Customer Reviews

The Roadkill of Middle Earth

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I hated Bored by the Ring and was anticipating a good spoof of LOTR, one of the best-beloved books in history. This book is far more original and entertaining, thouhg some parts of it fall a little flat.

In the land of Middle Terra Firma (to avoid copyright infringements I imagine *wink*) "only the very wise and very foolish dared travel the black highway [...] that along this highway a mighty dragon called Smof plied its evil trade." (Opposite page, an enormous eighteen-wheeler with teeth and flames is about to mow down a wizard, Randolf Shortshanks, who "had long since swapped sorcery for saucery") Smog is driven by the Dark Rider (think a Black Rider with a roadmap) and mows down anything in front of it.

But from the Shyer come the Halfwits (ha!) and a team is sent out to save... whatever: A wizard, a dwarf, four Halfwits, an Elf and a Warrior were chosen. "Badly were they equipped, for there was a mighty shortage of useful things like magic cloaks and broken swords..."

Footnoted more heavily than a Terry Pratchett book, this book has a lot of wit and cuteness. It's far more effective than the dated, we-wanna-shock-you "Bored of the Ring". Names like "Borrownomore" and "Halfwits" are hilarious!

The problems? Well, some of the pages fall flat; I also was a bit surprised that after several prose-y pages, we get the ending in poetry. And the numerous illustrations are not the best that one could have hoped for. They would have fit better in a humorous children's book -- realistic caricatures would have worked better for this book, like the hilarious cover. It's also quite short.

It's hardly flawless. Nevertheless, if you're a Tolkien fan you may want to pick up this cute little book and get some honest laughs.

Middle Terra Firma is a land of wizards and warriors, and elves and furry-footed Halfwits. And one day death comes to Middle Terra Firma in the form of a semi named Smog, whose mission seems to be nothing but flattening anyone who crosses his path. A wizard, a dwarf, four Halfwits, a prince, an elf and a warrior set out to battle the Lord of the Tower of Tarmac-adoum, but their incompetence may just be their downfall.

This 62-page book is arranged in the form of one page containing a small amount of text to one page of mediocre illustration. The story is haphazard and disjointed, with no real beginning and no real end. Being a fan of Bored of the Rings, I was expecting more of this book than I got. It's not a graphic novel, just a book with lots of illustrations, but they are neither well drawn nor particularly humorous. (The one on the cover is the only decent one.) What little humor there is is in the form of someone getting run over, but as you might expect, this begins to pall very quickly.

Looking for a funny parody of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings? Look elsewhere! I bought this book, and am very sorry that I wasted my money. Don't buy this book!