Tome Thursday: The Return of the King

 

Hello everyone!

 

Well, we made it.

 

Against all odds - mostly because I wasn't entirely sure I'd be able to make this possible, given I was so sick at one point I felt like I was coughing up vital organs along with my sanity - we've finally reached the end of the road.

 

At least, for the time being.

 

Like I mentioned in Tuesday's post, I'll still be having a look at The War of the Rohirrim, just to see whether or not it's worth the watch, and possibly it'll find its way onto the blog post at some point or other.

 

However, that's going to have to wait, because lo and behold, tonight's post is the very last "regular" of this calendar year.

 

Advent begins this weekend, and if you've been following my blog for some years, you know what that means.

 

For now, let's take the road less-travelled, as they say, and make sure we end things right, in The Return of the King.

 

Talkie Tuesday: The Return of the King

 

"One Ring to rule them all ..."

 

Hello everyone!

 

And welcome back to the conclusion of our journey to Middle-Earth.

 

Well, alright, I'm probably not saying goodbye forever, that's just not going to work out for me seeing as I spend a lot of my waking (and sleeping!) hours in that particular fantasy world.

 

But so far as the movies go, for the time being, this is going to be the end.

 

I do in fact plan on watching War of the Rohirrim, although I'll admit I'm going in very wary, mostly because it feels like they're trying to shove another girl-boss down our throats when they didn't actually need to do it, but I digress.

 

I'll be seeing that eventually, but for tonight, we need to see just what the Companions of the Ring are willing to sacrifice on this last leg of their journey.

 

How far are all of them willing to go?

 

There's only one way to find out: we have to dive deep into The Return of the King.

 

Tome Thursday: The Two Towers

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome back.

 

You've probably figured out by now, if you're a casual reader of this blog, that I'm covering The Lord of the Rings in both movie and book form on here for the remainder of this autumn season.

 

Of course, if you've been paying attention and are a long-time follower, you know I love ANYTHING Tolkien that I can get my hands on.

 

Lord of the Rings? My favourite of all time.

 

So really, this sequence of events was a no-brainer.

 

In fairness, I might eventually look at other book-to-movie things and review them side-by-side if I can, or if I feel like it, but for now let's stop dallying, shall we?

 

It's time to make further steps towards Mordor, and we won't be able to do them unless we actually get to it.

 

Here's to The Two Towers.

 

Talkie Tuesday: The Two Towers

 

"One Ring to rule them all ..."

 

Hello everyone!

 

And welcome back to our Lord of the Rings journey.

 

If you're looking at your calendars and wondering, yes, I planned this.

 

I figured out that if I review the entire Hobbit trilogy as well as the Lord of the Rings one, I just make it to December when I can easily segue into my annual Christmas watching and reading.

 

Nifty, huh?

 

That said, I also hope you're ready for the ride in tonight's blog, because boy oh boy, this movie ... let's just say it has the harshest critics. Mostly because, out of all the trilogy, it suffered the biggest amount of changes to the timeline and the plots.

 

I'm not saying it's a bad thing, though, and maybe "suffered" isn't the right word to use. Generally speaking I still love it, and I'm a die-hard Tolkien fan!

 

So let's jump right in and see what that says about The Two Towers.

 

Tome Thursday: The Fellowship of the Ring

 

Hello everyone!

 

Saw this coming, didn't you?

 

If you didn't, then you should have.

 

It makes the most logical sense to cover the movie trilogy and then ensure that the book will be standing right alongside it, just because.

 

And also for all the differences that came from adapting the text onto our screens!

 

Peter Jackson did a wonderful job, but we have to remember that it was Tolkien who first started all of this and wrote an epic saga that we continue to be drawn to years after its initial publication.

 

For me, personally, I read these books once a year, without fail, and have done so for over a decade now, but I STILL discover new things each time I read.

 

I also cry every time I read, that too.

 

So without further ado, let's hop right into The Fellowship of the Ring.

 

Talkie Tuesday: The Fellowship of the Ring

 

"One Ring to rule them all ..."

 

Hello everyone!

 

I can't believe I haven't written this before.

 

Genuinely, this is my all-time favourite movie, bar none, and this goes for the trilogy as a whole rather than one separate movie, because there's no way to pick among them. It'd be like trying to pick your favourite child, and that's definitely not happening!

 

Of course then I take a look at the blog and realize ... I've never reviewed these.

 

Ever.

 

Which is a shame and a colossal one at that, dishonour on me, my family, and my cow combined follows after this announcement.

 

So without further ado, let's jump right into the epic adventure that New Line Cinema took a huge risk on back in the day, which was literal years in the making, and burst onto the silver screens with almost literal fireworks: The Lord of the Rings, part one, The Fellowship of the Ring!

 

Talkie Tuesday: The Battle of the Five Armies

 

"In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit ..."

 

Hello everyone!

 

And welcome to the conclusion of the epic prequel trilogy Peter Jackson served us with in true George Lucas style.

 

I mean, usually you'd film the first movies first, chronologically, then continue on with the story to the end that the author's written, right?

 

Well, like I said, USUALLY.

 

But both Lucas and Jackson ended up filming the conclusions FIRST, before circling back to the beginnings (I'm not looking at the Sequels in any way, shape or form at this time).

 

So without further ado and more chatter from me, let's check right back in, because last time we left a royally pissed-off dragon heading straight for some unsuspecting, vulnerable and squishy humans to deal with them.

 

Smaug may suck at interior decorating, but he sure does know how to deliver death and destruction in The Battle of the Five Armies.

 

Talkie Tuesday: The Rings of Power

 

"Three Rings for the Elven-Kings under the sky,

Seven for the Dwarf-Lords in their halls of stone,

Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die ..."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Alright so.

 

Unlike the last time I touched this story, I decided not to metaphorically undo myself every week for two months and figured I'd just do a little end-of dissertation once it was all over and done with.

 

After all, this isn't what a lot of people were expecting, although it LOOKS like there might be a lot of the positive floating around online, which is a bit of a difference from the first season, after which everyone and their mother (for the most part) was all "meh".

Of course I'm talking about Amazon's big fantasy release of the year, and no, it's not Wheel of Time.

If we're lucky we're getting the next season of THAT soon, however.

But for tonight, let's put on our thinking caps to make this all fit together in the second season of The Rings of Power.

Tome Thursday: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

 

Hello everyone!

 

After taking a mini break right after the Easter holidays and skipping Tuesday, I'm back once again with my next blog post installment, and boy is it a funny one.

 

See, I was supposed to read this book, like, literal ages ago.

 

It was given to me as a gift by one of my best friends, but one thing led to another and, for some reason still unknown to me, I managed to misplace it.

 

I KNOW. Shame.

 

I found it again this week though, after being off-work for a bit and having the time to really clean some stuff, so I managed to unearth it, dust it off, and figure, why not?

 

It's reasonably short, in comparison to the author's other works, so it's a very quick read, and there's nothing too complicated about it.

 

I'm talking, of course, about GRRM, and his three-story collecting A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

 

Tome Thursday: Origins of the Wheel of Time

 

Hello everyone!

 

And welcome to this week's book of choice.

 

Now, I had another one lined up to review tonight, but then looked at the calendar and figured ... it's much, MUCH too early for it.

 

Because THAT book only releases in about three weeks.

 

This one's been out for years.

 

So I figured, let's switch things up a little and worry about the review later, shall we?

 

And if you've followed me for a while now, you'll know that I'm also someone who LOVES behind the scenes stuff.

 

I live for it.

 

The fact that we get to see glimpses into someone's creative process? Yeah, that's my jam.

 

Which means that without further ado, let's jump right into the Origins of the Wheel of Time.

 

Talkie Tuesday: The Wheel of Time Origins

 

"The Wheel of Time continues to turn." 

Hello everyone!

Honestly, I can't believe I didn't review these sooner.

Like, I know I'm usually behind stuff and all that jazz, but, come on now!

I suppose I re-discovered them after digging around the internet a bit about whether or not we might see the second season of Wheel of Time at any point soon, considering.

Then I read that another batch of these webisodes was supposed to start dropping back in August 2022 - and nothing happened!

I swear, at this point I have no idea what Amazon's doing.

Their marketing strategy seems to be all over the place, and incredibly bad about some stuff. Have they never looked at other giant corporations and how they do it? Disney? The works??

Apparently not, because let's face it, announcing a season three before season two airs, dropping a teaser trailer, and then going radiosilent is NOT it, chief.

So let's drum up some hype on our own, looking back at The Wheel of Time: Origins instead!

Talkie Tuesday: House of the Dragon

 

"The only thing that could tear down the House of the Dragon ... was itself."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Saw this coming, didn't you?

 

I bet you have!

 

Or at least, you should have in any event haha. Because the best epic fantasy series to air on television this fall (for now) has just wrapped its first season and I AM HYPED.

 

Okay, there were mistakes. Tactical and story-wise, but that doesn't mean that the execution wasn't magical, however.

Considering we're coming off the horrendous last season of Game of Thrones, people naturally went into this new Westeros-based show with a lot of trepidation, myself included. Heck, I actively tried NOT to get excited, but ended up being so just the same.

I can't help it. I've ALWAYS wondered what it was like during the Targaryen hay-day, when they had all those dragons and were literally on top of the world.

If you're just as curious, dust that saddle off and let's soar above the clouds into House of the Dragon!

Rings of Power: Alloyed

 

"One will always corrupt, two will divide; with three, there is balance."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Well, we finally made it.

 

The season finale is behind us, and with it, the mostly lackluster first season as a whole.

 

You may find this a harsh sort of criticism but, considering the incredibly high budget that Amazon threw at what I think they wanted to consider their flagship fantasy series purely because of the name attached to it - Tolkien - it really didn't deliver as much as it could have.

 

I've seen shows with a five time lesser budget do SO much better!

 

It felt as if, BECAUSE of the budget, the show creators thought they could do anything and people would love it precisely because of the money.

 

Newsflash, we don't watch shows for the money. We don't watch them for politics, either. We watch them for good, quality storytelling. 

The Rings of Power didn't achieve most of its goals, so let's look at the finale, Alloyed, to wrap it all up.

Saturday Snippet: The Wheel of Time SEASON TWO TEASER

 

xx

*video not mine

Rings of Power: Udûn

 

"New life, in defiance of death."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Two more episodes to go in this show and we are done with the first season.

Will we return for a second? Remains to be seen.

Obviously we already know Amazon is committed to this project with five whole seasons, though granted I'm not entirely sure how they'll continue to excuse it if it performs poorly.

Or, maybe it won't perform poorly, not that I'm convinced it's doing well either.

It feels more like, the amount of views it's getting is that macabre sort of showing that people are only watching because they want to see the next version of a train wreck!

But maybe I'm being too harsh. However, I will say that after six episodes of barely anything happening, it's difficult to really argue against the fact that the season has just not been as gripping thus far as it could have been, and arguments of 'it'll be spread out over 5 seasons you have to be patient' are moot point as we have to wait for a long time between seasons. That doesn't translate well into the waiting period, trust me.

However, we still do have a review to get through, so here it is. The Rings of Power: Udûn.

Tome Thursday: Fire & Blood

 

Hello everyone!

 

So with House of the Dragon being a smash hit on HBO - but did anyone REALLY expect anything else? Really? - I thought it was time to have a little look at the book that the show is based off of.

 

And no, unlike with Game of Thrones, there's no WIP attached to it ... at least not for the era the show's covering.

 

Which is the best thing possible given we know what happened when the original show ran out of published material and needed to figure things out on its own. I'm not saying it was all horrible, but the steady decline was quite obvious, just the same.

 

House of the Dragon has no such imminent problem on the horizon because the entirety of the Dance of Dragons is written out and detailed down to the last squire fighting on one side or the other.

 

This removes a lot of uncertainty and potential problems, as well as, supported with the knowledge that Martin is actually an executive producer on the show and consultant, we all know it's going to be OKAY. Or at least, that's the general consensus.

 

So without further ado, let's dive right into it, shall we?

 

Because before the Starks and Lannisters went at it, dragons ruled Westeros, with Fire & Blood.

 

Rings of Power: The Great Wave

 

"The Faithful believe that when the petals of the White Tree fall, it is no idle thing."

 

Hello everyone!

 

And we're back once again to dig a little deeper into Amazon's huge budget blockbuster show - I mean, we all know just how much money the company threw at this, right?

 

I feel like I keep repeating myself every single week, but I will say that, for the amount of money spent, I don't really see the results being executed all that well YET, and at this point we're halfway through the first season, which is slightly concerning.

 

I'm not the only one thinking like this, either, as there is a fair number of people who share my views, but we digress in any event.

 

Regardless of all of the above, we did witness SOME plot progression this last episode.

 

Not all of it was completely bad, and certainly not all of it was completely good.

 

Besides, the visual effects remain rather stunning no matter what one thinks with regards to the writing and characters, so you know.

 

Rings of Power's fourth episode, The Great Wave, gives a lot of pomp and substance, but the core of it is still somehow ... hollow.

 

Rings of Power: Introduction

 

"Without a sword, what am I to be?"

 

Hello everyone!

 

So I would have done something else entirely for Tuesday's review if not for the fact that last Friday dawned bright and clear ... and brought us the premiere of what people have been both anticipating and dreading at the same time.

 

I don't plan on going into too much detail, as I might just wait for the season to conclude before I do so, but I couldn't say nothing. It's not an actual review of the two episodes, and I'll do a breakdown of the season as a whole after we wrap up.

 

However, I did want to share some of my initial thoughts because ... well, I have thoughts.

 

Who doesn't?

 

Considering the fact Amazon has literally turned off the reviewing option because of the reactions, and you have to ask yourself: is it because they just can't stand so many positives? Or are they afraid the house of cards will come tumbling down with all the negatives?

 

Your call.

 

But Rings of Power is here, whether we like it or not.

 

Saturday Snippet: Rings of Power Impressions

 

Thus far ... unconvinced. We proceed.

 

xx

*image not mine

Saturday Snippet: The Lord of the Rings TITLE ANNOUNCEMENT!

 

Enter, RINGS OF POWER!

September 2, 2022.

 

I can't wait!

 

xx

*video not mine