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Rings, Swords, And Monsters: Exploring Fantasy Literature (2006)

by Michael D.C. Drout(Favorite Author)

3.94 of 5 Votes: 2

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Recorded Books,

review 1: Excellent lecture series. Professor Drout is an excellent speaker, and his love of the subject matter generally, and J.R.R. Tolkien in particular, is infectious. I do not consider myself a fan of must fantasy fiction (save for Harry Potter, the Artemis Fowl series, Ken Schole's Lamentation, and a few others). However, Professor Drout's extensive knowledge of the history and development of the genre is fascinating, and after listening I have attempted to seek out some of the titles or authors he references that sounded interesting to me. I would definitely recommend this lecture series to anyone with an interest in the history of genre fiction generally or fantasy fiction specifically. Oh, and any fan's of Tolkien who maybe haven't crossed over to hard-core fandom: I w... moreould think you would be interested to hear Prof. Drout's discussion of his life, processes, influences, and legacy, whether you agree with his conclusions or not.
review 2: The title of this course is a little misleading. Drout is a serious scholar of J. R. R. Tolkien, and this 14-lecture course on Fantasy literature is slanted towards predecessors of Tolkien, Tolkien's works (7 lectures), and a few followers/imitators of Tolkien. However, if you like Tolkien, it's great stuff. If you don't, there are a few lectures on children's fantasy, Arthurian fantasy, and magic realism. There's a good review of Ursula K. LeGuin. Don't expect to learn about the popular horror branch of fantasy literature though--that is not in the scope of this course. Drout is, as always, knowledgeable and fun to listen to. less

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