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littlemanpoet · 10-02-2002, 02:04 PM

I also read Tolkien and Lewis by the time I was 13. Huh. Funny coincidence, especially since I come from Long Island. Anyway, after having read them (especially Tolkien) I looked here and there for some author who could hold a candle to JRRT, without success. I've read LeGuin, L'Engle, Anthony, Cherryh, and many others, but they always left me needing to come back to LotR and The Hobbit. I finally decided to take Tolkien's lead and if I couldn't find any of the stuff I wanted to read, I'd have to write it myself. I've been at it for 15 years and can attest to the value of just spending the time at it to get reasonably okay at the craft. It also helped me figure out what it really is about Tolkien that truly sets him apart as a fantasy writer. I won't go into that here. Just check out "If Feels different near the Shire" and "The wrong kind of details" if you're interested.

10-02-2002, 02:04 PM	#5
littlemanpoet Itinerant Songster Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: The Edge of Faerie Posts: 7,066	I also read Tolkien and Lewis by the time I was 13. Huh. Funny coincidence, especially since I come from Long Island. Anyway, after having read them (especially Tolkien) I looked here and there for some author who could hold a candle to JRRT, without success. I've read LeGuin, L'Engle, Anthony, Cherryh, and many others, but they always left me needing to come back to LotR and The Hobbit. I finally decided to take Tolkien's lead and if I couldn't find any of the stuff I wanted to read, I'd have to write it myself. I've been at it for 15 years and can attest to the value of just spending the time at it to get reasonably okay at the craft. It also helped me figure out what it really is about Tolkien that truly sets him apart as a fantasy writer. I won't go into that here. Just check out "If Feels different near the Shire" and "The wrong kind of details" if you're interested.