Huge Fantasy fan, but hate LOTR books - am I alone?

JBod

JBod

JBod

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I am a huge fantasy and sci-fi fan, my favourite book of all time is Magician by Raymond E Feist, my favourite series is Wheel of Time by the late Robert Jordan. I have read all the good books the Eddings couple wrote... Weis and Hickman.. gemmel... etc..

However, I simply cannot make it through Lord of the Rings (films were awesome). It is probably because I read Eddings and Feist long before I picked up LOTR and while Tolkein was first - many others have improved on it.

Am I alone in this? The Hobbit was great.
 
No.

I enjoyed LotR the first time I read it when I was 13 but now I can't stand them. For me the story is good, it's just that the writing isn't, it meanders, goes off on tangents and never really gets to the point, you could write the entire trilogy is a book the length of Fellowship and not miss out anything important and still have a story that would put a lot of modern fantasy to shame.


This is just as a reader, by saying "the writing is bad" I simply mean I find them annoying to read, I'm not saying Tolkien is a bad writer.
 
my mothers hooked on Robert Jordan, Ive just bought her two more for christmas.

do you like modern Fantasy on television? most of it is admitedly Dire... but can I recommend you watch two in particular...

one is a film from a couple of years back called MirrorMask. the other is one of the greatest home grown fantasy TV series ever made, and deeply under watched and under appreciated.

Made by the BBC in 1996 and written by the genius Neil Gaiman (the sand man novels, mirrormask, Stardust film, ect ect) and of all people... lenny henry!

Its called NeverWhere. It captivated me as a 15 year old boy and Ive never forgotten it. Recently purchased the DVD`s to watch again. they are going cheap on Amazon.

for example... there really is an angel called islington... and an old man called bailey... and indeed there are Knights at the bridge, but they are not very friendly.;)
 
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They're good books, I can appreciate that but I never really got into them. I got through the first one but the 2nd was such a chore and only got half way through.

Generally, even if a book is bad (Catcher in the Rye, imo) I'll stick it out but I just couldn't get through the series.
 
Fenris said:
No.

I enjoyed LotR the first time I read it when I was 13 but now I can't stand them. For me the story is good, it's just that the writing isn't, it meanders, goes off on tangents and never really gets to the point, you could write the entire trilogy is a book the length of Fellowship and not miss out anything important and still have a story that would put a lot of modern fantasy to shame.


This is just as a reader, by saying "the writing is bad" I simply mean I find them annoying to read, I'm not saying Tolkien is a bad writer.
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Your name from Fenris Wolf?

_dogma_ said:
They're good books, I can appreciate that but I never really got into them. I got through the first one but the 2nd was such a chore and only got half way through.

Generally, even if a book is bad (Catcher in the Rye, imo) I'll stick it out but I just couldn't get through the series.
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That is exactly it for me, I can't get through the second book. It was tough getting through the Barrowrights in the first one but damn.... Frodo and Sam hiking through Mordor is boring... I just wanted him to die tbh.
 
Mirrormask is fantastic.

As for Neverwhere, read the book, it's infinitely better and one of my favourite books ever (Croup and Vandemar are the coolest bad guys ever). If you enjoy it, read Sixty-one Nails by Mike Shevdon.

Also if you read Neverwhere and enjoy Gaiman's writing, read American Gods, it's slightly insane but very good.

Did you know they are making a Neverwhere movie?
 
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Fenris said:
Mirrormask is fantastic.

As for Neverwhere, read the book, it's infinitely better and one of my favourite books ever (Croup and Vandemar are the coolest bad guys ever). If you enjoy it, read Sixty-one Nails by Mike Shevdon.

Also if you read Neverwhere and enjoy Gaiman's writing, read American Gods, it's slightly insane but very good.
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believe it or not, Mr Croup and Mr Vandemar are taken from an unfinished childrens book Gaiman wrote in his twentys... just a little trivia for you. :D Must have been one hell of a book.
 
Not alone by a long shot.

I read LOTR when I was younger and enjoyed it in the main, but really struggled with bits (I vaguely remember skipping parts entirely).
I tried rereading it a while back and just couldn't get into it at all :/
 
Same here. I read through The Hobbit and Fellowship of the Ring, and it only felt like a complete chore rather than a pleasure to read.

I didnt read anymore, but have sat through the entire extended trilogy movies plenty of times and wish I could have even more.
 
I read them for the first time a few years back and thought they were mediocre at best and I am a big fan of fantasy books.
 
I read them years ago and enjoyed them, but they were nowhere near as good as the 4 books in The Heritage of Shannara series by Terry Brooks.
 
mushroomsoup said:
i enjoy them the more i read them. you understand more of the irrelevant lore and poetry once you read the other books by tolkien and his son.
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I agree, I must have read them over 20 times and I enjoy it more each time.

TipTop said:
I read them years ago and enjoyed them, but they were nowhere near as good as the 4 books in The Heritage of Shannara series by Terry Brooks.
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I enjoy reading Brooks (I own them all) and he is getting better with each series but he started out by ripping off Tolkien in an almost embarrassing way. I'm so glad I persisted after reading Sword of Shannara because that book is as bad as fantasy can get really.
 
I read them quite a while back and while they were ok I did find them heavy going and I have no urge to read them again.

There are other fantasy series which I enjoy a lot more ...
 
[namedrop]I got into an argument with Mike Scott Rohan about this.[/namedrop] I reat LOTR first time around when I was about 20, and found myself fast-forwarding through the padding (the Elvish songs etc), but otherwise thought it OL. I read it again about ten years later, and enjoyed it a bit more, but still thought the padding was just showing off (technically of course, it's where the story stated). Soon after the first film came out I decided to read it again to see how faithfull the film was, but found myself unable to do so because I found his writing style so irritating. It was this that I was arguing with Rohan about: I was happy to concede that he is the father of modern fantasy (that is, he stole most of the tropes, but was the first to use them in the modern form, with a very Christian ethos), but said that his style was appalling. Rohan likes his style.


Unfortunately the OP rather spoils his position by citing his like of a load of other writers who are frankly no better, and in most cases just do pale Tolkein retreads. The general standard of writing in Fantasy is poor, with cliches abounding, and unfortunately it's the cliched writers that seem to succeed. I'll be charitable and assume that most of the posters here are young, and therefore don't know any better. And in answer to the obvious question: Ursula LeGuin.


M
 
I agree with the OP, I have read all of Eddings books and they are far more enjoyable then anything Tolkein has written. As with other peoples replies, I found myself skipping huge chunks in the LOTR books, for me personally, the films get the job done better (alhtough, I'm not a massive fan of the movies either!)
 
Shamikebab said:
I agree, I must have read them over 20 times and I enjoy it more each time.



I enjoy reading Brooks (I own them all) and he is getting better with each series but he started out by ripping off Tolkien in an almost embarrassing way. I'm so glad I persisted after reading Sword of Shannara because that book is as bad as fantasy can get really.
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Agreed the Sword of Shannara was dreadful, but the Elfstones of Shannara on the other hand was fantastic. I agree that LOTR is a chore to get through but is nowhere near as bad as Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. I'd sooner stab my eyes out than attempt to read one of them again.
 
Must agree, these books feel like a job to read :P its allmost the same for me with Terry Pratchett too :(.
 
Don't agree at all. Tolkien's writing is superb. I also love Robert Jordan's books but his writing is influenced by Tolkien and Herbert...Jordan tells a damned good story but it's nowhere near epic/legendary as Tolkien or Herbert.

This is why the Wheel of Time series will always be a great read but not a classic.
 
If people have trouble with Terry Pratchett, I'm not surprised they can't manage Tolkein. :eek:

Is everyone into Ladybird Book fiction these days? :confused:
 
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