I received this on an e-mail list this morning– Here are the rules: Grab the nearest book. Open the book to page 123. Find the fifth sentence. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog (or to this mailing list) along with these instructions. Don’t you dare dig for that “cool” orContinue reading “On a Book Meme”
Category Archives: Tolkien
On Shire Reckoning… Again
The strange little box in the sidebar is now fixed. I’ve written my first WordPress plug-in. As you can tell, it generates a date in Shire Reckoning.
Well, I'm back.
I finished Lord of the Rings: The Third Age, the XBox (and PS2, and Game Cube) role-playing game from EA, this evening. I’m depressed, and not because the game is over. I’m depressed, because the game didn’t redeem itself in the end. Role-playing games need a story. Role-playing games need characters. The Third Age hadContinue reading “Well, I'm back.”
A Thought for the Day
Gandalf’s judgment on Denethor as given in Lord of the Rings: The Third Age: Thus is the havoc when a steward breaks his solemn bond with his people. Gondor shunned counsel, chose to dominate its subjects. While its sons were sent to die in hopeless causes, alliances faltered. Hope withered. Armies were squandered, leaders lost.Continue reading “A Thought for the Day”
Helm’s Deep
Last night I saved Helm’s Deep from Saruman’s armies. It wasn’t the first time. A long, slogging battle. Wave after wave of Uruk-hai berserkers and trolls. The Third Age‘s story takes a new turn. Now things begin to “fit.” Not well, not comfortably. But just a little. Next stop–Osgiliath. No, I’m not sure why.
For Geekoid Fanboys Only
In the summer of 1999 I reread The Lord of the Rings for perhaps the dozenth time. With that particular reading I studied, really studied, Appendix D on the calendrical systems in use in Middle-Earth in the Third Age. I was drawn, in particular, to the Hobbit calendar and decided to write a quick-and-dirty computerContinue reading “For Geekoid Fanboys Only”
The Third Age
Today EA Games announced their new Lord of the Rings video game, The Third Age. Speculation had been rampant since the release of the Return of the King game, which ended with a “James Bond Will Return”-style notice that Lord of the Rings: Trilogy would be coming in 2004. The Third Age is, from allContinue reading “The Third Age”
Return of the King: The Video Game
This morning’s Raleigh News and Observer published an Associated Press review of EA’s video game, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, a tie-in to the upcoming New Line film. As reviews go, it wasn’t a bad one, and I thought I would offer my own perspective on the game. I’ve had theContinue reading “Return of the King: The Video Game”
Middle-Earth Thoughts
A few days ago I finished playing the Return of the King video game. It’s based on the film, not the book, so the story ends at Mount Doom. I’m sure that Peter Jackson’s film will go further, but I know that the Scouring of the Shire is out (and, personally, I find that aContinue reading “Middle-Earth Thoughts”
Alternity! A Lord of the Rings counterfactual
Electronics Arts released last week a video game based on the Return of the King film, with voice-overs done by the trilogy’s cast and a liberal sprinkling of film footage from the three films bridging the gaps between missions. As with a DVD, there are bonus films that can be unlocked, and earlier this evening,Continue reading “Alternity! A Lord of the Rings counterfactual”