The New Shadow - Your thoughts?

[Nerwen]

I've had occasion to say this before, but I'm rather ambivalent about "The New Shadow". Like the Ring itself, it is dangerously seductive in a kind of meta-way. It's very intriguing and atmospheric, especially the end, so that part of me wishes Tolkien had continued- yet I believe he was artistically right not to do so. Not only would it be anticlimactic, I think that it would have potentially pushed Tolkien's work in the direction of one of those typical endless fantasy "sagas" where sequel after anaemic sequel gets churned out long after every trace of creativity has dried up.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Tolkien would ever have become that kind of hack, but as I say I think it could have been a step in that direction. And yes, he would have done it well and we would have lapped it up and come up with all kinds of high-sounding justifications about Realism and The Cyclic Nature of History- but deep in our fanboy souls we would have known. We would have known that magic, like the Elves, had departed from Middle-earth. We would have felt the Morgul Blade of Doubt driving its icy way towards our hearts, threatening to draw us into the Wraith World where all is faint and pale and wavery.

But don't mind me folks, I'm just your friendly neighbourhood intellectual snob who looks down on 90% of fantasy anyway, including most of the things you all love.

One thing's for sure, even what we've got could still become the basis for a great Hollywood Sequel to the LotR films. Might happen yet!