Tolkien and SRD

[gadgy orobianco]

Does anyone see the great irony in the comparison between SRD's land and the world created by Tolkien? Ther's seems no doubt that SRD leaned heavily on Tolkien in his creation of the Land but to have the "hero" as an unbeliever and a rapist is a stroke of genius.

[Ryzel]

I do not in fact see that there is any irony in comparing JRRT and SRD or their creations. I agree that SRD used Tolkiens foundations when he wrote the first chronicles especially, and it is amazing how similar and yet how different the two books (LOTR and 1C) actually is.

For instance note that in both cases the focus of the struggle is in a ring of power, the loss of which will spell the doom of the world. Yet the solution goes off in different directions from there with the ring needing to be destroyed in one book while in the other the whole problem is learning how to use it.

And consider the relationship to the earlier (golden) age of civilisation in both books. In LOTR the gondorians mourn the loss of the ancient glory of Numenor and wish for a return to that age. In the land the people also mourn the loss of that age, but they have sworn an oath never to do as they did.

The list goes on, and it is in my opinion one of the things that mark SRD as a great writer that he can take this many 'stock fantasy' elements and turn them into this very special work.

And the other thing about the land of course...no elves

[Skyweir]

check out this thread .. kevinswatch.ihugny.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=36

[Hearthcoal]

...for the link, Lord Sky.

- Hearthcoal

[Skyweir]

nay m'Lord HC .. you surpass my linkage abilities by far!! please continue your excellent work!!

thats one skill we have sorely missed in your absence!!

[kevinswatch]

Heh. I really need to finish reading LotR sometime. I'm still only halfway through the first book. Oh well, the movies will have to do for now. Buy yeah, like any modern fantasy, there are similarities to LotR. I remember hearing from one person that Frodo lost half of his hand at the end of the series. But yeah, I think SRD definately sets himself apart from those other Tolkien copycats.-jay

[hamako]

I've made this point before, but I'll repeat it because I think it's one of my better ones ( )

Tolkien gets a lot of praise because he was the first major fantasy author. I don't think comparisons to SRD are really that valid - you wouldn't give Ferrari grief for copying ideas from Henry T Ford would you?

[Hearthcoal]

Jay...at a minimum, you must finish reading The Two Towers before you see The Return of the King.

In my opinion, Tolkien ended TTT with THE all time greatest cliff hanger I have ever read.

The movie does not end where the book does, so you will definitely not have the same experience if you see the third film before you finish Book Two.

- Hearthcoal

[Dag son of Dag]

Good point, Ryzel. Thank God there are no elves in the Land. They annoy me terribly. "Oooo, look at me, I`m so pretty and brave and wise, and I can`t die." For some reason, every other fantasy author seems to think its impossible to write a good book without elves.

[dukkha]

Good point, Ryzel. Thank God there are no elves in the Land. They annoy me terribly. "Oooo, look at me, I`m so pretty and brave and wise, and I can`t die." For some reason, every other fantasy author seems to think its impossible to write a good book without elves.

Of course, there's always the Elohim. Except they are a bunch of assholes.

There's a zillion connections. But while Tolkien has pretty clear demarcations for good and evil, SRD infects (literally) good with evil. Everything you do has like 2000 consequences, many of them evil. That's way outside of Tolkien.