Saruman of Many Devices takes Saruman’s gunpowder weapons and Industrial Revolution angle from Lord of the Rings and runs with it for some military SF style fun.
Okay, I’m going to have to plug The Last Ringbearer. See download link for an english translation (which cannot be sold for money for legal reasons but can be downloaded for free).
Originally written in Russian, which pretty much explains the tone. The hobbits and the ring never existed and the Lord of the Rings is the long-after-the-fact mythologized retelling of a war as told by the victors. Aragorn was a power-hungry opportunist who stole the throne. Sauron was a ruling dynasty of the rich nation of Mordor, invaded by the barbarian hordes at its borders. Its trolls and orcs were human ethnicities, with the retelling of the war warping their portrayal into monsters. Saruman quit the council of wizards in disgust when he learned that they sided with the barbarians in their genocide of Mordor because of the fearsome power that Mordor’s new industrial revolution could bring. And we get a glimpse at an ‘industrialized’ middle-earth 3,000 years into the future where, among other things, aerospace companies try and fail to replicate the ancient lost materials science of mithril.
I enjoyed both “Saruman of Many Devices” and The Last Ringbearer.
Although I should caution people that for the former, it does a good job of mimicking both the good and bad parts of David Weber’s military SF fiction, and don’t read TLR expecting Tolkien, read it expecting John le Carré.
It’s Mary Gentle’s Grunts! with more of a techno-thriller bent and a more sympathetic protagonist faction, basically. If you liked Grunts!, how you feel about this one will probably depend on how you weigh gun porn against psychopath jokes.
Saruman of Many Devices takes Saruman’s gunpowder weapons and Industrial Revolution angle from Lord of the Rings and runs with it for some military SF style fun.
Okay, I’m going to have to plug The Last Ringbearer. See download link for an english translation (which cannot be sold for money for legal reasons but can be downloaded for free).
Originally written in Russian, which pretty much explains the tone. The hobbits and the ring never existed and the Lord of the Rings is the long-after-the-fact mythologized retelling of a war as told by the victors. Aragorn was a power-hungry opportunist who stole the throne. Sauron was a ruling dynasty of the rich nation of Mordor, invaded by the barbarian hordes at its borders. Its trolls and orcs were human ethnicities, with the retelling of the war warping their portrayal into monsters. Saruman quit the council of wizards in disgust when he learned that they sided with the barbarians in their genocide of Mordor because of the fearsome power that Mordor’s new industrial revolution could bring. And we get a glimpse at an ‘industrialized’ middle-earth 3,000 years into the future where, among other things, aerospace companies try and fail to replicate the ancient lost materials science of mithril.
I enjoyed both “Saruman of Many Devices” and The Last Ringbearer.
Although I should caution people that for the former, it does a good job of mimicking both the good and bad parts of David Weber’s military SF fiction, and don’t read TLR expecting Tolkien, read it expecting John le Carré.
Also good. Previously discussed here.
Enjoying it so far (just finished chapter 4). Slightly worried that Saruman’s forces are too competent though. Reminds me a bit of “The Salvation War”
It’s Mary Gentle’s Grunts! with more of a techno-thriller bent and a more sympathetic protagonist faction, basically. If you liked Grunts!, how you feel about this one will probably depend on how you weigh gun porn against psychopath jokes.
I’m finding it readable but not exceptional.