[Aaron]

What do you guys think about the aborted story, The New Shadow, which Tolkien puttered about with? Do you think it would have made for good reading? How do you think the story would have panned out?

For myself, when I first learned of the story, I was very impressed, but also unnerved by the implications of it. After everything the Fellowship fought for, all the tragedies of their lives and the hard won peace they attained, there's something chilling about evil creeping back in - from men themselves, forgetting all which had been at stake, and basically rendering all those sacrifices utterly pointless.

Honestly, I view Tolkien as a very positive writer, but the story sounds very tragic.