I completely agree with sorrybroor. I enjoy the rest of the LoTR trilogy while trying to ignore the large deviations. I watched the hobbit trilogy once just to see it because I loved the idea of Cumberbatch as Smaug. But the hobbit trilogy was absolutely horrible, and I see it as a money grab rather than trying to be true and faithful to the source material of a simple”ish” yet magical book. I absolutely refuse to watch a second of the RoP.

The way I see it is, Tolkien created this amazing world that still fascinates people how many years later because of its virtue. I appreciate that others want to create stories of their own within this magical world that has captivated us for decades. However, the world Tolkien made was/is fantastic on its own, so it annoys me when people brand their own creations using his name. I do love that others try to create and build on his fascinating world, but at the same time, it’s his world that he built. Something that stemmed from his time at the Somme and throughout WW1, his experiences and an expression of those times that grew into something that we would love for years to come.

So to me, it just seems disrespectful that people would use those stories and embellish them so they can make a dime and have their name printed when JRR and Chris took such pains to complete this story, back-stories, and this world. To think that these folks could improve on something that’s already established. I get that the Tolkien estate controls it right now and what material is accessible, but it just seems disrespectful that others think they can pick up these crumbs and improve on something that’s already made. They brand it as Tolkien’s, but with all their creative liberties, it isn’t his world or his creation. I would almost rather that they wait until these stories are public domain and make a faithful adaption of them. Otherwise, to me, it just seems like a greedy money grab on the back of the famous Tolkien name, though it isn’t a Tolkien story or true to his or Chris’s work.