73 Years of The Hobbit, Release of The Exile and... Advance Buzz

dinor veren, or Joyous Anniversary (in Sindarin, I hope) to The Hobbit!

On 21 September 1937 The Hobbit was first published in Great Britain. Where would I be without Tolkien, I wonder? Not just rereading The Lord of the Rings every year, but all the other authors I discovered through him, and the links that run through his work to many of my other interests and explorations - Welsh language, history of the British Isles, poetry, and so on.

"To celebrate the hardback release of There and Back Again – The Map of Tolkien's The Hobbit by Brian Sibley, TheOneRing.net and Harper Collins are teaming up to give you a chance to win a free copy!"

If you'd like to win a copy of the book, sign up here. It's illustrated by Canadian John Howe.


It's also launch day for Diana Gabaldon's The Exile! I ordered my copy through Amazon so have to grit my teeth and wait, but if you've got your copy already, join the discussions here on Outlandish Observations and on the Compuserve forum.

Next week is Banned Books Week. Which books have you read?


Also, in case you missed it, Inky Fool has been doing a rundown of the planets in our solar system, ending with Pluto today. And I agree with their statement that "Anyone considering leaving a comment about how Pluto isn't a planet no more, can take that thought, cover it in brambles, and stick it where the sun only shines very, very faintly."


Buzzzz... writers' house party coming soon to the Compuserve forum... more information to follow... buzzzzz...


And now, here is Bilbo Baggins's favourite walking song:

Roads go ever ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shone,
By streams that never find the sea;
Over snow by winter sown,
And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass and over stone,
And under mountains in the moon.
Roads go ever ever on

Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green
And trees and hills they long have known.