"The Fall of Numenor", coming November 2022

[Mithadan]

And here's how it is being marketed. "New J.R.R. Tolkien Book Set in Rings of Power Timeline Announced."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainm...31b2550fab3aa1

[Inziladun]

As if we needed a bloody Amazon tie-in to bait the hook.

[Urwen]

I am excited to read in depth about Miriel and Phary.

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

As if we needed a bloody Amazon tie-in to bait the hook.

Thing is... I feel like people who would be super pleased to read this book are unlikely to be super pleased by the series, and vice versa.

[Huinesoron]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

Thing is... I feel like people who would be super pleased to read this book are unlikely to be super pleased by the series, and vice versa.

I feel that's a bit harsh. How many people got deep into Middle-earth on the back of the movies? I don't think I started collecting HoME until after the trilogy was complete, and Fall of Numenor will probably be less scholarly than that.

Particularly if they centre it on "Aldarion & Erendis". Having an actual narrative in there, with a detail level closer to LotR than Silm, is likely to snag a lot more readers than HoME did. The Estate has known this for a while - that's why they pushed Children of Hurin so hard.

They've also got potential to snag people who read LotR and Hobbit, but were put off by the Silm and avoided things with "Unfinished" and "History of" in the title. I suspect that sort of reader are a large part of Amazon's target market too - it's not like they were ever going to be prioritising people who know the difference between LaCE and the Shibboleth!

This is a very sensible move by the Estate, and honestly, if Christopher had lived longer I think "Numenor book" would have been the natural follow-up to the Great Tales for him too.

(Next on my wishlist for illustrated releases: "The Line of Kings", collecting all the Third Age material prior to The Hobbit, and a reader's edition of the Book of Lost Tales. I can dream...!)

hS

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

How many people got deep into Middle-earth on the back of the movies?

A good question. I've always been doubtful of the films' ability in the end to inspire an appreciation for the books, but I personally can't say one way or the other.

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

Particularly if they centre it on "Aldarion & Erendis". Having an actual narrative in there, with a detail level closer to LotR than Silm, is likely to snag a lot more readers than HoME did. The Estate has known this for a while - that's why they pushed Children of Hurin so hard.

PJ's films, flawed as they were (in my eyes, at least), did display a basic respect for Tolkien and the spirit of what he created. I have no belief Amazon is concerned with that.

The question then becomes, will the series be so far departed from its source material that writings produced over 50 years ago will have any resonance to those "introduced" to Tolkien there?

[Mithadan]

My concern is a bit different. While I have the same reservations about Rings of Power that others are voicing, from a "business" perspective I understand publisher's (and author's) incentive to link Fall of Numenor to the Amazon series.

My concern is that Fall of Numenor will merely compile and rehash what has already been published in the Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, HoME and NoME. While it may be nice to have the material assembled together in one place (particularly for those who do not wish to trudge through 12 volumes of HoME), a lack of any coherent narrative, like Children of Hurin as opposed to Fall of Gondolin for example, would be disappointing, at least to me.

[Huinesoron]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

PJ's films, flawed as they were (in my eyes, at least), did display a basic respect for Tolkien and the spirit of what he created. I have no belief Amazon is concerned with that.

Did you ever run into Philosopher@Large/Bellatrys back in the day? Her complaint about the Jackson movies was in part exactly this - "I walked away speechless from ROTK-M, but not from awe, I fear. More like sick with horror at this travesty, this "Triumph of Death" played out on the screen, being hailed as faithful to the spirit of the books and indeed superior to the texts." I've archived her commentaries if you feel like reminding yourself how much some people despised the Jackson movies.

Originally Posted by Mithadan

My concern is that Fall of Numenor will merely compile and rehash what has already been published in the Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, HoME and NoME. While it may be nice to have the material assembled together in one place (particularly for those who do not wish to trudge through 12 volumes of HoME), a lack of any coherent narrative, like Children of Hurin as opposed to Fall of Gondolin for example, would be disappointing, at least to me.

That's the stated goal of the book, though: "Edited by well-known Tolkien expert Brian Sibley, the book collects together J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings of the Second Age. Sibley has gone through the entire published works by Tolkien, and provides new introductions and commentaries to bring all the pieces of Tolkien’s original content together."

The release says it's being structured using the Tale of Years. I guess it'll be something like the Annals from various parts of HoME, with some years or periods being skimmed over, and others going full narrative (Aldarion). So not like any of the three Great Tales, but something different again.

hS

[William Cloud Hicklin]

Originally Posted by Mithadan

And here's how it is being marketed. "New J.R.R. Tolkien Book Set in Rings of Power Timeline Announced."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainm...31b2550fab3aa1

Do we have an emoji for "barf?"