Re: The General Tolkien News Thread

[chris63]

{{I like this guys Tolkien channel }}

Thanks for that Petty. Have subscribed.

Smart TV's are good. You get to watch all stuff on youtube on a big screen.

[malickfan]

Stand alone Fall Of Gondolin book to be released in August:

https://www.bookdepository.com/Fall-Gondolin-John-Ronald-Reuel-Tolkien/9780008302757?ref=grid-view&qid=1522487749619&sr=1-1

No further details have been released as yet as far as I can tell I'm not as familiar with the First Age writings as others may be (looking at you Eldo, Elthir), but I was under the impression that the existing Fall Of Gondolin writings (including the early version in the BOLT, 'Of Tuor and The Fall Of Gondolin' and the published version in The Silmarillion) writings were even more divergent and incomplete than those published in the stand alone Beren and Luthien book last year?-the B+L book received some criticism for not publishing any new material (when we know there are still unpublished drafts of the story) and padding out the book with editorial commentary/essays (I didn't bother buying a copy myself, as the actual narrative writing had all been published elsewhere)

This untitled listing on AmazonUK has a different release date but is presumably this upcoming Fall of Gondolin book:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tolkien-Untitled-J-R/dp/0008302758/

Interesting to see that Christopher Tolkien is listed as editor (evidently he hasn't retired as Literary Executor just yet, despite implying B+L would be his last book), also worth noting that it is listed as 304 pages long (16 more than what Amazon lists for the Beren and Luthien book)...I find it a little hard to believe the extant Fall Of Gondolin material would stretch to 300 pages even with commentary, illustrations or essays, and it seems rather unlikely that Christopher Tolkien would 'novelise' the story...

Surprised (well, not entirely Beren and Luthien was a big seller) to see this release, and very curious as to what it may contain...

Thoughts?

Exciting development, or unnecessary cash in?

There was already an unofficial novelisation of the story published a few years back:

http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/The_Tale_of_Gondolin

[Forest Shepherd]

I smell cash-in... but let us see!

[Eldorion]

If this is actually a Fall of Gondolin book (pending official confirmation) I imagine it would be in the model of last year's B&L. I've never seen any sales figures so I don't how successful that was as bringing the story to more people, but if it did and if the same can be done for Gondolin that's cool. (Though sales figures alone don't tell you how many people actually finished it.) I'll probably do what I did last time and flip through a copy in store but if there's no new material I won't buy a copy. And if it's somehow a novelization/completion -- which I highly, highly doubt it is if Christopher Tolkien is involved in any way -- then I'd probably skip it on general principle. But IDK. I'm a little too tired to feel excited about this, but that's obviously not the potential book's fault.

[halfwise]

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/oxford-exhibition-reveals-unseen-illustrations-jrr-tolkien-180968595/

[malickfan]

If this is actually a Fall of Gondolin book (pending official confirmation) I imagine it would be in the model of last year's B&L. I've never seen any sales figures so I don't how successful that was as bringing the story to more people, but if it did and if the same can be done for Gondolin that's cool. (Though sales figures alone don't tell you how many people actually finished it.) I'll probably do what I did last time and flip through a copy in store but if there's no new material I won't buy a copy. And if it's somehow a novelization/completion -- which I highly, highly doubt it is if Christopher Tolkien is involved in any way -- then I'd probably skip it on general principle. But IDK. I'm a little too tired to feel excited about this, but that's obviously not the potential book's fault.

Yeah, I'm not particularly excited by the idea of a another volume along the lines of B+L (find it hard to believe that all the different gondolin text would come close to 304 pages, even with commentary or essays from the editor) but if this does happen, it will be great to get all three of the great tales to a wider audience.

Some websites are now listing Alan Lee as the illustrator, no surprises there.

Massive shame Tolkien abandoned his rewrite of the story so early, i.m.o it's one of his finest bits of writing.

[Eldorion]

Agreed, Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin is one of my favorites. I can't complain about something that leads to more people the stories of the First Age even if it's not something I'll personally spend money. And new Alan Lee illustrations are cool, to be sure.

[malickfan]

Agreed, Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin is one of my favorites. I can't complain about something that leads to more people the stories of the First Age even if it's not something I'll personally spend money. And new Alan Lee illustrations are cool, to be sure.

I'm surprised Tolkien's publishers haven't considered publishing a stand alone volume of Alan Lee's illustrations, he's clearly very popular with both the Tolkien Estate and a wider audience due to his work on the films...

[Eldorion]

That would be pretty cool. I remember flipping through the movie artbooks in my local library yeeears ago, but that's only a fraction of Lee (and Howe's) work, of course.

[Eldorion]

A Lord of the Rings theme park is rumored to be in the works at Universal Orlando, apparently.

https://www.tolkiensociety.org/2018/04/lord-of-the-rings-theme-park-rumoured-for-orlando/

Part of me reflexively considers this to be too crass, but I honestly love Harry Potter World so I feel a little torn.

[Forest Shepherd]

Blech.

[chris63]

Would love Peter Jackson to have a museum or park showing all the sets that were made. Would be great to go to NZ and
see Hobbiton and have the sets to visit close by. Bree, Rivendell, Bag End and the rest all look fantastic. Beorn's house would be a must.

[Eldorion]

The Book Depository page for the supposed new book has been taken down, but the Amazon UK page has been updated with a description. However, the description reads pretty weird, the book is still not listed on HarperCollins' website. and TBH at this point I'm inclined to think the whole thing is a hoax.

https://www.tolkien.co.uk/product-category/middle-earth-beyond/

[Eldorion]

Evidently I was wrong:

https://www.harpercollins.co.uk/9780008302771/the-fall-of-gondolin/

Edit: made a new thread. Man, that product description is terrible, though.

http://www.hobbitmovieforum.com/t1384-the-fall-of-gondolin-coming-august-2018

[malickfan]

This is really more Peter Jackson related news than strictly Tolkien, but this new book sounds quite interesting (pretty cheap too, might get a copy):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anything-You-Can-Imagine-Middle-earth/dp/0008192472

[halfwise]

The Book Depository page for the supposed new book has been taken down, but the Amazon UK page has been updated with a description. However, the description reads pretty weird, the book is still not listed on HarperCollins' website. and TBH at this point I'm inclined to think the whole thing is a hoax.

https://www.tolkien.co.uk/product-category/middle-earth-beyond/

Who's Finn and Hengest?

[malickfan]

The Book Depository page for the supposed new book has been taken down, but the Amazon UK page has been updated with a description. However, the description reads pretty weird, the book is still not listed on HarperCollins' website. and TBH at this point I'm inclined to think the whole thing is a hoax.

https://www.tolkien.co.uk/product-category/middle-earth-beyond/

Who's Finn and Hengest?

http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Finn_and_Hengest

(I think I have a copy of that lying around somewhere...i did read it a number of years ago but found it rather hard going and perplexing to my non-academic mind...)

[chris63]

One Oxford exhibition of Tolkien’s life and genius to rule them all
Read more at https://www.star2.com/culture/2018/06/01/oxford-tolkien-lord-of-the-rings-the-hobbit-literature-exhibition/#EAkllQTUdE2s51g6.99

[Lancebloke]

A Lord of the Rings theme park is rumored to be in the works at Universal Orlando, apparently.

https://www.tolkiensociety.org/2018/04/lord-of-the-rings-theme-park-rumoured-for-orlando/

Part of me reflexively considers this to be too crass, but I honestly love Harry Potter World so I feel a little torn.

This was mentioned in the comments at the bottom

https://www.tolkien2019.com

With the theme park, if it is up to the standards of recent additions to Universal and Disney then I think it could be pretty epic!

[chris63]

When is Your Kid Ready for J.R.R. Tolkien? A Guide to Getting Started

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/kids/when-is-your-kid-ready-for-j-r-r-tolkien-a-guide-to-getting-started/

[halfwise]

I sort of wonder if reading Harry Potter before Tolkien works or not. It produces different expectations, and I wonder if kids who cut their teeth on HP would get bored even with the Hobbit. My niece devoured HP but hasn't mentioned the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings.

[Forest Shepherd]

From personal experience, the order doesn't matter at all.

[malickfan]

Amazon.com lists a newly revised 3rd edition of the annotated Hobbit for release next year:

https://www.amazon.com/Annotated-Hobbit-Third-J-R-R-Tolkien/dp/1328497593

The 2nd edition (I own one) was published back in 2002(?) and included lots of editorial commentary, several newly published or rare poems by Tolkien, reprinted the 1937 and 1951 texts alongside the revised final text of The Hobbit, lots of illustrations and the longest version of http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/The_Quest_of_Erebor

This 3rd edition is 17 pages longer than the 2nd edition so presumably may contain some new material or editorial comments (and since 2002 The History of The Hobbit and The Art Of The Hobbit have been published and we have seen the release of the PJ movie trilogy, all of which will presumably be mentioned or commented on in this new edition)

And in less surprising news they are releasing a boxset of The Children Of Hurin, Beren and Luthien and Fall Of Gondolin books later this year:

https://www.amazon.com/Great-Tales-Middle-earth-Children-Gondolin/dp/0358003911/

[chris63]

Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36542884-tolkien

[Pettytyrant101]

{{Interesting Chris, it says - ' reproduces personal photographs and private papers, many of which have never been seen before in print.'  Many of which? Im surprised, I didn't think there were many, if any, papers left relating to his work that remained unpublished let alone 'many'. }}