New book! The Cracks of Doom: Untold Tales in Middle-earth. This new book is available now in paper. It is a side-project from my larger scholarly Tolkien book, and should be of interest to RPG makers as well as to fan-writers of Tolkien stories set in Middle-earth.

The Cracks of Doom is a comprehensive, fully annotated and indexed list of ‘Untold Tales’ in Middle-earth, pointing out the ‘cracks’ where new fan-works or role-playing might be developed. There are 125 entries and these usually lightly suggest ideas for story development and connections that might not otherwise be considered. This book is intended as a handy and inspiring reference work for writers, game makers, role-players, performers and daydreamers. It will also be useful for scholars seeking to understand what Tolkien “left out” and why, or those interested in ‘transformative works’ and fandom.

1. Introduction: “On Untold Tales in Middle-earth”.

2. Writing guidance: “Faith, Duty and Fun: plan and style in Middle-earth fiction”.

3. The list: ‘Openings, Gaps and Cracks’. 125 entries. Note that this is only for LOTR, inc. the Appendices. It also draws on Unfinished Tales, books in the History series, and for one item I also reference the Letters. It does not, of course, delve into the vast amount of material in The Silmarillion.

Sample:

PDF sample with the Index. The full book has 64 pages, about 22,000-words, with place and character Index. The book is wholly unofficial, and very respectful of Tolkien’s vision.