You guys had a lot of lovely things to say about last week’s Lord of the Rings post, so here’s another…
There are few characters in the Lord of the Rings who are more crucial to the plot than Aragorn. He’s a guide to the Hobbits, a champion to the Rohirrm, and a king to the Men of Gondor. In fact of the six books that make up the Lord of the Rings, more of them feature Aragorn than either Frodo or the Ring. In his first appearance at the Prancing Pony, he is simply Strider of the wilderness. But only seven months later, he is crowned King Elessar of the Dúnedain. So how does a ranger from the North become king in the South? And what exactly was Aragorn doing in the eighty-seven years leading up to it?
So in order to fully understand how a ranger can become a king, we first need to go all the way back to the moment of Aragorn’s birth. Because just like his father and grandfather before him, Aragorn was actually born into royalty. His ancestors were kings. His name …
Okay, this will be a bit of a rant, so apologies in advance.
If I read one more article about fantasy publishing that starts off with some variation of “Don’t worry, fantasy is not all like Lord of the Rings” or “fantasy has come a long way from elves and dwarves”, I’m gonna scream!
I mean, okay, fine, if you don’t like LOTR that’s fine. If you don’t like elves and dwarves, super cool, we all like what we like.
But I feel like there’s this cringe factor where nobody is willing to admit they actually like that kind of stuff! Listen, I love Lord of the Rings! LOTR clones? BRING ‘EM ON! I love elves, I dig dwarves!
I don’t care if they’ve been used a lot, so have detectives and fog serial killers but nobody starts off their article about crime fiction by saying “Don’t worry, it’s not all about police detectives”! Nobody ever says “if only literary fiction could move on from …
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it!
When Gandalf the White came to the Grey Havens, the Third Age came to an end. When he set sail with the rest of the ring-bearers, a new Age of peace and prosperity began. And when he revealed the Ring of Fire upon his finger, the epic tales that began with Sauron and Celebrimbor 4963 years earlier, came to an end. For over 2000 years, Gandalf had wandered the wilds and counselled the wise. Over seventeen years he had discovered the truth of the One Ring, and identified it in Hobbiton. And over the span of two months he had died, come back from the dead, and then orchestrated (perhaps) the greatest victory that Arda had ever known. The Downfall of Sauron and the return of the King was the ultimate win for the Free Peoples of Middle-earth, not to mention the Ainur who adhered to Ilúvatar’s vision. And Gandalf was the architect of the whole thing!
So to fully comprehend the magnitude of Gandalf’s contribution, let’s go back to …
Started in March and finished book 14 nine months later. The books started slow but got better and better, terminating in a phenomenal finale. This is an epic high-fantasy series with an elaborate “magic” system and all kinds of other interesting features and worlds.
Also, what makes it even more special: The first 11 books were written by Robert Jordan, who unfortunately passed away and tasked Brandon Sanderson with the ending of the series using his notes. Incredible how it worked out.
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EDIT: From what I read here, a lot of people are stuck around books 6/7/8. Yes it’s a drag, but it will get better and in the end it will be worth it! Some people recommended the audiobooks if you really have trouble to get through.
EDIT: Guys, thank you so much for all those awards!! I never expected this to blow up like this!
So I’ve unfortunately found myself scrolling the Instagram feed + swiping on you know which apps for half an hour or more before bed almost every night.
“Oh look this guy who used to give me shit is now married and just bought a new car”
“Oh look at this happy little nuclear family on Christmas…. ”
“Oh look this b*tch who ghosted me in November is in a relationship now”
It’s a horrible self critical voice to have in ones head before sleeping…
So instead of that I’ve been experimenting for a week with diving into another world - be it fiction or factual - and I’ve found myself falling asleep easier and waking up without a sense of impending dread and self hatred.
For the first few days there was sense of fomo but then it faded and I felt this sense of calm and focus.
I intend to make it one of my New Years resolutions as well.
Just thought I’d share that
I started this book by thinking, I’ll really love this. But as I started going through more pages, this woman really tested my nerve. Not gonna lie, some of them were actually good. But those were in fewer numbers comparing to the vast ocean of meh and what the fuck!?
Some of them were downright degrading. She literally pits another woman against her, to show that she was better. Another woman who has nothing to do with her. She is bitter because her ex dates her. Like this line for instance,
“the woman who comes after me will be a bootleg version of who i am, she will try and write poems for you to erase the ones I’ve left memorized on your lips but her lines could never punch you in the stomach the way mine did she will then try to make love to your body, but she will never lick, caress, or suck like me. she will be a sad replacement of the woman you let slip. nothing she does will excite you and this will break her. when she is tired of falling apart for a man …
I used to be so incredibly depressed. I was lonely. Sad. No friends. I bought myself a kindle, and just started reading one day, after not in so many years. I’ve been reading a ton of book series about great friendships, and it’s really helped me not feel so alone. Like I always have my friends with me wherever I take my kindle with me.
Some of my favorite reads have been: The Maze Runner series, Red Rising series, The Expanse Series, Chaos Walking Trilogy, Kings of the Wyld, The Enemy Series, The First Law trilogy, The Road, Lonesome Dove, currently working through The Dresden Files.
It has been a heck of a journey. I really and truly love these worlds, and the fact that the characters in each set of stories has helped me with different issues in my life.
Hey, I’m looking for the weirdest and most fascinating concepts of alien species in science fiction genre. I’m mostly talking books, but video games, movies are also welcomed. Although please don’t post spoilers, if I’m interested by your recommendation, I will surely want to read/play it!
Also I’d appreciate some kind of description why it is interesting in your opinion!
For reference, Stanislaw Lem’s “Solaris” concept of an alien species really blew my mind and is my favourite up to date.
I like weird scifi, and sometimes I am in the mood for scifi that makes me uncomfortable. I don’t necessarily mean horror or weird Lovecraftian fiction (not a fan) but just really dark scifi.
So what are the weirdest, most unsettling scifi books and short stories you have read?
I’ll start with:
And though they aren’t scifi, most Cormac McCarthy books have made me wince at a few points.
I don’t know how to articulate clearly why I loved these two so much, but if any Redditors have similar suggestions I would love to dive in, can’t get enough!
Edit: I appreciate all the recs!!!❤️
I’ve been having trouble focusing on reading this year (mostly due to my ADHD and anxiety over the dumpster fire that is 2020 - I just can’t relax enough to read anything more than 300 pages long, over the course of a week or more per book!) but I did manage to read a few substantial sci-fi books:
William Gibson:
The Bigend trilogy (Pattern Recognition, Spook Country, Zero History)
Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive (I read these before, but didn’t understand much until the re-read)
The Peripheral and Agency
Alastair Reynolds:
Absolution Gap (this took FOREVER, but it was worth it!)
Galactic North
Jeff Vandermeer:
Borne
The Strange Bird
Dead Astronauts (this was a headache, but a fun headache!)
There are others, but they’re mostly short fillers from Tor.com, short Kindle Unlimited titles, and more mainstream soft sci-fi stuff. I’m now at 249 books, and currently reading my last book of 2020 - Dune. Good choice? It’ll be a challenge to me, …