Using Lord of the Rings

[King Raven Stark]

As a beginner in fantasy writing should I read J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. I know that is something all fantasy writers use so I was just wondering if its a good idea

[Steerpike]

I think you are well advised to read as much as you can of what is doing well in the genre. Not just Tolkien, then, but a lot of others. I'd start with what is doing well, then move into classics.

[King Raven Stark]

Ok Thanks man

[Devor]

You absolutely need to read Tolkein, if only so you can better understand those elements when you see them used elsewhere.

The problem comes for writers who only have read a handful of fantasy stories or games and struggle to break outside their small box.

[shangrila]

You don't have to. Personally, I only got a few chapters in before putting the LOTR down. It was really outdated in my opinion, specifically his writing style. Watch the movies and you should be fine.

[King Raven Stark]

Once again thanks guys. I have seen the movies but after doing a lot of research yesterday I found that the movies excluded the last battle between the hobbits and Sauron and books are always better than movies so I will read the book, don't want to but have to

[Steerpike]

I think it is a good idea to read it. It's a good idea to know the cornerstones of the genre, even if you may not like them as much as new stuff. Just like a painter might study the masters even if she doesn't intend to use their style or their style is outdated. The problem with reading only what is currently popular is that those fads change. It's a good place to start, but ultimately you want a well-rounded view of things in my opinion. Tolkien, certainly. Maybe Dunsany if you want to take a step further back. Shelley's Frankenstein is also a good choice, though many view it as a horror story, which it really isn't by today's standards. For Fantasy that falls between Tolkien and now, I'd look at works by Leiber, Moorcock, Gene Wolfe, LeGuin, maybe some early McKillip or Tanith Lee, and so on.

[AlexanderKira]

Just throwing this out. You should definately read Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss; Brandon Sanderson; Michael J Sullivan; of course A Song of Ice and Fire..really some of the popular fantasy out today and the. Best.

[Aidan of the tavern]

I say you should certainly read it, I personally am used to reading that writing style, and absolutely love it. Some people get so bogged down in the style they don't realise what a clever story it is.

It has of course over the years become used as the template for a lot of fantasy fiction, so one thing I would say is look at the world he has created, but look more at how he has created it. Don't feel obliged to include elves and dwarves in your stories, because while Tolkien used a lot of things that had previously been used in the ancient myths, he also came up with a lot of cool and original ways of reinventing them. So feel free to play around with what has gone before but don't let that cloud your artistic mind.

After you've read the Rings and if you can comfortably read his work, I recommend the Silmarillion. I'm reading it at the moment, and to me as a world-builder its interesting because it goes right back to the creation of Middle Earth, the gods, and into the early days of the first age.

[ThinkerX]

Recommended List of Oldies:

'Lord of the Rings' - say what you will, Tolkien did yank entire races and concepts out of mythology and structure them into a more readable format. This is a big fantasy building block/

'EarthSea' by LeGuin - this much shorter trilogy (with a new book recently added) is another cornerstone, particularly where magic is concerned. The ethos of the mages involved is interesting, though at odds with the way much of present day fantasy is oriented (wealth and personal power are way, way down on their priority list, but they do face other issues).

Lovecrafts stories (great many short stories, a novel or three, and upwards of a score of successors). Lovecraft introduced the concept of utterly alien things, some powerful enough to be regarded as Gods, interfering with various degrees of incomprehensible malice in the world. His mostly academic type characters typically stopped or delayed these creatures at the expense of life or personal sanity.

'Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser' by Lieber. Old line pulp action stories featuring a barbarian warrior and city thief who roam about battling horrid things, chasing exotic women, and looting everything they can - but who then have to deal with the consequences of their actions.

'Dying Earth' stories by Vance. Introduced something very much like present day 'game magic' and a whole slew of magical devices, as well as archetype wizard and thief characters.

'Magician' series (first four books) by Fiest. In a way, a sort of updated version of Tolkien, though still original enough.