Dünyanın Arzusu itibaren Yeryüzü Yayınevi içinde LIT biçim

Wanyu Hong wanyuhong — This book could be described with one word-uneventful. Things were happening but at the same time, they weren't. Romance came out of nowhere but I guess a White Trash Zombie is not allowed to be picky. 2 stars- it was ok.

Beatriz Mousinho beatrizmousinho — Read this years ago and I still remember much of it. I really enjoyed it. Some day I'll make my kids read it.

Josechar Josechar josechar20967f — In the awkwardly titled “Mirkwood: A Novel About J.R.R. Tolkien,” Steve Hillard asks the reader a dangerous set of questions: Did you read Lord of the Rings and wonder where all the female heroes were? (I did, Eowyn not withstanding). Wouldn’t it be awesome if there was a heroic female hobbit who was instrumental in Frodo’s triumph over the Dark Lord, but time and a vast evil conspiracy removed her from nearly all historical records that reference Middle-Earth or Tolkien’s notes? The answer is: not really? If you chucked at the idea of historical references to Middle-Earth, you may not be in the target demographic for this novel. In Mirkwood, Tolkien’s saga literally happened and we are living in a post-elven, post-magic age. Though the Dark One no longer holds a fortress in Mordor, he affects the world through a legion of lawyers, politicians, and assassins. The basic idea behind the plot is actually kind of interesting in a Neil Gaiman-y way: during his (based in historical fact) trip to the USA in the 70’s, J.R.R. Tolkien hid a set of documents with a drifter detailing the quest of Ara, a female hobbit from the incredulously named village of Frighten. He secreted the documents across an ocean because they portend A Dark Secret, one that the Shadow would do anything to keep from being discovered. I can’t really tell you what that Dark Secret is, or even really why Ara is so important that she must at all costs be kept out of Tolkien’s world, to the point of sending the modern-day equivalent of Ringwraiths after the descendants of her story’s keepers. You get the feeling Hillard doesn’t know, either; somewhere between his interesting idea and “PROFIT!!!” he forgot to fill in those reasons. A big part of the problem is that Hillard is juggling four points-of-view: 1) Cadance the college grad (her grandfather was the drifter who met JRR and got his notes) discovering the Tolkien Documents in the present day, 2) J.R.R. himself making the based-in-historical-fact trip to the US in the 1970’s, 3) The Inklings (a group of drinking buddies comprising Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and others) mostly discussing The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings throughout the ‘30s and ‘40s, and 4) the ancient tale of Ara the totally-awesome hobbitess (Hillard’s word, not mine), on her vaguely defined quest through Middle-Earth. This sort of thing is alright when you’re writing an 800-page fantasy novel and each point of view is following its own plot thread, but four narrators going over the same 300-page plot creates a lot of overlap. It’s cool and foreboding to listen to Tolkien tell the Inklings about the grave secret he may have discovered, and the hidden door for the first time, but after hearing Cadence repeat the same few cryptic statements ad nauseum I found myself wishing Sauron had triumphed. “Mirkwood: A Novel About J.R.R. Tolkien” contains all the classic mistakes of a first-time novelist. It’s got a clever idea, but no real execution. It’s modern-day narrator spends most of the novel spreading the already thin plot further by explaining the the book’s premise to everyone she comes across. It features some references to current events I wouldn’t even mention if they weren’t so jarringly bad (the narrator at one point compares her own screaming to “a Howard Dean clip on Youtube”, and spends a couple of paragraphs randomly pimping out a website of tips and tricks for subway hiking). Occasionally, one of the glimpses into the story of Ara is exciting and entertaining, giving us an unexpected view of the doings of the Dark Lord’s villains, but the writing style of this POV sounds nothing like Tolkien or (nerd alert) any tale of Elves in Middle-Earth. Sadly, it reads like what it is: LotR fanfiction. Mirkwood does make a good case for the idea that Tolkien’s work can be explored and built upon, but it’s clear that this is not the way to begin doing it.

Jp Jacobsen jpjacobsen — Who knew African Greys were so intelligent? Learned a LOT!

Barbara Morales _edcockatiel — I just finished reading this book and I LOVED IT! It's a beautiful continuation of the series, while reading it I can't seems to put my kindle down and have to finished it in one sitting. I can't wait to read book 5!

Megan Green abracazebra — should be a must read for teachers and anyone who works with school-aged girls. insightful.