J. R. R. Tolkien

The Last of Us, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Our Flag Means Death, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury, Doctor WhoImage: HBO, Paramount+, Max, Crunchyroll, BBC/Disney+With a dizzying array of streaming services available, there was no shortage of great TV this year—and while io9 has already shared our top 20 shows of 2023, today we’re revealing our top TV moments... all 50 of them. These are the moments when we laughed, cheered, shed a tear, shrieked in disbelief, and/or realized we were witnessing game-changing turning…

Image: Prime VideoIt’s baffling that someone really tried to legitimize fan fiction when the estate of of The Lord of the Rings author is still actively pushing out adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s seminal work.Top 5 Shopping Tips for Amazon Prime DayAmazon and the Tolkien estate were sued by author Demetrious Polychron, who after releasing his book titled The Fellowship of the King (his LOTR sequel), decided to go after the team that’s officially able to continue The Lord of the Rings franchise. Variety reports that the…

When The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King released into theaters December 15, 2003, it had the feel of a significant moment in Hollywood’s trajectory, not only from a cultural standpoint (it became the second-highest grossing blockbuster ever, at the time) but from the standpoint of accelerating Hollywood’s movement toward capitalizing on “franchise IP.”Andor’s ‘One Way Out’ Chant Breaks Out at Star Wars CelebrationHollywood, like any industry, is reactive instead of proactive. It’s an industry that leaps to…

Image: HarperCollinsThe original Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, published in 1981, included extracts from over 350 letters from the Lord of the Rings author to various people in his life and literary sphere. It was heavily edited for clarity, as Tolkien was a prolific correspondent and the editors knew that focusing the book would help it be used as a canon expansion in fan and academic circles. What is the OneTen? | Gizmodo InterviewNow, HarperCollins has announced a revised and expanded edition of The Letters of J.R.R.…

If your idea of “beach reads” includes subjects like aliens, space battles, fantasy battles, time-travel, monsters, demons, vampires, magical circus performers, and fresh takes on classic mythology... this list of 42 new sci-fi, fantasy, and horror releases for June has got you covered.Heartbreak, Pain and ZOMBIES | The Last of Us Episode 5 ReviewImage: William MorrowThe Battle of Maldon and The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Peter Grybauskas“Leading Tolkien scholar Peter Grybauskas, presents for…

Image: Standing Stone GamesAmazon is willing to do whatever it takes to get what it can out of the parts of Middle-earth it holds—including working with the other proverbial ringbearers in the franchise’s complex web of rights-owners. And if that means trying again at the world of gaming, so be it.Jason Mantzoukas On What Makes Paper Girls UniqueToday Amazon Games and Embracer Group—the latter of which, as the owner of Middle-earth Enterprises, has the adaptive rights to many elements of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and…

May’s new book releases bring favorite genre staples like dragons, rebellious magic users, space heroes, and time travelers—but also fierce mermaids, reinvented gods and legends, queer cyberpunk detectives, moody personal AIs, and so much more. Add five or 10 or 54 to your reading list!Spoilers of the Week May 16-20Image: Head of ZeusCity of Last Chances by Adrian TchaikovskyThe Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author returns to fantasy with this tale of a magical, cursed city on the brink of revolution. Read an excerpt…

One does not simply walk into Mordor; instead, one might opt to climb up a wall of vines or jump from platform to platform. That’s the crux of what The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is all about. The game positions the player as the classic Lord of the Rings villain, shining light on his previously unexplored backstory, which includes his capture and subsequent escape from the clutches of evil. It’s a novel concept that I wasn’t exactly sure would work before trying it out for myself. Given all that, I knew I needed to…

Journey back to sixth-century England—by way of 1981 fantasy-movie aesthetics—with Dragonslayer, the tale of a sorcerer’s apprentice (Peter MacNicol) who must tangle with the local fire-breathing menace, delightfully named Vermithrax Pejorative. The cult-classic film has a sparking new 4K Ultra HD release, and io9 has a clip to share from its new special features!Here’s a look at the clip, which comes from a behind-the-scenes featurette titled The Slayer of All Dragons. It features Dragonslayer director and co-writer…

Image: Warner Bros.Warner Bros., through New Line Cinema, has held the movie rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit since the late ‘90s, after Peter Jackson’s movie plans moved from Miramax to it. As these rights are the ones licensed through Middle-earth Enterprises, these adaptive rights cover what we already mentioned—the use of names, events, locations, and so on. Warner in turn also owns the rights to those movies, and their specific imagery, for projects that can be set in the same world and continuity of…