On this episode of Hobbit in 5, we tell you about the upcoming live chat with TORn staffer Quickbeam, Stephen Fry and Luke Evans tweet on their way to NZ, announce the launch date for The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, and Peter Jackson offers Andy Serkis some advice! We also discuss Thror in this week’s character study.
Last month we asked you, our audience, to nominate titles for a top-100 list of the best science fiction and fantasy ever written. The response was overwhelming — almost 5,000 of you posted to the NPR site alone, and many thousands more offered suggestions on Facebook. We’ve tabulated those suggestions and, with the help of an expert panel, narrowed the list to a manageable field of a few hundred titles. Scrolling through the list of great science fiction and fantasy reads below will feel like a journey back in time for some of us, a voyage of discovery for others. But novice or veteran, everyone loves a contest. So, let the voting begin! More..
This month, J.W. reviews the book The Lord of the Rings: Weapons and Warfare by Chris Smith. Have a suggestion for a book you think J.W. should review? Find him on Facebook.
Fans of The Lord of the Rings films already know that Andy Serkis can act his face off and act without ever showing his face. He first proved it with his landmark performance of Gollum in The Two Towers. Film making and acting without a net, portions of the film hinged on Serkis’ performance of a creature and Weta Digital’s ability to put the emotion on screen digitally. It worked. Beyond all expectations, it soared.
When the screenwriters threw in some character twists of the twisted character for Return of the King (for good or for ill, but don’t blame the actor) Serkis did it again. And of course his return as the same character to The Hobbit is as essential a tie between the films as any character. He went from Middle-earth to Monster Island with King Kong and even got to die a horrible death in his own skin on screen.
Weta went on to create Pandora and its blue skinned inhabitants with James Cameron in Avatar then teamed up again on Tintin with Serkis playing a human in the hilarious Captain Haddock.
Today, Turbine has released a new batch of screenshots from The Lord of the Rings Online: Rise of Isengard, the upcoming expansion to the award-winning MMO, which will launch on September 27th. The new screenshots provide the first look at updates and enhancements being made to Monster Play in the new expansion.
THE LORD OF THE RINGS ONLINE™: RISE OF ISENGARD™: Explore Three New Regions! — The time has come for you to turn eastward, toward the vale of Isengard. Where ancient forests once flourished, a corrupted waste of metal and wheels suffers under the thrall of the traitorous wizard Saruman. Here, in the shadows of the tower of Orthanc, gathers an army of Orcs and Uruk-hai, toiling to make ready for war. Forge ahead into these devastated lands and uncover new quests, skills, and traits as you strive to thwart Saruman’s ambition. Continue reading “LOTRO: Rise of Isengard Expansion – Monster Play Screens!”
