On Fantasy
On a recent weekend trip back to my hometown of Roseville, near Sacramento, I marked an important milestone on my literary checklist. I completed Tolkien's epic Lord of the Rings for the second time. By the time I closed the pages of the well-worn and dog-eared copy of The Return of the King , I felt like I had parted company with a group of close friends. Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin are the soul of the story. Though most of the story sees them traversing different parts of Middle Earth and facing different conflicts with the supreme power of the Dark Lord Sauron, ultimately they lie at the core of what makes the story great. The last time I read through the series I was scarcely out of sixth grade, acquainted with the fantasy genre through Tolkien's friend C.S. Lewis, who led me alongside the Pevensie children through the enchanted realm of Narnia and beyond. Lewis placed the seed, while Tolkien watered and ultimately brought it to maturity within me. I'm surprise