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3.0 

Meditations on Middle-Earth

By Karen Haber & John Howe &
Meditations on Middle-Earth by Karen Haber & John Howe &  digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

Hugo Award Nominee: George R. R. Martin, Ursula K. Le Guin, Terry Pratchett, Harry Turtledove, and others reveal how Tolkien inspired and influenced them.

When J. R. R. Tolkien created the extraordinary world of Middle-earth and populated it with fantastic, archetypal denizens, reinventing the heroic quest, the world hardly noticed. Sales of The Lord of the Rings languished for the better part of two decades, until the Ballantine editions were published in America. By the late 1950s, however, the books were selling well and beginning to change the face of fantasy . . . . forever. A generation of students and aspiring writers had their hearts and imaginations captured by the rich tapestry of the Middle-earth mythos, the larger-than-life heroic characters, the extraordinary and exquisite nature of Tolkien’s prose, and the unending quest to balance evil with good.

In Meditations on Middle-earth, writers share details of their personal relationships with Tolkien’s mythos, for it inspired them all. Had there been no Lord of the Rings, there would also have been no Earthsea books by Ursula K. Le Guin; no Song of Ice and Fire saga from George R.  R. Martin; no Tales of Discworld from Terry Pratchett; no Legends of Alvin Maker from Orson Scott Card. Each of them was influenced by the master mythmaker, and now each reveals the nature of that influence and their personal relationships with the greatest fantasy novels ever written in the English language.

A Locus Award Nominee

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19 Reviews

3.0
“I liked it well enough. It feels more like a love letter to Middle Earth featuring several successful sci-fi and fantasy authors than meditation on his works. Many of the essays are really just what Tolkien's works mean to each of them and how he inspired them to become authors in their own right. Some of the essays, while still quite personal, also discuss the depth of Tolkien's craft and point out parts that really stuck out to them that I had never noticed before. Ursula K. Le Guin's essay on the language, rhythm and structure is one such example This book was compiled in the year before the first film adaptation of the Lord of the Rings was released and many more successful fantasy authors have since appeared on the scene. I'd be interested in seeing a sequel of sorts published. How the films and the text have inspired new authors and discuss what it is that helps Tolkien remain popular in the 50 years since his passing.”

About Karen Haber

Karen Haber is the art book reviewer for Locus, and profiles artists for both Realms of Fantasy and Galaxyonline. She is co-editor, along with her husband, Robert Silverberg, of the Bantam/Spectra science fiction anthologies, Universe 1 & 2.

John Howe is universally considered to be the foremost Tolkien illustrator (along with Alan Lee). He is currently hard at work with director Peter Jackson on the art design for the upcoming Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

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