Guess who’s back…

Has it really been four months since I posted or have performed any activity on this blog?  Wow!  Well, kids, I’m back with ideas and topics galore!

First, if you’re familiar at all with Eminem’s repertoire, you have to think of the title in the vein of one of his songs:
“That’s why they call me Slim Shady…
I’m back, I’m back.
That’s why they call me Slim Shady…
I’m back, guess who’s back?”

Ok, now that that is out of the way, let’s get down to some business.  I published three posts this morning that were actually written those four or five months ago.  I apologize on the delay of posting.  Life and programming happened; and the blog didn’t!  So, a few updates regarding those posts:

1. Middle Earth – I finished The Fellowship of the Ring novel and then watched the movie.  To be fair, I did get bogged down in reading the novel.  I don’t know why, though; I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.  I then started reading The Two Towers and again, was bogged down.  So, that project is still ongoing, but I needed a break from that realm, apparently.

2. Programming – I’m still learning programming.  I have signed up for some classes, which will be starting in less than a month.  I’ve also been working on a mobile app using the Corona SDK platform.  At this time, I have a fully functional app, but it still has some bugs and needs some design applied to it, as parts of it is quite ugly!  I’ll post on that as I complete it and place it the Google Play Store and the Apple AppStore.

3. I’ve been slowly working through all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe productions.  I’ll post about those in a separate, forthcoming blog post.

4. I’ve also started preparing for December’s Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens release.  I’ll be doing a series on this, so stay tuned!

With that, I’m out.
Peace.

Concerning Smaug and the Battle of Five Armies…

In my previous post about Middle-Earth, I noted that I still had some questions about story lines in the the first movie that hadn’t yet been accounted for in my readings.  These were: Thranduil, Dol Guldur, and Legolas.  Having now watched the second film, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, I have even more questions!  Thranduil was not supposed to recognize Thorin, and vice versa, according to the book, yet they know each other in the movie.  I was hoping to find some mention of at least some interaction that had been written in a note or something.  Also, when they reach Erebor (The Lonely Mountain), Bilbo is supposed to be the only one to enter the mountain and deal with Smaug, but in the movies the entire company ultimately goes in and a battle ensues.  These made for good cinema, and neither really detracted from the story, but I was left wondering if there was more to the story in some of Tolkien’s other writings.  So, I must read on.  I have also successfully finished the following from my previous list, and then some:

14. Unfinished Tales – Part Two: The Second Age, IV – The History of Galadriel and Celeborn and of Amroth King of Lorien
15. Unfinished Tales – Part Two: Appendices
16. Unfinished Tales – Part Three: The Third Age, II – Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan
17. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – Prologue
18. Unfinished Tales – Part Three: The Third Age, V – The Battles of the Fords of Isen
19. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Appendix A, I – The Numenorean Kings
20. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Appendix A, II – The House of Eorl

Nothing I read in these stories included anything regarding the aforementioned story lines.

After watching the second film, I must amend an earlier statement.  In the previous post, I mentioned that Bolg was not mentioned in the movies.  Well, this was true only for the first movie.  Azog calls on Bolg to continue the pursuit of Thorin while Azog stays at Dol Guldur.  The relationship isn’t mentioned in the movie, but he did at least make an appearance and essentially do what he does in the book: chase after and heckle Thorin and Company.  Also, the scene in Laketown was slightly modified from the book, especially in regards to Bard.  But, again I state, this doesn’t really detract from the story.

The opinion I have come to, and my stance on the whole book vs. movie thing, is that there were certainly some necessary things that needed to happen to make three movies out of one book (whereas with The Lord of the Rings Peter Jackson essentially had six books of material with which to make three movies).  None of the new additions (Tauriel, for example) really take away from the main story line and plot. The love interest happening between Tauriel and Kili gave some more depth to the movies.  Therefore, I think I will simply try to read the rest of the material out there and form a timeline of events through which to read the story, without further searching for certain points or story lines that I have yet to find.

I had the opportunity to go and watch the final installment of Hobbit movies, The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies.  This movie followed more closely the end of the book, while also bringing to close some of the differences between the book and the movies.  The movie was quite good; I had a hard time believing I sat through a two and a half hour movie.  I will say this about it here: the third installment picks up right where the second installment left off.  So, if you’re a little fuzzy on how The Desolation of Smaug ended, watch it before viewing The Battle of Five Armies.

In conclusion, I feel it helpful to provide a list of links that I have found valuable in this crusade.  They are each worth a look if you’re even remotely interested in Middle-Earth lore.
The Tolkien Gateway
LOTR Project
Lord of the Rings Wiki
Middle-Earth Chronology

My next post regarding Middle-Earth will be an updated, chronological reading guide for those interested.  I will also include in the list where best to watch the movies, if desired.

Middle-Earth: A Suggested Chronological Reading Guide (v. 1)

Of course this assumes that you are already familiar with the lore of Middle-Earth.  If you are not, I suggest you visit this post and begin with the list titled: “A Beginner’s Reading guide to Middle-Earth”, reading at least through The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Assuming you have done that, I have also made some other assumptions or decisions for the timeline that is below.  The first assumption is how the stories end.  If the story begins as a retelling of the past, with little more than a sentence or two at the beginning and the end indicating placement, I placed the story where the larger retelling takes place.  Some of the Appendices from The Return of the King fall into this category, where Bilbo is retelling the story, but the story itself actually takes place many years before.  A second assumption on placement is that of the ending of the stories.  One such story is the story of Arwen and Aragorn.  The end of the story is what drove me to place it at the end of the timeline because the story ends after the death of Aragorn.  A third assumption, at least at this time, is that video games and stories by other people are not included in this timeline.  This is mainly because I have not played the games nor can I speak to their canonicity. I do  include Peter Jackson’s treatments of the books in this list, however.  So, with these assumptions in mind, following is the timeline I have come up with.

One last comment regarding the timeline: This timeline does not include any of the First Age (or earlier) or Fourth Age, and very little of the Second Age.  The list at this time will start with the end of the Second Age and go through the Third Age.  As I continue reading through The Lord of the Rings and other books, I will update with new timelines with the hope that I will eventually arrive at a complete reading guide.  The guide is broken up by chapter in its presentation, unless large sections can be read as a whole.  My goal is to have read all of the fictional material by early April.

The Second Age
1. Unfinished Tales: Part Two: The Second Age: IV – The History of Galadriel and Celeborn and of Amroth King of Lorien
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Appendix A: Annals of the Kings and Rulers: I – The Numenorean Kings: (i) Numenor
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Appendix A: Annals of the Kings and Rulers: I – The Numenorean Kings: (ii) The Realms in Exile
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Appendix A: Annals of the Kings and Rulers: I – The Numenorean Kings: (iii) Eriador, Arnor, and the Heirs of Isildur
5. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Appendix A: Annals of the Kings and Rulers: I – The Numenorean Kings: (iv) Gondor and the Heirs of Anarion
6.  The Silmarillion: Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age

The Third Age
7. Unfinished Tales: Part Three: The Third Age: I: The Disaster of the Gladden Fields
8. Unfinished Tales: Part Three: The Third Age: II: Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan
9. Unfinished Tales: Part Four: The Druedain
10. Unfinished Tales: Part Four: The Istari
11. Unfinished Tales: Part Four: The Palantiri
12. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Appendix A: Annals of the Kings and Rulers: III – Durin’s Folk
13. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: Prologue: 1 – Concerning Hobbits
14. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: Prologue: 2 – Concerning Pipe-weed
15. Unfinished Tales: Part Three: The Third Age: IV: The Hunt for the Ring: iii – Concerning Gandalf, Saruman and the Shire
16. The Hobbit: Chapters 1-6
17. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: movie
18. The Hobbit: Chapters 7-13
19. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: movie
20. The Hobbit: Chapters 14-19 (end)
21. The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies: movie
22. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: Prologue: 3 – Of the Ordering of the Shire
23. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: Prologue: 4 – Of the Finding of the Ring
24. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: Book 1
25. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: Book 2
26. Unfinished Tales: Part Three: The Third Age: IV: The Hunt for the Ring: i – Of the Journey of the Black Riders according to the Account that Gandalf gave to Frodo
27. Unfinished Tales: Part Three: The Third Age: IV: The Hunt for the Ring: ii – Other Versions of the Story
28. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: movie
29. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers: Book 3, chapters 1-7
30. Unfinished Tales: The Third Age: V: The Battles of the Fords of Isen
31. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers: Book 3, chapters 8-11 (end)
32. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers: Book 4
33. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers: movie
34. Unfinished Tales: Part Three: The Third Age: III – The Quest of Erebor
35. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Book 5
36. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Book 6
37. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: Prologue: Note on the Shire Records
38. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Appendix A: Annals of the Kings and Rulers: I – The Numenorean Kings: (v) Here Follows a Part of the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen
39. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Appendix A: Annals of the Kings and Rulers: II – The House of Eorl
40. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Appendix B: The Tale of Years
41. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Appendix B: Later Events Concerning the Members of the Fellowship of the Ring
42. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: movie

At this point, if the reader is interested, the rest of the appendices found at the end of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King may be read.

Concerning Hobbits…

With the release of the final cinematic treatment on The Hobbit, originally written by J.R.R. Tolkien, coming up soon, I decided around Thanksgiving that I wanted to re-read the book and watch the previously released The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.  So, that’s what I did.  I had not read the Hobbit since Junior High School, over 10 years prior.

The Hobbit was probably the first Fantasy book I ever read.  The way it was written made the words leap off of the pages and made it come to life, granted never in a way Peter Jackson was able to pull off with a big Hollywood budget, but it came to life nevertheless.  I have been interested in Fantasy stories ever since.  Some are good, and some aren’t.  It happens.  As it is, I had previously also read the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy and have started The Silmarillion several times (having never completed it).

For those of us who had read the book, the movies added some things and took some artistic license with some other things.  This wasn’t a huge deal and really didn’t bother me.  It really bothered some people.  So, I did some digging.  As it turns out, while there was indeed some artistic license with things, into the movies were added some stories found in other Tolkien stories relating to Middle-Earth.  I will relate them below and give a sort of reading order, if you will.  If you would like to read the information added into the movie, you can find some in The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales of Middle Earth, and the Appendices of Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Below I will include three lists.  If this is your first time reading about Middle-Earth, I will include a recommended beginner’s order on reading the material.  If you’re into chronological timelines, I’ll give you one of those lists, which will also give some background into the Ring of Power.  The last list will be how I’ve read through it (and still have to read before I see the final release).

A Beginner’s Reading Guide to Middle-Earth
1. The Hobbit
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
5. The Silmarillion
6. Unfinished Tales of Middle Earth

Chronological Timeline for The Hobbit
1. The Silmarillion – Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age
2. Unfinished Tales – Part Three: The Third Age, I – The Disaster of the Gladden Fields
3. Unfinished Tales – Part Four, I – The Druedain
4. Unfinished Tales – Part Four, II – The Istari
5. Unfinished Tales – Part Four, III – The Palantiri
6. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Appendix A: Annals of the Kings and Rulers: III – Durin’s Folk
7. Unfinished Tales – Part Three: The Third Age: IV – The Hunt for the Ring: iii. Concerning Gandalf, Saruman and the Shire
8. The Hobbit
9. Unfinished Tales  – Part Three: The Third Age: III – The Quest of Erebor

My Path back into Middle-Earth
Before I start the list, I should note that I began reading The Hobbit and then began adding the other listed items concurrently.  It was from reading these that I determined the Chronological Timeline above.
1. The Hobbit
2. Unfinished Tales – Part Three: The Third Age, III – The Quest of Erebor
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Appendix A, III – Durin’s Folk
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Appendix B, The Tale of Years
5. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Appendix B, Later Events Concerning the Members of the Fellowship of the Ring
6. Unfinished Tales – Part Three: The Third Age, I – The Disaster of the Gladden Fields
7. Unfinished Tales – Part Three: The Third Age, IV – The Hunt for the Ring, i – Of the Journey of the Black Riders according to the Account that Gandalf gave to Frodo
8. Unfinished Tales – Part Three: The Third Age, IV – The Hunt for the Ring, ii – Other Versions of the Story
9. Unfinished Tales – Part Three: The Third Age, IV – The Hunt for the Ring, iii – Concerning Gandalf, Saruman, and the Shire
10. The Silmarillion – Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age
11. Unfinished Tales – Part Four, I The Druedain
12. Unfinished Tales – Part Four, II – The Istari
13. Unfinished Tales – Part Four, III – The Palantiri

At this point I finished The Hobbit and realized there was still some of the story missing (Tranduil, Dol Goldur, and Legolas, for example).  Not willing yet to chalk it up completely to artistic license, I am continuing to read the following list.  (The storyline about Radagast in the movies is completely artistic license.  I do believe I have read everything written about Radagast, and there is literally no story line there.  Some of Gandalf’s actions have been given to Radagast for the movie.  And with this I am ok.  It does not detract from the story the least bit.  Radagast in the movie is, however, based completely on the descriptions of him by Tolkien.  Azog, also in the movie, is an example of artistic license.  In the books, Azog is killed by Thorin’s father or grandfather and it is Azog’s son Bolg that is involved in harassing Thorin.  I think this would have been hard to explain in the movie and agree that it is easier to just let Azog be.  The result is the same [at least I assume since I haven’t yet seen the final movie].  How do orcs reproduce, anyway?)

14. Unfinished Tales – Part Two: The Second Age, IV – The History of Galadriel and Celeborn and of Amroth King of Lorien
15. Unfinished Tales – Part Two: Appendices
16. Unfinished Tales – Part Three: The Third Age, II – Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan
17. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – Prologue
18. Unfinished Tales – Part Three: The Third Age, V – The Battles of the Fords of Isen

I will post an updated Chronological Timeline list once I finish.