The Fireside

This topic or phrase has come up somewhat recently on the internet: people defending an author for long publication delays and saying '__ doesn't owe you anything". I say they do. But here's why. Now, this post is in no way or form a "Finish the book George!" or "Where's book 3, Rothfuss?" angry fanboy rant, but why authors owe us books. If a writer announces that they are working on a series (first hint there) and how many books it will be (second and final hint there) then, yes they do. You just said how many there will be! So, if an author has 2 out of 4 books published, for example, then the remaining 2 count as 'owed'. If that author only writes 'standalone' novels (not part of a series), then no: they don't owe the fans a book. The fact that the author has indicated there will be a book series, and how many there will be; then we, as readers, expect at least that many to be published in that series. However, that does n...

It seems that Terry Brooks is hard at work, as well on track to finishing the 'main' Shannara series. Both of the net bit of my post comes from his site: "Books! Now there’s a happy subject. The new (final) Shannara series is going well in the writing stage. Book One is done, Book Two is being written. Still on schedule to publish late spring, early summer 2017-2020 to finish the series. Really, I will probably never finish writing Shannara books, only close off the ending so that there is a clear cycle between beginning in 1977 and ending in 2020. I can always find gaps in which to add new stories, both long and short. Hard to imagine not writing something in that world after 2020. But I don’t have to think about it now, anyway." " Releasing 2017 Book One of new Shannara quadrology (tentatively May 2017) A Knight of the Word (Cemetery Dance Edition, TBD) Releasing 2018 Book Two of new Shannara quadrology (tentatively August 2018) Ange...

With The Hobbit Trilogy now completed as extended edition blu-ray releases, there isn't too much for the fantasy fan. One of my favourite and underrated movies, Warcraft, is out today. Now, it wasn't exactly a smash hit, and it certainly wasn't as bad as the critics made it out to be, but it was also not The Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones epic that was promised from the various convention panels, etc. I gave the film a solid, well-rounded 7/10. So, today, it arrives on blu-ray. Sadly, there isn't an extended / director's cut version of the film included. Perhaps some day. It is mine, and other fans' hopes that the blu-ray will sell enough that a Warcraft II will get made, or possibly an extended version later on. I mention this because, wasn't it DVD sales that saved Family Guy , as well as a few other shows and films?? Here are the specs, and what's included: Run Time: Theatrical: 2 Hour(s) 3 Minutes MPAA Ratin...

This week, I'm going to delve into some works that have both inspired Tolkien, and that he considered among his favorite stories. Since there's going to be a few titles to mention, I'll jump straight into them now.This is, of course, a sampling of his inspiration / favourites, but I like to think that he would have loved to own these exact copies as well. I also do my best to explain how each of the books is relevant to Tolkien. He was a Professor he greatly enjoyed old age stories, myth and (epic) poems, in various languages, or variations of English. Anything that's left blank is because beyond what I've just said, I'm unable to accurately elaborate on.   The Sagas of Icelanders In Iceland, the age of the Vikings is also known as the Saga Age. A unique body of medieval literature, the Sagas rank with the world’s great literary treasures – as epic as Homer, as deep in tragedy as Sophocles, as engagingly human as Shakespeare. Set around the turn of ...

"It's a-me...Mario!" 20 years ago, Mario spoke for the first time. 20 years ago today, the Nintendo 64 (formerly named 'Ultra'), or 'N64' came out. And boy do I remember it. I was born in '84. I had the NES when I was about 6, until I was 10 when I sold it to get money to buy the SNES (hey how did kids get money to buy systems, right?). But that's OK, because I basically owned the NES games on the SNES again (plus a bit more...) thanks to the Super Mario All-Stars . THEN, there was the Nintendo 64. At launch, there weren't that many games out for it: Super Mario 64, and Pilot Wings 64 . A few months later yielded a few sports games, as well as Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire . I knew I wouldn't be able to get it straight away: it was brand new, and therefore expensive (especially for a 12 year old kid.) I really wanted one for Christmas but if I got one, I would have just gotten the system sadly. The N64 was the first Nintendo system (ou...

Happy Hobbit Day! Today is Frodo's and Bilbo's birthdays. They were both born today, although in different years, in The Third Age. This tradition has been going since about 1978, celebrating both Frodo's and Bilbo's birthdays by fans of Tolkien's works: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and others. The Tolkien Society celebrates close to the day with their annual Oxonmoot. It is among a few days (Tolkien's birth, Tolkien's death, a publication of a specific book (I choose to celebrate the day that The Return of the King was published), as well 'The Downfall' in March) to celebrate being a Tolkien fan, as well, as well as the values and ethics presented in Tolkien's books. Also, today this book is being published: It's The Hobbit Facsimile First Edition! This sumptuous gift set includes a replica of the very rare first edition of The Hobbit, the only edition where one can now read the original version of...

I've taken a bit of a break from Mario Maker , but lately I started making levels again. I was occupied with reading, Skyrim , and other things. I still am, but I've gotten back into Mario Maker a little bit. I'm almost finished the 'game' I'm making. Currently I have 1-1 - 9-4 posted, and the game will end at level 10-4. So that means I need more stars in order to post 10-1 - 10-4. Here is the start of my game, level 1-1.... https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/courses/EE59-0000-0293-6CFA   . Log in with your Nintendo ID, and bookmark it. Alternatively, the code is: EE59-0000-0293-6CFA . Enjoy, check out the levels I have posted, and be sure to star them (if you like them) so that I can upload the final world. And won't THAT be fun and challenging.... I should have those completed by Monday, I only lack stars to upload the final four levels. Please note that none of my levels are 'troll' levels or auto levels.  

Well, I've done it - I've got myself another Tolkien book for the 'Do Not Read' Editions collection. This one is a copy of The Lord of the Rings. Detailed info below. THE LORD OF THE RINGS   60 th Anniversary (illustrated) Edition, Harper Collins. ISBN: 9780007525546 Product info: This new edition includes all 50 of Alan Lee's beautiful watercolour paintings that have been newly scanned by the artist himself, together with his stunning frontispiece painting that appears in full, for the very first time, as a three-page foldout sheet. The text has been reset using the definitive 50th anniversary text and is printed on high-quality paper, and this is accompanied by Tolkien's own maps, which are printed in red & black as endpapers. The unjacketed book features illustrated boards and includes a silk ribbon marker, and is housed in a special transparent slipcase; together with Alan's beautiful paintings, this new presentation of this landmark wor...

For this week's entry, I'm going to take a break from books for a bit (I will undoubtedly return to that at some point...but not 'books by Tolkien', though...) This week's post is a collection of random thoughts, but they all bear a similar theme or idea. I just turned 32 years old this year. Which means, that Tolkien was not alive in my lifetime. Reading about him, I've learned to appreciate the many parts of Tolkien: as an author, as a 'Professor' (his love and contributions to the scholarly and academic world, as well as his love of old, ancient epic poems) and other things. One thing that has repeatedly crossed my mind, and I'm going to share that thought with you this week, is "what if Tolkien ere around now??" I am of course not speaking of living very long , but if instead of living 1892 - 1973 he lived in another space of time. What has prompted this question, was reading about his likes and dislikes, what technology he lo...

This weeks post will be about the very nice, and slightly pricier than a hardback, the Tolkien deluxe editions by Harper Collins. These feature the definitive text (as do my editions when I went through them week by week, as well as the paperbacks I shared last week) as well as some great quality extras, so you'll never have to buy these tales again, and they will last at least a lifetime.  I'll start with original publication dates.... THE HOBBIT This deluxe slipcased edition of The Hobbit, printed and bound using superior materials including a silk ribbon marker, features the definitive text, plus Tolkien's paintings and drawings in full colour, and a special fold-out version of Thror's Map. Bilbo Baggins enjoys a quiet and contented life, with no desire to travel far from the comforts of home; then one day the wizard Gandalf and a band of dwarves arrive unexpectedly and enlist his services - as a burglar - on a dangerous expedition to raid the treas...

Never forget what happened 15 years ago today. I can't use words. So I'll let others speak instead. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-yL4meahjI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB7SFJGP07Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOu7cc818AU

Starting September 9th, you can begin pre-orders on the iPhone 7, which is released on Sept. 16. From the official Apple site, here is the quick summary of the upcoming smartphone: iPhone 7 dramatically improves the most important aspects of the iPhone experience. It introduces advanced new camera systems. The best performance and battery life ever in an iPhone. Immersive stereo speakers. The brightest, most colorful iPhone display. Splash and water resistance. 1 And it looks every bit as powerful as it is. This is iPhone 7. New black and jet black finishes Splash and water resistant New Home button 12 MP camera Optical image stabilization 7 MP FaceTime HD camera Quad-LED True Tone flash A10 Fusion Chip The most powerful chip ever in a smartphone. 2 × faster than iPhone 6 Longest battery life ever in an iPhone New stereo speaker system 2 × louder than iPh...

Cover art has been revealed for the upcoming re-publication of the new Tolkien book, The Lay of Aortrou and Itroun , which completes the information on the book. It is a 503-line poem written by Tolkien in 1930, and published in The Welsh Review in 1945. Nov. 3, 2016 will see it re-published as its own book. Here are the official details: Coming from the darker side of J.R.R. Tolkien's imagination, "The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun" is an important non Middle-earth work to set alongside his other retellings of existing myth and legend, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, The Fall of Arthur and The Story of Kullervo. Together with Tolkien’s “Corrigan Poems”, which are included in this book, the Aotrou and Itroun texts comprise a sequence that was the outcome of a comparatively short but intense period in Tolkien's life when he was deeply engaged with Celtic languages and mythologies. The sequence shows the corrigan’s increasingly powerful presence, as she takes a...