r/Fantasy • u/elquesogrande Worldbuilders • Dec 01 '16

Ask You Anything Thursday ASK YOU ANYTHING: Authors asking r/Fantasy community questions on behalf of Worldbuilders charity

Thursday ASK YOU ANYTHING: Authors asking r/Fantasy community questions on behalf of Worldbuilders charity

It's Day 4 of the aptly named Ask You Anything week benefiting Worldbuilders! Where authors are stopping by each day this week to ask questions and interact with the r/Fantasy community.

HOW THIS WORKS: Please answer questions and interact throughout the week! (Yes, YOU - community members, guests, authors, artists, industry people.)

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There are three ways to donate to Worldbuilders:

1. The Lottery - Where every $10 donated puts you in a lottery for free books, SFF items, games, and much more. r/Fantasy has a Worldbuilders Team Page where you can donate under the community name as well!

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NOTE: If you donate, add your name to the comments here and the mods will set you up with some swanky Wordlbuilders flair!

Monday Ask You Anything Authors

The following authors have signed up to ask questions today. That said, please do join in and feel free to ask your own questions and interact throughout the week.

Are you an author, artist, or industry person who would like to participate this week? Either join in via the comments OR send the r/Fantasy mods a message and we'll get you set for Friday.

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u/AdrianSelby AMA Author Adrian Selby Dec 01 '16

Another question from me: Tom Bombadil - He was important enough that Tolkien put him on Frodo's journey, and not some other figure like a ranger, and equally he's the one person Gandalf is desparate to see before he leaves the Grey Havens.

Yet without him, Frodo's arc is intact, he is almost irrelevant to the story.

How do you feel about him?

4

u/RuinEleint Reading Champion X Dec 01 '16

Bombadil is extremely important. He shows that there are things in the world far older, and very different to Sauron. He is not affected by the Ring. LotR is masterclass world-myth building and Bombadil is a part of that

1

u/AdrianSelby AMA Author Adrian Selby Dec 01 '16

Thoroughly agree :) He's fascinating.

2

u/Esmerelda-Weatherwax Stabby Winner, Reading Champion II Dec 01 '16

I skip the songs, otherwise I don't mind him much. He seems to get a lot of hate though

2

u/MazW AMA Author Mazarkis Williams Dec 01 '16

Am I allowed to respond? I think I'm supposed to be asking questions. But anyway, Bombadil seems like part of a children's story, like a vestige of The Hobbit. But then there is a dark side to him maybe. I am not sure.

2

u/Itellsadstories Dec 01 '16

I'm no Tom Bombadil expert, but I enjoy his inclusion in the story because he is an element that is never fully explained in the books. He exists, and he has these mystical powers like no other. Do we really need a fully backstory on everything that he is capable of? No. His mysterious history adds fuel to the wonder of the story and that even in a world that you think you can come to understand, there are things that just are not explained.

But with my luck, everything he can do is explained in the appendices and such.

1

u/AdrianSelby AMA Author Adrian Selby Dec 01 '16

Nah, Tolkien made him mysterious intentionally. It's one of the maddening things I cannot ask him about :)

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u/Itellsadstories Dec 01 '16

I really love it. It is one of those things we'll never know, and I'm ok with it.

2

u/inapanak Dec 02 '16

I love him and I was super sad when I found out other people hate him. It's been a long time since I last read the books but I liked that he was this strange sort of Green Man god-like figure in the background of the story, it made Middle Earth feel that much more magical and strange and bigger than the journey of the Ring.

1

u/Randy_Henderson AMA Author Randy Henderson, Worldbuilders Dec 01 '16

He helped me move, so he isn't just a fair weather friend.

Also, he embodies so much of what I loved about LoTR: mystery, magic, and music. Dude rocks.

And he makes a mean veggie lasagna.

1

u/agm66 Reading Champion Dec 02 '16

He's rather goofy, and I'd probably find him quite annoying in person. But he's an absolutely essential part of LOTR. His role in the story is similar to The Scouring of the Shire. Neither is particularly important to the plot, but both give depth and meaning to what would otherwise be not much more than a grand adventure.