Dan Brown writes: Let’s get one thing straight: The Hobbit is not a prequel.

By this point, you’ve probably heard about the much-delayed big-screen project.

Based on the 1937 fantasy novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, it is being adapted into two motion pictures by Kiwi filmmaker Peter Jackson. Jackson is the director whose Lord of the Rings trilogy grossed roughly a kazillion dollars and prompted nerdgasms around the world.

Since Jackson’s Hobbit will be released nearly a decade after his last LOTR installment, but is set in an earlier period of Middle Earth history, it has been described in online news reports as a prequel, giving rise to sentences such as these: *In a statement released by his production company 3foot7 Ltd, director Peter Jackson said that “despite some delays, we are fully back on track and excited to get started” with regards to the highly anticipated two-part Lord of the Rings prequel (from E! Online) More..