So you’ve got your new precious eh? It still has that ‘just bought’ smell to it doesn’t it? Do you still have the wrapping? The bill? It’s all so new and exciting isn’t it! Why not share your experience and send us a photo of yourself with your TTT Video or DVD! You could hug it, or have it on your head, you could be outside or in your car, anywhere or at anytime, just send it to us! We wanna see you and share your love for your copy of TTT! [Send it now!]

Doug Anderson writes: Today is the official publication day for my new anthology, TALES BEFORE TOLKIEN: THE ROOTS OF MODERN FANTASY. It is being published by Ballantine Books simultaneously in hardcover and trade paperback. The idea of the anthology was to collect a number of rare fantasy stories that directly influenced Tolkien, along with other stories to show what the genre was like before THE HOBBIT was published in 1937.

Here’s the listing of the full contents:

  • Introduction
  • “The Elves” by Ludwig Tieck
  • “The Golden Key” by George Macdonald
  • “Puss-Cat Mew” by E. H. Knatchbull-Hugessen
  • “The Griffin and the Minor Canon” by Frank R. Stockton
  • “The Demon Pope” by Richard Garnett
  • “The Story of Sigurd” by Andrew Lang
  • “The Folk of the Mountain Door” by William Morris
  • “Black Heart and White Heart” by H. Rider Haggard
  • “The Dragon Tamers” by E. Nesbit
  • “The Far Islands” by John Buchan
  • “The Drawn Arrow” by Clemence Housman
  • “The Enchanted Buffalo” by L. Frank Baum
  • “Chu-bu and Sheemish” by Lord Dunsany
  • “The Baumoff Explosive” by William Hope Hodgson
  • “The Regent of the North” by Kenneth Morris
  • “The Coming of the Terror” by Arthur Machen
  • “The Elf Trap” by Francis Stevens
  • “The Thin Queen of Elfhame” by James Branch Cabell
  • “The Woman of the Wood” by A. Merritt
  • “Golithos the Ogre” by E. A. Wyke-Smith [an extract from THE MARVELLOUS LAND OF SNERGS]
  • “The Story of Alwina” by Austin Tappan Wright
  • “A Christmas Play” by David Lindsay
  • Author Notes and Recommended Reading [ten pages!]

    [Order TALES BEFORE TOLKIEN: THE ROOTS OF MODERN FANTASY today!]

Galadriel-ca sends along these images from bus shelters in Canada (I’ve seen the Aragorn one myself). They promote ‘The Two Towers’ DVD. [More]

Greetings, Quickbeam here. The clock’s ticking, so enter our Cryptic Crossword Contest during our Green Books 4th Anniversary! The clues text has been slightly tweaked for accuracy — make sure you have the recent version found here: [GB4A Crossword]. Complete rules and prizes are here: [Rules]. Good luck!

Joelle writes: I got to go with another TORnsib to one of the Best Buy Midnight deals and although neither of us won anything I got a picture of the two prizes and wanted to pass it along. [More]