Sub-creating Arda: World-building in J.R.R. Tolkien's Work, its Precursors and its Legacies

by Dimitra Fimi (Editor), Thomas M. Honegger (Editor)

J.R.R. Tolkien's literary cosmos may not be the most elaborate of the imaginary worlds in existence, it is certainly the most influential. The posthumous editorial work of Tolkien's son Christopher has also shown that Arda remains unrivalled in its consistency and complexity. Additionally, the re-publication of Tolkien's Andrew Lang lecture 'On Fairy-stories' (originally delivered 1939) and its interpretation within the discourse of literary fantasy has further strengthened his position as one of the foremost proponents of literary world-building or, as he himself preferred to call it, (literary) subcreation. The contributions to this volume by Tom Shippey, John Garth, Mark J.P. Wolf, Kristine Larsen, Andrew Higgins, Allan Turner, Gergely Nagy, Renée Vink, and a dozen other scholars, discuss not only Tolkien's theoretical concepts as well as his literary work but also explore the relationship between Tolkien's approach with that of other 'literary world-builders' whose imaginary worlds have attracted readers and scholars alike.

Genres: Nonfiction, Writing

490 pages, Paperback

Published February 15, 2019

About the author

I am Senior Lecturer in Fantasy and Children's Literature and Co-Director of the Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic at the University of Glasgow. I write on, research, and teach the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, children's fantasy, and fantasy and folklore.

Reviews

[Michael Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth picking up for the very solid first half, but there were a few clunkers in the second half - like the utterly pointless inclusion of the final essay about comparing the theology of LOTR and Game of Thrones where the nutjob author is unable to or uninterested in hiding his obvious contempt for Martin's personal religious beliefs or lack thereof. No clue why the author or editors felt this needed to be included. I don't even like GRRM as an author but the haughty tone was so incredibly distracting from any kind of argument or insight being offered. Just .... write about something else bud, it's ok.

In contrast, the stuff about Sapkowski was pretty interesting, for example, or Tom Shippey's discussion of Michael Swanwick, who I was unfamiliar with but am interested in checking out.

Anyway, worth a buy, but definitely some questionable inclusions especially towards the end of the book.

[Morphé Soui]

Great and amazing book !