these films, getting angry that Jackson couldn’t figure out when to end the last movie, or didn’t include the scouring of the Shire, or dismissed the joyful absurdity of Tom Bombadil … well, you just need to let those things slide. Because don’t forget:

You can always read the book.

Happy New Year!

Andy Serkis, the actor responsible for bringing the creature Gollum to life in the Peter Jackson directed Lord of the Rings films, will of course be doing so again in the forthcoming movie adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Since catapulting to stardom, Serkis has had a great deal of success, with many roles in movies including King Kong, 13 Going on 30 and The Prestige.

Today, Yahoo UK posted a short article about Serkis and what it means to him to reprise the role that gave nerds free rein all over the world to speak in a weird, creepy voice—undoubtedly driving their loved ones crazy. Serkis has always been accessible, something I admire, and I hope he continues delivering these kinds of interviews as Guillermo del Toro really begins shooting The Hobbit to bring us all back to Middle Earth!

I simply can’t wait for The Hobbit! A movie like The Hobbit will increase the recession I’m feeling in my billfold! I bet there are a few others out there who will admit the same…

And Andy Serkis will be a big reason for that!

Today sees some great new items of interest in the genre! Alan Lee brings all new and beautiful artwork in the gorgeous HarperCollins hardcover, Tales from the Perilous Realm. Wall-E, the hilarious and poignant Disney/Pixar film, is released on DVD. And Friday sees two movies coming to the silver screen that will probably make a lot of money—Bolt and Twilight!

Here is a list of other book, DVD and theater new releases for this week!

BOOKS

• Tales from the Perilous Realm by J.R.R. Tolkien
• An Empire Unacquainted with Defeat by Glen Cook
• Dungeon Master 4th Edition for Dummies by James Wyatt, Bill Slavicsek, and Rich Baker

• Wall-E
• Bones: Season 3
• Tropic Thunder
• Doctor Who: Complete Fourth Series
• The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2
• Star Trek: The Original Series (Remastered)
• Mirrormask [Blu-ray]

• Bolt
• Twilight

One of the great fantasy resources out there on the internet(s) is TheOneRing.net, a website devoted to all things J.R.R. Tolkien. Fans created it, made it what it is, and now it is the driving force of information regarding Tolkien, the Lord of the Rings movies, and the two forthcoming Guillermo del Toro directed The Hobbit movies.

TheOneRing.net has compiled a three-part interview with director Guillermo del Toro:

Progress on The Hobbit movies is something I look forward to following the next few years. I’m sure we’ll all be seeing some very cool stuff from Del Toro! In the meantime, read up!

Recently, shortly before awarding the Nobel Prize in Literature to French novelist Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio, a member of the Nobel committee, Horace Engdahl, caused no small controversy with the following remarks:

The U.S. is too isolated, too insular. They don’t translate enough and don’t really participate in the big dialogue of literature. That ignorance is restraining.

Many responded with a list of worthy American writers who disproved this charge: Don DeLillo, Philip Roth, Joyce Carol Oates, Thomas Pynchon, Cormac McCarthy.

Though it’s hard to disagree with that list, my first thought, actually, was that America’s greatest contribution to world literature may be its genre writing, and that it is in fact the Nobel committee that is “isolated, insular, ignorant”—in its continued refusal to acknowledge genre writers. This situation is unlikely to change, given that the committee’s record of judging even literary fiction is spotty at best. (To see some over the committee’s amazing omissions over the years, check out Ted Gioia’s “The Nobel Prize in an Alternate Universe.”) So like those other non-Nobelists, Proust, Joyce, and Nabokov, science fiction and fantasy writers will have to settle for a different kind of prize: continuing to actually be read by readers all over the world for years to come.

Still, we can dream. After the jump, take a look at 10 sci-fi/fantasy novelists deserving of the honor. Note that posthumous nominations are included—this is, after all, the stuff of dreams. Add your own nominees in the comments!

I must have read The Lord of the Rings a dozen times by now. My dad, God rest his soul, gave me The Hobbit when I was in 5th or 6th grade. I met my first boyfriend thanks to the fact we were both reading The Fellowship of the Ring in 8th grade. Throughout high school and college I read and reread the trilogy, usually starting around September 22 (Bilbo and Frodo’s birthday). But apparently I haven’t read it enough, because I was still tripped up by this quiz, which is reprinted from The McSweeney’s Joke Book of Book Jokes. See how well you do—I got two of them wrong.

IKEA Product—or Lord of the Rings Character?

Answers after the jump:

Today, September 2nd, marks the 35 year anniversary of the death of J.R.R. Tolkien.

TheOneRing.net has a great post on their website highlighting the last several months and times of Mr. Tolkien.

Take a peek! Mr. Tolkien opened up an entire world of imagination to us all and deserves a few moments of our time even now!

Greg Bear, one of the best science fiction writers of our time in my opinion, visited the University Bookstore in Seattle WA on August 12th for the release of his new novel, City at the End of Time. The event was the launch of a tour that will take Greg down the West Coast; to read more about that tour and his new book, visit the book’s official website!

I videotaped Greg speaking. So what did Greg talk about? Want to learn how City at the End of Time grew into being, how science fiction had its beginnings and how it transformed into what we know today, and how Tolkien is tied to science fiction and H.G. Wells? Read on!

I’ve always been both a metalhead and a total fantasy geek—possibly the two most powerful formative influences on my teen years were Metallica and J.R.R. Tolkien. There exists a deep and occult connection between heavy metal and fantasy fiction, one that surfaces both obliquely—Spiked wristbands! Album covers that could double as Wheel of Time book jackets! Fire!—and overtly, as in the legacy of metal songs explicitly inspired by fantastical literary sources.

After the jump, check out a few of my favorite heavy metal songs inspired by fantasy novels. And I know I’ve forgotten a few, so add them in the comments!