Child-Like Wonders
Kickstarter Campaign is LIVE, plus some thoughts about Rings of Power TV series
The Avalon Summer/Gates to Illvelion Kickstarter is now LIVE!
Get your advanced copies of both books now by clicking the link above and making a pledge on the Kickstarter page.
If you just want the ebooks, you can get both for a pledge of $8.
If you just want the paperbacks, then pledge at the $20 level.
And if you want both, then pledge at either the $25 level (the best value) or the $35 value (to get signed copies of both paperbacks and an acknowledgment in the back of Avalon Summer!).
The $50 pledge gets you everything at the $35 level PLUS a cool extra: Your name included in Gates to Illvelion on a book “order form” like the ones we used to see in the back of old fantasy/sci-fi paperbacks from the 1980s. You can use your real name or a pseudonym and either make up a title for your “book” or I’ll make one up for you. (If you go to the Kickstarter page and scroll down to “Rewards” you’ll see an example of what this will look like.) This reward is limited due to space, so if you are interested, pledge early to guarantee your spot in the book!
Avalon Summer and Gates to Illvelion won’t be available to the wider public until May 2023, so if you want to read these stories much earlier than everyone else, please make a pledge.
This Kickstarter campaign will also help me continue to write new stories, publish more novels, and entertain more readers. Your support means so much to me. I couldn’t do this without the support of my readers!
I’m offering some cool stretch goals as well, including a digital copy of the original artwork for Gates to Illvelion if we can reach $450.
All backers of the project, at any level, also get a free copy of “A Heart Made for Bargaining,” my dark fantasy short story about a roguish guy named Jack Lightning, who may have finally made one bargain too many. It also includes a lucky cat, strange monsters, and a talking heron.
(I’ve offered this story to newsletter readers before, but if you missed it, this is your chance to get it for as little as $1 with a support pledge.)
If you’ve never used Kickstarter before, it’s extremely easy to sign up. It’s free and the site walks you through all the steps. If you need help with backing the project, go HERE for frequently asked questions.
The campaign runs until November 3, but if you’re interested in getting these books, don’t wait. Pledge early so we can build momentum and hopefully get even more backers to support the project.
I hope you’ll make a pledge today! Thank you!!
Now that we’re approaching the final two episodes, it’s high time I wrote something about the Rings of Power TV series.
I’ll start off by saying I am an unabashed lover of this show, so if you’re looking for someone to be hyper-critical of ROP, I am not your gal.
Watching it has made me feel like a kid again, just bursting with joy and wonder. I am not a casual Tolkien fan, either. I’ve been in love with Middle-Earth and Tolkien’s writing since I was just a wee lass, and while I did go through a purist phase with the first Peter Jackson film, I have since mellowed out and come to love the way adaptations have taken the Tolkien legendarium and re-crafted it for cinema.
(Caveat: This doesn’t mean I am okay with every single change a filmmaker could make regarding Tolkien’s works. But as long as the spirit and themes of the work remain mostly intact, then I’m good.)
One thing that strikes me about this television adaptation of Tolkien’s work is the way the creators are focused on exploring themes and not just delivering plot.
In that first episode, Galadriel has the voice-over line stating, “Nothing is evil in the beginning,” and the show has done such a wonderful job of exploring this truth. Without spoiling too much (for those who haven’t watched yet), by episode six we get a reminder from one of the characters that evil cannot truly make anything new, it can only twist that which was once made good. We see this theme explored with the arrival of the Stranger too, and with Norri’s insistence that he is good, not evil.
Of course, good can be twisted. It can be bent to such a degree that it becomes a thing of evil. This is why the ring is such a powerful symbol within Tolkien’s world. It is a “wreath” — something that has been curled or twisted — and when we ourselves have been twisted, we cease to be what we once were. Nothing may be evil in the beginning, but it can be twisted to evil.
The words wreath and wraith have a common root (read Tom Shippey’s excellent books on Tolkien and Middle-Earth for more about this connection). What happens to the Ring-Wraiths is that they are twisted by the power Sauron has given them, bent by the power of the rings. This bending and twisting — and the emptiness/negation that comes from it — is at the heart of Tolkien’s exploration of evil.
Already Rings of Power has delved into this theme, and I can see so many threads that show how the characters — in their pursuit of something they perceive as good — can be caught up in the twisting of good intentions into something bad.
Galadriel, of course, is our primary example of this, as she is so bent on finding Sauron and destroying him, that she has isolated herself from her friends, her society, and her better judgment. It’s an arc she will be on until that critical moment in Fellowship of the Ring when Frodo offers her the One Ring and she ultimately refuses it. I love that the Rings of Power TV show is giving us this character arc and delving into the trials and temptations Galadriel will face.
I feel this way about nearly all of the characters on the show, from Elendil to Isildur to Elrond to even the invented characters like Adar, Bronwyn, Arondir, and Norri. I’m especially excited for how the people of Numenor will be corrupted by their desire for power and immortality. What will happen when Sauron is able to twist the minds of the Numenoreans so that they will challenge the very might of the Valar themselves?
I know there has been a lot of “controversy” about the show (which I see as totally manufactured by bad-faith online folks), and I’m not saying Rings of Power will work for everyone, but for me, watching it has made me feel something I haven’t felt in ages. It’s given me the same feelings as the original Lord of the Rings trilogy. It is a story of light and darkness, but the darkness does not overwhelm, it does not win. In the end, there is hope. This feeling is one of the reasons I’m drawn to high fantasy. Darkness is not greater than the light.
As Bronwyn tells her son (quoting LOTR and Samwise Gamgee’s thoughts while in Mordor as he sees the star of Earendil): “In the end, this shadow is but a small and passing thing… Find the light, and the shadow will not find you.”
For me, Rings of Power has been a light to follow and wonder at.
Thank you for reading! Please consider becoming a paid subscriber so I can continue to send you my thoughts on fantasy literature, cinema, and gaming, and so I can continue to support my family through my writing. If you are already a paid subscriber, thank you so much!
And please go to the Kickstarter campaign and make a pledge! Both of these books are deeply personal to me, and if you grew up reading fantasy as a kid and want to experience that feeling again, Avalon Summer and Gates to Illvelion will hopefully take you back to those glorious summer days!