Thande
Donor
Tolkien originally wrote LOTR as one continuous story, but then recognising it had grown too long to be released in that form, his publishers asked him to come up with some way of cutting it into parts. Tolkien himself wanted to cut it into six books (hence the 'Book 1, Book 2' divisions in The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King) plus a seventh book which would be the Appendices. However, his publishers thought differently and instead published it as three long volumes as a trilogy. The rest is history.
However, what if Tolkien got his way?
This isn't a devil in the details WI, even if it seems that way at first. Think how influential the idea of an epic trilogy has been in the field of fantasy writing, plus science fiction and indeed in many other areas of modern literature. How would things have developed differently if LOTR had been published as seven books?
However, what if Tolkien got his way?
This isn't a devil in the details WI, even if it seems that way at first. Think how influential the idea of an epic trilogy has been in the field of fantasy writing, plus science fiction and indeed in many other areas of modern literature. How would things have developed differently if LOTR had been published as seven books?