Why We Love Middle-earth - An Enthusiast’s Book about Tolkien, Middle-earth & the LOTR Fandom

Learn about the man who wrote The Lord of the Rings in this Middle-earth treasury. Full of everything to learn about Middle-earth and the fandom, this book about Tolkien celebrates Why We Love Middle-earth. 

List of contents

Foreword

Prologue: Who Was John Ronald Reuel Tolkien?

Part One: Discovering Tolkien’s Books: What Should I Read Next?

1. The Hobbit



2. The Lord of the Rings



3. The Silmarillion



4. Unfinished Tales



5. The “Great Tales”: The Children of Húrin, Beren & Lúthien, The Fall of Gondolin

Part Two: Tolkien in Adaptation

1. Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings Trilogy



2. Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit Trilogy



3. Ralph Bakshi’s The Lord of the Rings



4. Rankin/Bass’s The Hobbit and The Return of the King



5. BBC Radio Play



6. Video Game Adaptations: The Lord of the Rings Online and many more



7. Audiobooks

Part Three: Expressions of Fandom

1. Collecting Tolkien



2. Tolkien’s Invented Languages



3. Tolkien Studies



4. Art and Artists



5. Fan Organizations



6. Online Content



7. DIY (cosplay, crafting, cooking, brewing)

About the author

Shawn E. Marchese went down the hobbit hole in his teens after finding a reference to Tolkien in a book about Pink Floyd, and has been in love with Middle-earth (and progressive rock) ever since. He’s especially drawn to the linguistic aspects of Tolkien’s work, and shares his obsession for languages with listeners every week as The Prancing Pony Podcast’s resident word-nerd.  Shawn met Alan seven years ago in a Facebook group for Tolkien fans, and still remembers the day he casually agreed to do a podcast with him “like, maybe once a month”. When not working on the podcast, Shawn can be found at his day job as a compliance officer, writing, brewing ales, or working on his geeky dad credentials with his wife and two children. The Prancing Pony Podcast was the winner of the Tolkien Society 2020 Award for Best Online Content.
Alan Sisto has been reading Tolkien since the Rankin & Bass animated Hobbit came out before he was born. Or right after. An all-around Tolkien nerd, Alan can be found enjoying Tolkien’s lesser-known works—“Leaf by Niggle” is his favorite—just as often as he gets lost in First Age histories and Third Age adventures.  Alan has worked with Shawn for nearly six years to grow The Prancing Pony Podcast each season, and spends much of his working time producing the show. He also provides narration and commercial voiceovers (alansisto.com) and has also been an architectural photographer for 15 years (freshpageimages.com). His wife and two children give him the freedom to indulge his inner nerd.  

Summary

Learn about the man who wrote The Lord of the Rings in this Middle-earth treasury. Full of everything to learn about Middle-earth and the fandom, this book about Tolkien celebrates Why We Love Middle-earth.

Foreword

• The two authors are the founders and hosts of the acclaimed Prancing Pony Podcast, which has won Tolkein Society Award for "Best Online Content" in 2020 and 2021
• A highly researched and credible podcast that dives into lore and conversations about the fandom with famous guests
• Discusses a range of topics for all tastes, including the pop culture, movies, music, art, and more about the fandom
• The book will keep similar themes of the podcast by celebrating all the reasons why we love, study, and engage with the Middle-earth fandom
• Guests on the podcast have included Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan, the actors who portrayed Pippin and Merry
• The Lord of the Rings / Tolkien fandom reaches all across the globe, with audiences in all the different generations
• A highly engaged fandom through their podcast, Instagram, and Patreon
• The podcast has about 13,500 subscribers, based on how many times each new episode is downloaded in the first thirty days after release. There are typically 200k downloads a month as listeners catch up, so it's likely a larger number.



• The author is cohosting chapters with the following experts and influencers. Each of the co-hosts will be working with the author to promote the book on the show, but also on their own channels. The idea is to reach out to potential readers that don't listen to podcasts: especially important to this strategy are co-hosts on TikTok and YouTube.
  
  • Dr. Corey Olsen, The Tolkien Professor and President of Signum University
  
  
  • Shaun Gunner, the Chair of The Tolkien Society
  
  
  • Don Marshall, the "Obscure LotR Facts Guy" on Tiktok (over 600k followers)
  
  
  • James Tauber, Professor at Signum University, and my co-host on The Rings of Power Wrap-up podcast
  
  
  • Matt Graf, Nerd of the Rings on YouTube (over 800k subscribers)
  
  
  • Marcel Aubron-Bülles, known as The Tolkienist and a long-time contributor to the community
  
  
  • Shawn Marchese, the Lord of the Mark, and my long-time co-host at the PPP
  
  
  • Willie Jenkins, aka Knewbettadobetta on TikTok (120k followers)
  
  
  • Dr. Sara Brown, Lang & Lit Chair at Signum University, and my other co-host on The Rings of Power Wrap-up podcast
  
  
  

Product details

• Authors: Shawn Marchese, Shawn E. Marchese, Alan Sisto
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 12.09.2023
• EAN: 9781684812097
• ISBN: 978-1-68481-209-7
• No. of pages: 256
• Dimensions: 140 mm x 216 mm x 13 mm
• Illustrations: bw illustrations throughout, Illustrationen, nicht spezifiziert
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies; Non-fiction book > Dictionaries, reference works > Dictionaries, encyclopaedias; Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > General, dictionaries; Popular Culture, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Literary Figures, LITERARY CRITICISM / General, LITERARY CRITICISM / Subjects & Themes / Nature, REFERENCE / Questions & Answers, LITERARY CRITICISM / Books & Reading, ART / Popular Culture, REFERENCE / Research, LITERARY CRITICISM / Subjects & Themes / Politics, Literature: history & criticism