Christopher Tolkien to finish lost Middle Earth novel

[davem]

For those still waiting, Amazon.co.uk have the whole of Chapter 1 here

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/feature.h...d_i=0007246226

[davem]

Potter slain by Black Sword:

http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/art...060084,00.html

[davem]

http://endicottstudio.typepad.com/en...o_middle_.html

Endicott contributor Howard Gayton posed for the hero in the book's cover painting by Alan Lee. (He stood in my garden holding a broom for a sword and looking noble while Alan took photographs for visual reference.)

[davem]

http://www.quillandquire.com/blog/in...lling-wizards/

http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/r...of-hurin_N.htm

[Bêthberry]

Wonderful links, Child and davem.

I can't help but wonder about the number of them. Have all these sites and sources decided that the book really will be big and are they trying to get on top of the buzz? On the other hand, part of me--and sorry if this sounds terribly cynical--wonders if all these reports are part of a huge marketing campaign by HarperCollins.

For instance, my local newspaper was actually part of a contest with HarperCollins: the first 100 people who replied to an email contest (to win a trip for two to "Middle-earth", aka New Zealand) would receive a free copy of the book. Was this common with other newspapers or just something conceived locally?

Major book reviews come out on the weekend here, so I have my eye out for that. If CoH isn't reviewed, what would that mean?

[William Cloud Hicklin]

Is my mind slipping, or is this new version the first time Gwindor's loss of a hand has been mentioned?

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Want to read a rant on the critics' views of CoH? Here's one by Marcel Bülles, the president of the German Tolkien Society: The Children of Húrin - Tolkien is back with a vengeance!

No language worries, by the way - the entry is in English.

[davem]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

Wonderful links, Child and davem.

I can't help but wonder about the number of them. Have all these sites and sources decided that the book really will be big and are they trying to get on top of the buzz? On the other hand, part of me--and sorry if this sounds terribly cynical--wonders if all these reports are part of a huge marketing campaign by HarperCollins.

Yes http://www.thebookseller.com/control/?p=6&a=36306

HarperCollins will be advertising the book in Earls Court around the London Book Fair, and working in partnership with the Telegraph over the weekend of 21st and 22nd April. The Telegraph partnership will include full-page advertorials, ad placements throughout the whole newspaper, and a competition to "return to Middle-earth" by winning a trip to New Zealand. This will be supported by a month-long campaign on the Telegraph website, that includes a specially created Tolkien microsite, run-of-site advertising, advertorials, downloads and interviews.

Publicity will see a slew of reviews, features and interviews, including a major feature in the Sunday Times Culture magazine the weekend before launch, and interviews on news programmes giving the story behind the new book.

HarperCollins is also planning blanket targeting of the online Tolkien fan base through promotions with key fansites, search portals and social network sites, and a bespoke online PR campaign. There will be a dedicated website at www.tolkien.co.uk.

An all-day event at Waterstone's Piccadilly will launch the book, attended by the author's grandson, Adam Tolkien, and featuring a talk by Alan Lee. A leading "Lord of the Rings" actor will read extracts from the new book, and characters from "The Lord of the Rings" stage show will also be present. Lee will be giving talks and signing books at selected bookshops around publication as well.

Inevitable. Tolkien is both Harper Collins & Houghton Mifflin's 'star' apparently. They need to sell CoH big time.

Look at Bloomsbury's profits for last year - down 75% just because there was no Harry Potter book out. What happens to them when the HP saga concludes?

[davem]

And one of the best so far:

http://www.marcel-buelles.de/the-chi...h-a-vengeance/

If you can’t handle incarnations of pure evil, the ephemeral nature of our existence, bravery in the face of all odds, the everlasting loss mankind has to suffer in losing loved ones though daringly defending them, if you cannot accept sacrifice as one of mankind’s essential qualities which has made this species survive on this planet - go home and read some of your modernist novels, probe the workings of your inner mind, the fully-fledged narcistic characters roaming the streets of rundown urban centers of depravity and disorder who so valiantly manage to suffer - suffer without hope.

Oh, really. It’s all black and white? Evil vs. good? Tolkien’s a simpleton conjuring up Christian hopes and motifs, imperfectly veiled? If you cannot tell a master at his craft’s best from writing that is so to your liking - then do get another job. Please. Criticism should be written by a person who offers reasoned judgement or analysis. Tolkienbashing has become an art in itself and it has become stale by now. We have read it all. In 1956.