[Morthoron]

As an ardent Catholic, Tolkien couldn't possibly be pessimistic. His faith would certainly offer solace in difficult times and hope that he would ultimately reach a better place, if not in the here-and-now, then certainly after death. Miéville has no such faith, and cynically mistrusts anything that does not accord with her avowed leftist political agenda. How sad for her.

Even Ms. Miéville's choice of ten fantasy/science fiction novels are mostly based on her leftist leanings. For her, the politics means more than the story itself. Again, to be ruled so by one's politics diminishes the ability to find truth and enjoyment from different sources. She is no better than a bible-thumping arch-conservative capitalist. One cannot find middle ground when one is so polarized; therefore, I tend to ignore anything they rant about as mere blathering demagoguery.

Ironically, Tolkien does not suffer the same fate. His love of myth and language supersedes his religion and he draws just as much, if not more, from pagan sources to create a three-dimensional alternate world. His dislike of allegory mitigates any Christian symbology in Lord of the Rings, to the point that, if one is unconcerned with such things (and as an agnostic, I am completely uninterested), then one is oblivious of its presence. As a matter of fact, taken in totality, the story of Middle-earth bears little resemblance to any pronounced Christian worldview. For every Christian reference you presume to make, I can point you to a similar, pre-Christian classical allusion.

But Miéville and Moorcock wish to minimize anything outside of their cynical little crimson orb of pathetic proletarianism. It is very easy to make leftist pronouncements when accepting large checks from a fat-cat capitalist publisher for dubious work. It is very easy to denounce the love of home, hearth and country when living in a society that allows such dissent. But, as you may have guessed, this gloomy outlook is at the same time laughable -- disengenuously so. No one wants to live in the chaotic, savagely grim world of Elric of Melnibone, but there are thousands who would live in Middle-earth, even if they were in imminent danger. Because there is something starkly beautiful and important and worth fighting for there. There is more humanity in a Hobbit's furry little toe than in most post-modern literature.

In her canned Q & A session, Miéville denounces literary snobbery regarding fantasy while thumbing her nose all the while. She is a self-serving hypocrite.

That's all I have to say about that.