The San Diego Symphony Summer Pops will present the local premiere of “The Lord of the Rings Symphony” – composer Howard Shore’s epic adaptation of his movie soundtracks featuring orchestra, chorus and vocal soloists as well as illustrations from the Tolkien books. As if that isn’t enough to lure fans, the July 20 concert coincides with Comic-Con, the hugely popular event held at the San Diego Convention Center, adjacent to the Pops’ site at downtown’s Embarcadero Marina Park South. “We’re almost positive that ‘The Lord of the Rings Symphony’ will be a sellout,” says San Diego Symphony executive director Edward B. “Ward” Gill. “It should be a blockbuster.” [More]

Henery Gee writes: Just to let you know that I’m still on the road promoting my book ‘The Science of Middle-earth’ here in the UK. I’ll be at the Brighton Science Festival on 23 February and the Cambridge Science Festival on 18 March. For full details you can visit my website henrygee.org.uk.

As you probably know, The Science of Middle-earth started life in the ‘Green Books’ section of TORn. Tom Shippey chose it as his book of 2005 in the Times Literary Supplement, and in the New York Review of Science Fiction said that it was “the most unexpectedly Tolkienian book about Tolkien that I have ever come across”.

Order ‘The Science of Middle-earth’ on Amazon.com today! [US] [CA] [UK]

Be sure to tune into FOX tonight at 9PM EST to catch a new episode of “24” with Sean Astin. Sean has joined the cast of the hit show in it’s fifth season, he plays a savvy government agent who has taken control of ‘CTU’ the Counter Terrorism Unit.