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Post by geoffrey on Apr 24, 2021 17:18:41 GMT -6
What I think would be a cool set of The Lord of the Rings books: A. Six volumes. B. Mass market paperbacks with luridly colorful, pulpy colors. Would Erol Otus be too much to ask? C. Yellow spines with black and red lettering (like the old DAW paperback fantasies). D. Each volume containing one of the six books of the saga, not bothering with the prologue or appendices. E. Titles supplied by J. R. R. Tolkien: 1. The Ring Sets Out 2. The Ring Goes South 3. The Treason of Isengard 4. The Ring Goes East 5. The War of The Ring 6. The End of The Third Age F. And a volume of The Hobbit to match.  |
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Post by geoffrey on Apr 29, 2021 11:07:06 GMT -6
Here we have Erol Otus's cover for The Hobbit:  |
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Post by geoffrey on May 2, 2021 16:58:22 GMT -6
Here is Frank Frazetta's cover for volume 5, The War of the Ring:  |
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Post by geoffrey on May 3, 2021 19:20:42 GMT -6
If I could tell Erol Otus what illustrations to do, I'd pick as follows:
The Hobbit: Smaug!
1. The Ring Sets Out: barrow-wight
2. The Ring Goes South: Gandalf vs. the balrog
3. The Treason of Isengard: weird ents in even weirder Fangorn
4. The Ring Goes East: Shelob
5. The War of The Ring: Eowyn vs. the Nazgul mounted on a fell beast
6. The End of The Third Age: Not sure about this one. Perhaps trolls slaying themselves or casting themselves into pits at Sauron's defeat.
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Post by verhaden on May 4, 2021 17:46:50 GMT -6
What I think would be a cool set of The Lord of the Rings books: A. Six volumes. B. Mass market paperbacks with luridly colorful, pulpy colors. Would Erol Otus be too much to ask? C. Yellow spines with black and red lettering (like the old DAW paperback fantasies). D. Each volume containing one of the six books of the saga, not bothering with the prologue or appendices. E. Titles supplied by J. R. R. Tolkien: 1. The Ring Sets Out 2. The Ring Goes South 3. The Treason of Isengard 4. The Ring Goes East 5. The War of The Ring 6. The End of The Third Age F. And a volume of The Hobbit to match. I would suggest Flexi-binding as opposed to mass market paperbacks, e.g., imagogroup.com/uk/product-gallery/flexibinding/The prologue and appendices should absolutely be included (especially the appendices). I know how you feel about the Silmarillion, so I won't touch on it. But if a companion text could be included, I think Tolkien's letters would be appropriate. |
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Post by tkdco2 on May 7, 2021 11:47:31 GMT -6
I agree that the prologue and appendices ought to be included. They present a lot of information and good stories that give context to the characters in LOTR. While I for one love the Silmarillion, I would say it should be considered supplemental material. The Book of Lost Tales is a good alternative or complement to the Silmarillion, of course.
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Post by Falconer on May 7, 2021 14:24:47 GMT -6
Maybe the Appendices as a lavishly illustrated coffee table book, almost like a RPG book. With lots of maps and stuff (shifting borders of kingdoms, cross-section of Moria, etc.). There is so much interesting material in there, as a standalone companion it could be pretty sweet.
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Post by geoffrey on May 7, 2021 16:56:23 GMT -6
Maybe the Appendices as a lavishly illustrated coffee table book, almost like a RPG book. With lots of maps and stuff (shifting borders of kingdoms, cross-section of Moria, etc.). There is so much interesting material in there, as a standalone companion it could be pretty sweet. I like this idea, and I would add the prologue to the volume (since much of it, too, seems like RGP material). For the six volumes of The Lord of the Rings, I'm trying to envision a format that would make them visually indistinguishable from the old sword & sorcery books published all those many decades ago. As soon as histories, chronologies, family trees, linguistics, and all of that is put in, suddenly it seems to be a very, very different presentation than REH's The Hour of the Dragon or Vance's The Dying Earth. |
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Post by geoffrey on May 24, 2021 11:23:56 GMT -6
Today I acquired a publication of The Lord of the Rings: a boxed set of seven trade paperbacks. They are titled as in my opening post. The covers leave a lot to be desired (the front covers being inoffensively black with author and title, while the back covers have stills from the movies). Here are the page counts: 1. The Ring Sets Out: 283 pages (257 pages not counting the prologue) 2. The Ring Goes South: 253 pages 3. The Treason of Isengard: 252 pages 4. The Ring Goes East: 189 pages 5. The War of the Ring: 197 pages 6: The End of the Third Age: 182 pages 7: Appendices: 190 pages Not exactly what I desire, but the closest I've ever heard of.  |
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Post by Falconer on May 24, 2021 14:34:21 GMT -6
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Post by tkdco2 on May 24, 2021 17:01:49 GMT -6
I need to get that boxed set.
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Post by thomden on May 24, 2021 17:39:58 GMT -6
Here is Frank Frazetta's cover for volume 5, The War of the Ring: I love Frazetta as much as anyone, and this drawing is amazing. But Eowyn without pants is just too much. |
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Post by Falconer on May 24, 2021 17:44:19 GMT -6
LOL, well he drew her completely nude in the prelim sketch!
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Post by thomden on May 24, 2021 17:49:10 GMT -6
LOL, well he drew her completely nude in the prelim sketch! haha, well that's not that unusual. Many artists draw the figure first to get everything in the right place then draw the clothing. I'm going to have to look up this nude Eowyn, I'm surprised I've never seen it before. For research purposes of course. |
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Post by thomden on May 24, 2021 17:55:25 GMT -6
Alright, you must mean this one. I have seen it before, it was in my art inspiration folder.  The finish is far superior in every way. Frazetta is the only artist that can have even more energy in his finish than his sketch. |
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Post by geoffrey on May 24, 2021 18:42:17 GMT -6
In terms of this hypothetical set of book covers, I think the nude Eowyn works even better. More pulpy. Look at her right wrist. She must be wearing bracers of defense. And she also must have read p. 28 of the DMG on the importance of helmets. "I got my helmet, got my bracers, and am otherwise naked: I'm ready for battle!"  (Not to mention the fact that the only way Eowyn was able to get to that battle was by disguising herself as a man. Yeah, nobody is going to recognize that she is a woman while she's wearing her bracer and helmet.  ) |
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