Tolkien fanfic writer sues Tolkien estate over copyright

[MarkB]

There are a ton of ways that a sequel to Lord of the Rings could work. It could be about the generation after Aragorn stuggling to keep the peace - and succeeding. It could be about a small band of characters uncovering a lost Elven relic. There are endless possibilities. Now, if Tolkien just didn't feel like writing those stories, that's fine. It's his perogative to write the stories he wants to. But there's no reason the sequel would have to escalate, and there's no reason a competent writer like Tolkien couldn't write a story that maintained the ending of LotR if he wanted to.

A thousand years after the defeat of Sauron, a terrible new threat stirs in the unlikeliest of places. A new dark lord has emerged, leading a people more indomitable than any in the world. The lands of Men will tremble at the rise of those who had been beneath their notice, as they face The Fury of The Shire.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Since it seems certain that the B&N sales page will go down soon, here's the blurb in full:



"Thus begins the War Of The Rings To End All Wars Of The Rings."

Wow, just...wow.

That prose is so purple and awkward that I think he wrote a sequel to the wrong bit of IP- WotC needs him to revisit The Forest Oracle!

 

[Ryujin]

A thousand years after the defeat of Sauron, a terrible new threat stirs in the unlikeliest of places. A new dark lord has emerged, leading a people more indomitable than any in the world. The lands of Men will tremble at the rise of those who had been beneath their notice, as they face The Fury of The Shire.

I'm picturing a bunch of Hobbit Assassins having free reign of the Kingdoms of Men, because the Men refuse to drop their gaze below the level of the horizon. Little furry footed Assassins just walking by, right in front of them.

 

[Ryujin]

That prose is so purple and awkward that I think he wrote a sequel to the wrong bit of IP- WotC needs him to revisit The Forest Oracle!

It reads similarly to how I expect prose generated by AI to be, in much the same way as many Reddit posts I've been seeing lately.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The Shire cries out for a cozy fantasy novel with low stakes that feels like a warm hug.

How about a series of LotR-based romance novels, with hobbitized Fabio wannabe cover illustrations?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'm picturing a bunch of Hobbit Assassins having free rein of the Kingdoms of Men, because the Men refuse to drop their gaze below the level of the horizon. Little furry footed Assassins just walking by, right in front of them.

Sooooo…a reboot of Fineous Fingers?

 

[Ryujin]

Sooooo…a reboot of Fineous Fingers?

Precisely.

Replace Gandalf with Bored Flak. "I am Bored Flak, the Magic User, and I rarely miss at this range."

 

[Clint_L]

So, I don't like his purple prose, but this guy's basic story idea is interesting. The Blue Wizards really did just kind of wander off into the East, never to be mentioned again, and the notion that there could be other ancient magics (maybe not more rings of power but other artifacts) tied to followers of Morgoth, and part of a plan to bring Morgoth himself back...that's a fine D&D campaign. And I like that it is built around Sam's eldest daughter. Bringing in a few other characters that we barely got to meet in LotR is a solid idea, too.

Don't get me wrong; the quality of the writing looks terrible. But as far as fan fiction goes, this is a solid premise.

 

[CleverNickName]

To be fair, I've read some good LotR fanfic. It's out there, it exists.

But this? No, this isn't it.

 

[Alzrius]

To be fair, I've read some good LotR fanfic. It's out there, it exists.

Indeed it does.

The Last Ringbearer - Wikipedia

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