Back again for another highly opinionated — some might even say downright cranky — look at some element of the fantasy genre. You’ve been warned!

WHEN DID FANTASY STOP BEING ABOUT SWORDS AND SORCERY?

Whenever I tell people I edit a website devoted to fantasy-themed entertainment, they usually say the same thing: “Oh, wizards and sorcery and quests and stuff like that?”

Usually, I just nod and say, “Yup!”

But if I’m in the mood to give a more complicated answer (and if I think the listener actually wants to hear it!), I say, “Well, swords and sorcery are a part of it. But increasingly, traditional or ‘high’ fantasy is a smaller and smaller part of the genre. These days, it’s much more about contemporary or urban fantasy — anything that involves magic or the paranormal or supernatural in general. These days, most of the creative energy is around shows like Supernatural or vampire-themed projects like True Blood. If anything, swords and sorcery is becoming sort of the bastard stepchild to the genre.”

Let me pause here to say that I love swords and sorcery. It’s what drew me to the genre, and it’s still probably the fantasy sub-genre I love the most (indeed, this site and this column are named after it!).

But the fact is, when was the last time a “traditional” sword-and-sorcery fantasy project took the world, or even the geek world, by storm? Legend of the Seeker? We all know how that story ended up.

Sure, there’s George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice (soon to be an HBO series called A Game of Thrones). But that series’ claim to fame is its post-modern “realistic” bent — and its almost complete lack of magic. Spartacus: Blood and Sand, meanwhile, subverts the traditional genre with its explicit gore and (especially) its sex.

Harry Potter kept the sorcery — but put it in a traditional setting.

True, the Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia movie franchises are still going strong, but let’s face it: these projects are fueled, in large part, by nostalgia — by the desire of geeks like me to see their childhood passions finally fully realized on-screen, in a way they couldn’t be pre-CGI.

You can certainly still find high fantasy in fiction and in many video games — Dragon Age: Origins was deservedly a sensation. But you can also find plenty of urban and supernatural contemporary fantasy in both mediums as well.

Still, the swords-and-sorcery backlash became clear to me yet again last week when I was reviewing a new (pretty good) webseries called JourneyQuest. Basically, it’s a satire of all the traditional fantasy conventions, with the wizard, the warrior, and a villain all given modern, ironic sensibilities.

But when I was writing my review, it occurred to me that I’d been seeing this mock-the–traditional-fantasy-conventions premise a lot lately: last year’s Comedy Central series Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire, and a long list of other recent webseries: The Legend of Neil, Doraleous and Associates, A Good Knight’s Quest, The Gamers, and The Guild.

Mocking fantasy conventions really isn’t anything new. I think a big part of the reason why Xena: Warrior Princess became  the sensation it did (especially compared to its originator Hercules: The Legendary Journeys) was because of its take-no-prisoners sense of humor (and its female protagonists for a change). There were no sacred fantasy cows on Xena, that’s for sure.

Meanwhile, the next swords-and-sorcery fantasy movie, Your Highness (coming in April 2011), is, of course, a fantasy-comedy, making fun of the genre.

What is it about traditional fantasy that is making people so eager to make fun of it?

Ironically, I kinda blame it on The Lord of the Rings — or at least the authors and fantasy enthusiasts who followed directly in Tolkien’s wake. Sure, the “fantasy” genre existed long before Tolkien, but it was Rings that basically ended up creating the modern fantasy genre: elves, dwarves, an all-powerful magic item, an evil force to be destroyed.

Lord of the Rings cast a long, dark shadow all through the 60s, 70s, and 80s — a shadow that was reinforced by the explosion of the D&D gaming culture where people basically acted out those Tolkien conventions over and over again. Before long, the template Tolkien had popularized almost became something sort of … sacred.

And let’s face it: in the hands of most 70s and 80s fantasy writers, these ossified conventions also became very predictable and very boring. Been there, done that, that’s for sure. Around 1989, I decided if I read about one more humble medieval farm-hand who was destined to save the world from yet another Big Bad, I was going to scream.

In short, the genre was ripe for implosion. Indeed, the genre wasn’t just ripe for implosion, it was actually sort of begging for it.

So cue the rise of fantasy reinventions like A Song of Fire and Ice and Xena: Warrior Princess, and the parodies like JourneyQuest and Krod Mandoon.

None of this is a bad thing. Fantasy is richer and more sophisticated than its ever been (IMHO). But sometimes I do think: wouldn’t it be nice to see another great work of traditional fantasy, without the irony, the parody, or the reinvention?

That’s when I remember: all those favorite fantasy works of my childhood still exist: all I have to do is cue them up on my DVD player or Kindle.

That fact that I don’t do it all that often — that I’d rather watch the latest episode of Supernatural or read the newest Jacqueline Carey book — makes me think: well, maybe I’ve moved on some too.

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It’s no secret that man has long been drawn to riddles, puzzles that we have to work out through logic and reasoning. The satisfaction one gains at completing one of these mindbenders is addictive, and keeps us hungering for more.

Riddles are a mainstay of fiction, and they’re especially common among fantasy stories. Often the catch that makes them so irresistible is when the answer proves to be so simple it’s just overlooked, as in the famous riddle in The Lord of the Rings, when the fellowship approaches a door that’s inscribed in Elvish, “Speak friend and enter.” Spells and passwords are thrown at the door until finally the answer is stumbled upon: they simply must say the word “friend” in the same language. “Speak friend and enter.”

Tolkien’s love of riddles is prevalent in his earlier novel, The Hobbit, as well, in the iconic chapter in which we first meet the villainous Gollum. Bilbo and Gollum get themselves into a game of riddles, each trying to top the other. The game is ended with Bilbo’s cop-out riddle, “What have I got in my pocket?” which as we all know, is not a riddle, but a mere question. And the answer, of course, is fantasy’s most famous bling, the One Ring.

Tolkien took much of his influence from the mythologies of the ancient world, so it’s no surprise that riddles can be found as far back as Greek mythology, and possibly even further.

One of the first riddles I ever remember hearing as a child was the famous riddle told by the Sphinx, a fierce monster from a distant land who came to Greece. She was sent by one god or another to guard the entrance to the city of Thebes, and ask anyone who passed her way the riddle. If they couldn’t guess an answer, she devoured them.

The Thebans lived in terror of the beast until the young Oedipus came along. She asked him the now iconic riddle, “What has four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three in the evening?” The answer, of course, is man, who crawls in infancy, walks about in his prime, and leans on a crutch in his twilight years. And thus Oedipus became famous for killing the Sphinx…and, later on, for having a notoriously peculiar taste in women.

Riddles are also a fun way to bring an audience further into the story, even making us feel like we’re a part of the action. After all, how fun is it to be struggling for an answer to a puzzle in real time along with the characters in the story? In fact, hasn’t Dan Brown made a living doing just that?

Who can forget the scene in The Labyrinth when Sarah confronts the obstacle of the two doors? Each door hosts two guards, who in true Jim Henson-style oddness, are stacked on each other in what can only be described as a chaste version of a numerical sexual position. They explain to Sarah that one of the doors will take her farther along her journey, and one leads to (bum bum bum bum) certain death. She can ask them questions, but they caution her that one of them always tells the truth, and one of them always lies.

A pickle, indeed.

But Sarah, clever vixen that she is, logics her way past this. Of course, twenty years later, I’m still trying to figure out if she got it right or not.

Mankind will never tire of riddles, and for storytelling they’re ideal, for they’re a way to turn a story into an interactive game. I’ll never forget being a child and my father telling me a riddle he had heard:

A young boy and his father are driving in a car when their car is hit by a truck. The father, tragically, doesn’t survive, but the son does, and is taken to the hospital immediately. He is brought in and put on the operating table, but the surgeon on duty, distraught, leaves the room, saying, “I’m sorry, I cannot operate on this boy. He’s my son.” Who is the surgeon?

I thought about this for a long time, as did the adults in the room, trying to figure out where the paternity could have been misconstrued, or if “son” could have been a figurative term.

As always, the simplest answer is usually correct.

The surgeon was his mother.

Have a question about something fantasy-related? Ask the Oracle! (Be sure to include your first name and the city, state, and/or country you are writing from.)

Q: Oh Wise and Wondrous Oracle, what can you tell me about the apparently stalled film adaptation of Mary Doria Russell’s fabulous novel, The Sparrow? Last I heard Brad Pitt and/or Antonio Banderas were attached to it, but it seems to have stalled completely. — Ralph, New Zealand

A: The Oracle can reveal that the movie remains in development at Warner Brothers, with Brad Pitt attached; the option on the project was renewed in February 2009. But as Russell herself says, “Many are optioned, but few are filmed.”

The Sparrow is the story of a priest who is the only survivor of a disastrous “first contact” mission with an alien race. In its review, Library Journal basically said it was too smart and philosophical to be considered “science fiction” — which just goes to show how little Library Journal know about science fiction. It’s totally in keeping with the genre’s greatest traditions.

Anyway, Russell is now cautiously optimistic that the movie might get made. “Mr. Pitt is indeed serious about the movie,” she says.

Q: So … the upcoming remake of V. Does she … eat the rat? — Marcy, Billings, MT

A: Not in the pilot episode, which is the only one the Oracle has seen. But … come on! She has to eventually, right? That’s the most famous scene in the original series!

For those of you who don’t know what we’re talking about, just ignore us.

Diana “eats the rat” [Spoiler alert!]

Q: Last week, your site alluded to the rivalry between Universal Studios and Disney. But what does it mean for Universal Studios that Disney recently purchased Marvel Comics (and the rights to all their characters)? Marvel characters are featured prominently in Universal Studio’s Islands of Adventure amusement park. — Trevor, Los Angeles, CA

A: In the short term, Disney’s purchase of Marvel does not affect Universal; they have long-term leases on the characters that are featured on the park’s Marvel Superhero Island.

But long-term? The Oracle thinks it’s not so good for Universal. Disney can, and will, start adding Marvel characters to their own theme parks. Marvel’s lease with Universal is a “Florida-exclusive” one, which means Disney can’t add those characters to Disney World — but they can still gradually dilute Universal’s cache by adding them elsewhere.

According to the New York Times, this is part of the reason why Universal has invested so heavily in their Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction, opening next spring. It allows them to gradually move away from their reliance on the Marvel characters, and also on the movies of Steven Spielberg (like Jurassic Park), since his association with the park may also soon be renegotiated.

Q: Your webcomic got me thinking: what the hell did happen to the entwives? – Brad, Newark, NJ

A: As you may recall, the Ents and the Entwives had a falling out over … agriculture, of all things (the male Ents felt that everything should take its natural course, but the Entwives were interested in agriculture).

Don’t laugh. We human genders are at each others’ throats over whether the toilet seat gets left up or down.

So what happened to the Entwives? In The Fellowship of the Ring, Sam tells the story of a cousin who saw something Ent-like in the Shire, and later, Treebeard says to Merry and Pippin that Ents would have liked it there. So is that where the Entwives disappeared to?

Alas, no, the Oracle is sad to reveal. For a time, Tolkien maintained he didn’t know what happened to the Entwives (!!!!), but he later fessed up, writing: “I think that in fact the Entwives have disappeared for good, being destroyed with their gardens in the War of the Last Alliance.”

Have a question about something fantasy-related? Ask the Oracle! (Be sure to include your first name and the city, state, and/or country you are writing from.)

I was poking around the internets the other day, and I discovered an amusing list of cliches that aspiring fantasy novelists should avoid — among them were making sure you didn’t have a character who could be described as a “forgetful wizard,” and steering clear of making up races that use the “half-” prefix.

But the one that caught my eye advised writers to avoid writing a book thicker than a New York City phone book.

There was a time when a decent-sized novel was about 400-500 pages. You felt like you were getting your money’s worth. Depending on how fast of a reader you are, it could be a journey that took you some time to complete. But recently it’s almost become the norm to create tomes of 1,000 pages or more, and anything less feels like easy reading.

How did we get here?

Well, the most obvious answer is that The Lord of the Rings, the seminal work of fantasy that basically created the genre, is a weighty 1,008 pages in its entirety, and that’s not including the 100+ pages of appendices. Of course, when it was first published, Rings was famously split into three books, and is often misconstrued as being a trilogy, when it fact it is meant to be read as a single novel.

Why so long? Tolkien was doing more than just writing a simple novel. He was also providing a window into a world no one but him knew, and that required a lot of description. Though touched upon in The Hobbit, light had to be shone more thoroughly on elves, dwarves, ents, and orcs, and while many people criticize the books for its large amount of pages in which characters are traveling to and fro (check out Kevin Smith’s Clerks 2 for a good laugh about the film version), it is that traveling that allows the reader to get to know this foreign terrain. And it’s a testament to Tolkien’s genius that it’s so engaging.

But as for the modern abundance of lengthy novels? I blame Harry Potter.

It’s no secret that J.K. Rowling’s beloved series began modestly with a few slim books aimed at young children, only to balloon into an epic, sprawling masterpiece meant for readers of all ages. (I recall Stephen King a few years ago writing that he was tired of hearing new works heralded as “Harry Potter for grown-ups.” As he pointed out, Harry Potter is Harry Potter for grown-ups.)

The series, which peaked page-wise with the fifth installment, Order of the Phoenix (almost 900 pages!), proved that there was a market for lengthy novels in the teen-to-young adult market, as well as for older readers.

Each one of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga books, for example, are increasingly long, starting with Twilight at 498 pages, and capping with Breaking Dawn, which came in at 756 pages.

Is this a good thing, this trend towards books heavier than most toddlers? It depends. While it can be a joy to take a long journey with a book, they can’t all be The Lord of the Rings. One of my favorite books of all time is The Mists of Avalon, which can put a small-town phone book to shame with its girth, but that’s not to say I don’t enjoy a book that one can finish on a long train ride, either.

I worry that aspiring fantasy novelists now might feel that they have to make their books long just for the sake of being long, and not in service of their story. To them I give this advice, start small. After all, the original British publication of J.K. Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was a svelte 223 pages, and look where she is now.

The War of the Rings has ended.

After a long drawn-out legal battle, New Line Cinema and the Tolkien Estate have finally settled their dispute, which means the movie studio can finally go ahead and get started on making the two Hobbit movies.

The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

But as the kids today are so fond of saying, this equals WIN.

So what was this all about? in 2008, the heirs of J.R.R. Tolkien sued New Line Cinema (the makers of The Lord of the Rings films), claiming they were owed a rather large chunk of change ($220 million), considering the three-movie masterpiece has made a reported $6 billion dollars (and counting). Furthermore, the lawsuit attempted to block the studio from adapting Tolkien’s other famous novel, The Hobbit, even though the film has long been in pre-production, with director Guillermo Del Toro at the helm.

Now olive branches have been extended, dotted lines have been signed upon, and the geek community can collectively sigh a big geeky sigh of relief.

But do we really have to? Here’s the funny thing about this lawsuit: no one really thought it was going to prevent the Hobbit movies from happening. Sure, it may have delayed the movies a bit, but even that seemed unlikely. The fact of the matter is there was still so much money to be made from Tolkien’s genius, and when a big studio like Warner Brothers (who owns New Line) wants money, they get money.

For better or for worse, those damn Hobbit films were always going to be made.

Best remark made so far? That would have to go to Alan Horn, the president and COO of Warner Brothers Entertainment Inc., who said, “We deeply value the contributions of the Tolkien novels to the success of our films and [blah blah blah].”

Good thing they have those novels to contribute to their films’ success. Someone should explain to him that without the novels there would be no films at all.

Well, that’s all behind us. Now if only the production team could agree on who’s actually cast in the films.

So far, the casting news from the upcoming movie version of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit has been surprisingly confusing.

First, director Guillermo Del Toro announced in a radio interview in June that Hugo Weaving, Ian McKellen, and Andy Serkis were all going to reprise their Lord of the Rings‘ roles — a claim that was immediately disputed by a confused Weaving, who said he hadn’t signed on for such a gig (but would be willing).

Then four weeks ago at ComicCon, producer and Hobbit co-screenwriter Peter Jackson said that he was about a month away from delivering a screenplay, and that no casting decisions for the film would be made until at least a month after that.

But last night, Ian McKellen told an audience at a screening in London that, in fact, he has already been cast in the project (which will be split into two movies), and that he expects filming to begin in March 2010.

McKellen also claimed, seemingly contrary to Jackson’s comments at ComicCon, that the part of Bilbo has already been cast as well, though he declined to name the actor, saying only that fans would be very pleased. James McAvoy, who played Tumnus in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, has been frequently mentioned as a possibility, though he has since signed for other roles that may put him in conflict with such an acting gig.

Have a question about something fantasy-related? Ask the Oracle! (Be sure to include your first name and the city, state, and/or country you are writing from.)

Q: I watched the first couple of episodes of Being Human, and liked it okay, but it bugged me that the girl had to be so passive and emotional. I know that’s what you’d expect of a ghost, so why didn’t they break the stereotype and make her the werewolf? What do you think? — Linda, Whidbey Island, WA

A: The Oracle definitely shares your feelings that the show didn’t break any gender stereotypes, at least in the first few episodes. But I was pleased to see that change in the third episode, where she becomes much more active.

The Oracle was curious what the actress who plays Annie, Lenora Crichlow, thought, so I decided to ask her.

“I think Annie’s a fantastic role model for women,” she tells TheTorchOnline.com. “I get annoyed with this idea that female traits are weak, to be emotional and vulnerable [is to be a bad thing]. Annie’s vulnerability, her compassion, her empathy, her wanting to do things for people, all become what save her really. Later on in the series, her empathy and her intuition as a woman become integrated into her supernatural self.”

According to Crichlow, the first season is “a journey of empowerment [for Annie, but] it’s lovely that she is vulnerable at the beginning, because I think a lot of women are. We lose ourselves in relationships, we sacrifice our careers, and all that. Not just women, obviously, but it a common thing for women. But she can’t stay the same, if Annie wants to move on, if she wants to be seen. I’ve been through that. I know what’s expected of me, but I can turn it up a notch and reach my potential. Annie does a similar thing.”

Q: Is it true that the Laurell K. Hamilton series of novels, Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter, is being made into a movie or TV show? — Kethlyn

A: The Oracle can reveal that in March, IFC and Lion’s Gate announced that they had optioned the series of novels, which is now also a series of graphic novels, with plans to turn them into a TV movie. At the time, they said that filming would begin this summer for a 2010 air-date.

But when contacted by the Oracle, the producers said there was nothing further to report (something the Oracle interprets to mean that filming is not beginning this summer). Hamilton’s agent suggests you check the author’s site for future updates.

Still, as long as the current vampire hysteria lasts, it’s a pretty good bet this project will get made eventually.

Q: You always hear about how C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien were good friends who each week read to each other from their drafts of Narnia and Lord of the Rings. It’s a great story, but is it true? — TheMan, Chicago, IL

A: The Oracle can reveal that, in fact, it is. The two were members of The Inklings, the famous Oxford University discussion group that met weekly (and sometimes also daily, at the local pub) to discuss their own and others’ books, and to encourage two things: strong narrative, or plot, and the genre of fantasy. For a time, Tolkien and Lewis may even have been each other’s closest friends, and Tolkien definitely contributed to Lewis’ move from atheism to Christianity; Lewis eventually became one of the most famous Christian theologians of all time.

But Tolkien and Lewis did have occasional fallings-out, sometimes serious ones, for all the ordinary reasons: disagreements over religion (Tolkien was annoyed by Lewis’ embrace of the Anglican Church, which Tolkien detested and considered anti-Catholic), and women (Tolkien felt that Lewis’ relationship with Joy Davidman, the subject of the movie Shadowlands, intruded on their friendship).

But each absolutely shared and no doubt received important feedback from the other on their most famous works, The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia. (Interestingly, Tolkien didn’t think much of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, arguing that the overt religious message over-powered the story.)

Q: A few weeks back, in a special about J.K. Rowling, they said she shortened her name to initials per the editor’s request so boys wouldn’t be put off by a female author. I can think of several examples of women fantasy authors going by initials or male sounding nicknames, but does it still happen as much these days? How prevalent is it in fantasy and sci-fi? — Angela, Mooresville, NC  USA

A: The Oracle is sure he doesn’t have to point out that there was a time when female authors almost had to pick a male-sounded pseudonym just to be taken seriously by the world at large. George Eliot anyone?

“Very few writers still do this, and I don’t see much advantage to doing it,” says literary agent Jennifer DeChiara of the Jennifer DeChiara Literary Agency. “When I see it on a manuscript, I think, ‘pretentious,’ and I’m sure most editors think the same thing. It also gets in the way of book promotion — how can you send an author around or talk about them if you’re hiding who they really are?”

Still, although this is far less common than it used to be, it’s probably more common in genres that have large male readerships, like fantasy and sci-fi. For example, fantasy author Margaret Ogden chose the pen name “Robin Hobb,” precisely because it’s gender-neutral. Likewise, Katherine Alice Applegate, the author of the Animorphs, Everworld, and Remnants children’s fantasy book series, chose to go by “K.A. Applegate.”

Another famous example is Dorothy Catherine, or “D.C.” Fontana, Gene Roddenberry’s former secretary who became a television writer for many classic science fiction shows, including three Star Trek series, The Six Million Dollar Men, Land of the Lost, He-Man, and Logan’s Run (she also wrote under several completely “male” pen-names).

But the Oracle believes such pen names will now mostly be a thing of the past, for two distinct reasons: (1) anti-female prejudice even in genre circles is less now, in part because brave, unapologetic pioneers like Ursula K. Le Guin proved that brilliant genre writing knows no gender and that such pseudonyms were not necessary, and (2) the female readership of science fiction and fantasy, always much bigger than most publishers knew, is now so large that a female name might not only not be a hindrance, it might even be an asset.

Have a question about something fantasy-related? Ask the Oracle! (Be sure to include your first name and the city, state, and/or country you are writing from.)

Everyone has their favorite fantasy novels — those special books that you read over and over again, hoping each time to find something new that you might have missed in your last reading. It could be the daring swordfights that draw you in. Maybe the cleverly coded symbolism. Or maybe it’s steamy in the way that a hot summer day isn’t.

Whatever the reason, certain books just speak to us. Here are a few of mine.

The Princess Bride

When I was a kid, The Princess Bride was one of my favorite movie for three reasons:

1) The sword fights.

2) It starred Andre the Giant.

3) Mandy Patinkin used the phrase “son of a bitch.” (I was a kid, remember. Swearing automatically equaled awesome.)

When I picked up the book the first time in high school, I was utterly bewildered by the ruse set down by the book’s author, William Goldman, who claimed that the book was actually an abridged version of another author’s work, and then goes on to provide surprisingly intimate details of his life. It was all a trick, I later learned — he was using it as a literary device. But for his sly sense of humor, this book is one I keep dear to my heart.

The Marvelous Land of Oz

Though The Wizard of Oz gets all the attention, I have always been a huge fan of its first sequel, The Marvelous Land of Oz, which features the young lad Tip, the ward of Mombi, and his own crew of misfits: Jack Pumpkinhead, the Saw Horse, the Wogglebug, and the Gump.

Author L. Frank Baum continued his sly brand of feminism (in The Wizard of Oz, all the characters with any real power are female) by having the Emerald City overtaken by an army of militant young women, and what’s more — SPOILER ALERT!! — he includes what might be the first transgender character in children’s literature, as it’s revealed that Tip is really Princess Ozma, who was transformed by Mombi in her infancy into a boy, in order to conceal her identity. At first hesitant to return to his true state, Tip is convinced by his friends and allows the spell to be cast that transforms him back into Ozma. Not something you read every day.

Interview with a Vampire

Long before she found Jesus and stopping writing readable books, Anne Rice emerged from the shadows of literary erotica and wrote this fascinating gothic fantasy, which earned her a legion of fans and an A-list film adaptation. Told from the point of view of Louis, a vampire who is less Bela Lugosi’s Dracula and more the kind of kid that today we’d call “emo,” it is a fun little book, never too wordy or challenging for a high schooler, which is when most people seem to discover it, and for all its pomp and audacity never seems to run that deep beyond the repeating sentiment that being a vampire, well, sucks. (Get it?)

Sexuality was always a prevalent theme in Rice’s works. As the books went on, homosexuality and bisexuality became more prevalent themes, despite her bold choice to render all of her vampires physically impotent. (I suppose this saves us from imagining squirm-inducing undead sexual scenarios.) All in all, Interview remains one of the strongest and, thankfully, least bombastic books in her Vampire Chronicles, and is an enjoyable escapist piece.

The Mists of Avalon

I love, love, love this book. This novel, by Marion Zimmer Bradley, took the utterly complex mythology of King Arthur and turned it on its head by emphasizing the power of the women in these stories instead of the men, and while much of Arthurian tale champions pure Christian values, this story places the Pagan Druids as the protagonists, with the encroaching Christian Church as an oppressive tyrant. But rather than being an anti-Christian piece, the main character, Morgaine, realizes it’s not the teachings of Jesus that are opposed to her, just the men in the Church who are threatened by another religion.

But beyond the basic themes, it’s a fascinating character study of four incredible characters: Morgaine, a woman reared in Avalon and dedicated to keeping the ways of the Old Religion alive; Gwenhyfar, a devoutly Christian woman who is terrified of the world; Arthur, the man whom greatness was thrust upon; and Lancelet, a warrior who is struggling with his forbidden love for his best friend, Arthur.

This novel really has everything you could ask for in a fantasy novel, and it’s an incredibly mature piece. And if you’re worried, no knowledge of Arthurian legend is needed to appreciate it. If you haven’t read it yet, get your ass of the internet and go to a bookstore right now. You’ll thank me. (But then come back to the internet. We need you.)

The Harry Potter Series

I resisted this series for a long time. I was one of those cantankerous twenty-somethings who utterly refused to indulge in a series of books meant for children. I was WAY too highbrow for that sort of thing. But then a friend of mine, one whose opinion I greatly respect, read the first few books and told me they were actually pretty good. I told her that although I value her input, I wasn’t about to cave. But then my late grandfather, a greatly distinguished writer and very literate fellow, told me he read them and they were delightful, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to at least peek at the first one. I did, and was hooked.

I loved how the characters grew over the course of the books, truly maturing and changing as the stories evolved, and how J.K. Rowling carefully crafted Harry to slowly evolve into a true literary hero of the old school. Does the Potter saga borrow liberally from Lord of the Rings? Yes, but what fantasy literature doesn’t?

At the end of the day, there’s some real art to be found in the bajillion pages of text that Rowling puts down, but none more so than in the conclusion to her epic, Harry Potter and the The Deathly Hallows.

The Iliad

I know it sounds like pretentious garbage to put The Iliad as one of my favorite fantasy novels, and perhaps even erroneous, as it isn’t technically a novel. And if I wasn’t such a foaming-at-the-mouth Greek myth nerd, I probably wouldn’t be too interested. But as it happens, I Greek-geek out with the best (or worst) of them, and The Iliad takes place during one of the most exciting and action-packed moments in all of Greek mythology.

One of the reasons that 2004’s Troy, which claimed it was based on The Iliad, felt so weak is that it ignored the best part of the story — the gods. Sure, the mortals in the film talked about the gods, prayed to the gods, worried about offending the gods, but it all came across as religious hooey that had no dramatic stakes, because for all we knew, the gods didn’t really exist, and these were just silly people running around in skirts.

Homer’s epic makes for great reading — if you’re a devoted fan of Greek myths. If not, and if you somehow got through school without having to read it, I’d say don’t bother.

The Lord of the Rings

Like you didn’t see this one coming.

Okay, listen closely, because I’m going to admit something incredibly shameful to you. It’s very embarrassing, and I only ask that you don’t judge me too harshly.

Okay, here we go.

When Peter Jackson’s Fellowship of the Ring came out in 2001, I went in cold.

Because I hadn’t read the book.

I hesitate to admit that, because I feel like it may compromise my integrity as the Associate Editor of a fantasy website. But when that first film came out, I just hadn’t read the books. I can’t give you any reason. I had read The Hobbit and loved it. I had read other fantasy works. I’ve always loved the genre. It just seemed like such a big undertaking, and it was always something I had meant to do, but I had just never got around to.

But then the cinematic version, which is a masterpiece in its own right, washed over me, and I knew I had to read the books before the next film came out. And I did. Twice, actually. And The Silmarillion.

By the time I sat in the theaters to watch The Two Towers, I was a Tolkien expert, and have read the books at least half a dozen times since then.

The Lord of the Rings is, quite frankly, my favorite book of all time. Every sentence is a pleasure. If I could read no other book for the rest of my life, it would be that.

Okay, well, that’s enough out of me. I want to hear what YOUR favorite fantasy novels are. I know you’ve got them. Now it’s your turn.

Looking to buy any of these books (or any other media)? Support TheTorchOnline.com by purchasing it through this link.

According to the U.K.’s Guardian newspaper, the heirs to the estate of J. R. R. Tolkien are suing New Line Cinema, the producers of a new film based on The Hobbit, maintaining that they are owed $220 million in profits from the earlier The Lord of the Rings films.

In 1969, J. R. R. Tolkien sold the film rights to the Lord of the Rings trilogy to United Artists for a lump sum and a reported 7.5% cut of future profits. The rights were then passed to, or shared with, a number of different entities and studios, finally ending up at New Line in 1999. The three films produced by the company were released from 2001-2003, and were huge critical and box office successes, earning some $6 billion to date.

The Tolkien estate says in its lawsuit that it has received no payments from New Line or its parent company, Time Warner.

In addition to a share of the films’ profits, the author’s son and the family charity, the Tolkien Trust, are demanding a termination of film rights, citing breach of contract.

“Should the case go all the way to trial, we are confident that New Line will lose its rights to The Hobbit,” Bonnie Eskenazi, the lawyer for the Tolkien estate, told the Guardian.

The film, which is to be directed by Guillermo Del Toro, is currently in pre-production. The case is scheduled for October.

Four Torches (Out of Five)

The Hunt for Gollum doesn’t disappoint.

The fan-created Lord of the Rings prequel, available today for free viewing at DailyMotion.com, has benefited from terrific buzz, mostly due to a couple of impressive trailers released earlier this year.

Those trailers didn’t lie. This thing pretty much sings.

The events of the 40-minute film take place after The Hobbit, but directly before The Fellowship of the Ring. Gollum, who in The Hobbit loses the One Ring in a riddle encounter with Bilbo Baggins under the Misty Mountains, has left his home and gone to reclaim his former prize. “The foolish hobbit revealed his name,” Gandalf tells Aragorn, who vows to go and find the creature.

The film gets the “look” of Middle Earth remarkably similar to the films of Peter Jackson. The film was shot in locations — North Wales and Epping Forest and Hamstead Heath near London — that look almost exactly like those of the Oscar-winning movies, and it uses the same colors and tones as well.

Meanwhile, look-alike actors play the familiar characters, including Gandalf, Elrond, and Aragorn (who not only looks, but also sounds remarkably like Viggo Mortensen).

Other online fan films, most notably for Star Trek and Star Wars, have done an impressive job recreating various special effects on a low budget, but most suffer from mediocre-to-downright-horrible acting.

The Hunt for Gollum is different; it’s by far the most professionally acted to date, especially by Adrian Webster as Aragorn.

In an interview with TheTorchOnline.com, screenwriter/director Chris Bouchard talked of the difficulties portraying Gollum and orcs on a shoestring budget. Bouchard is definitely stingy with his shots of Gollum — but then, so was Peter Jackson, at least in Fellowship.

As for the orcs, Bouchard delivers the goods, big-time.

The film also has some nice hints and foreshadowing regarding Aragon’s destiny. Although it departs slightly from the events spelled out by author J.R.R. Tolkien in the books, it fits pretty seamlessly into Jackson’s films.

That said, this is definitely a fan film; it does not stand on its own, either as a story apart from the novels by J.R.R. Tolkien, or as a piece of filmmaking apart from the works of Jackson. It is an homage more than a movie, and like all homage, it is derivative.

In addition, the movie doesn’t have either the transcendent or the epic-yet-economical qualities of Jackson’s films. It might have one fight scene too many, and when a traveler tells of rumors of a “ghost-like” creature stealing fish from villagers, we immediately cut to a detailed scene of Gollum … stealing a fish from a villager.

But such criticisms seem a little petty in light of the impressive achievement these filmmakers have accomplished. The film is far more than a mere fan reenactment; it is definitely not the Halloween haunted house in your neighbor’s garage compared to Disney’s Haunted Mansion.

Chris Bouchard and company, who worked out a deal with the owners of the Rings rights to make this not-for-profit film, have raised the bar on fan films impressively high. They are indeed true fans.

Watch The Hunt for Gollum:

In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien tells us that Elven lembas, or “waybread” in the common speech, are brownish on the outside and on the cream-colored inside, and are made with honey. In the books, a single cake is sustenance for “a full day’s march” (while the movie, a single bite “is enough to fill the stomach of a grown man”). If kept in their mallorn leaf wrapping, they can stay fresh for months.

But what do they really taste like? Some enterprising bakers have tried to find out.

Pescetarian over at SparkRecipes suggests a recipe with plenty of cream and butter, but also honey or maple syrup to give them a more woodsy taste:

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups of flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
8 tablespoons of cold butter (1 stick)
1/3 cup of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon maple syrup/honey
2/3 cup of milk/heavy cream (or more, if necessary)
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees Celcius (425 degrees Fahrenheit).
2. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl.
3. Add the butter and mix with a fork or a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles fine granules.
4. Add the sugar and cinnamon, and mix them thoroughly into the mixture.
5. Add the milk/cream and vanilla and stir them in with a fork until a nice, thick dough forms.
6. Roll the dough out about 1/2 in thickness.
7. Cut out 3-inch squares and transfer the dough to a cookie sheet.
8. Criss-cross (DO NOT cut all the way) each square from corner-to-corner with a knife.
9. Bake for about 12 minutes or more (depending on the thickness of the bread) until it is set and lightly golden.

Number of Servings: 10

Elven Maiden at LOTRScrapbook.com has a similarly rich recipe, but suggests adding raisins:

6 TBSP butter or margarine, slightly softened
2 cups self-rising flour
1 TBSP granulated sugar
½ cup raisins (optional)
1 egg, well beaten
½ cup milk
4 TBSP heavy cream
Mallorn leaves

With a pastry blender of fork, cut margarine into the flour in a mixing bowl until the mixture resembles cornmeal. Do this rapidly so the butter does not melt. Add the sugar and if desired, ½ cup of raisins. In a small bowl, beat the egg and milk together until mixed. Reserve 1 TBSP of this mixture to brush the tops of the Lembas. Add the cream and egg mixture to the flour and mix just until combined into a stiff, soft dough. Knead three or four times on a lightly floured surface. Roll dough to a ¾” thickness and cut with an oval or leaf shaped cookie cutter. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet, leaving 1″ of space between Lembas. Brush the tops of the Lembas with the reserved egg-milk mixture. Bake for 12 -13 minutes in a preheated 400 degree oven.

For the simplest recipe of all, check out EntropyHouse.com, which also includes instructions for a terrific-looking mallorn leaf to wrap your lambas in (photo above).