Amph Isildur by Brian K. Crawford

Starting a new thread so as not to derail "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" thread further Reposted from that thread:

Thinking about the Hobbit and LOTR reminded me of something.

Back a few years ago, I was browsing around the Internet one day and unexpectedly stumbled across this: http://tolkien.cro.net/talesong/isildur/contents.html (not the site where I originally found it, but I can't find said site right now.) Anyhow, this novel, written by Brian K. Crawford, takes the hints that Tolkien dropped throughout his work about the fall of Numenor, the early years of the Realms in Exile, and the War of the Last Alliance and weaves them into a compelling story. The book opens with a meeting between Isildur and a lord of Gondor, who will later become the King of the Dead in ROTK. We see the origins of the curse Isildur laid on the Men of the Mountains as recounted by Legolas in ROTK(the film). From there, Crawford traces the story of the Last Alliance's effort to raise enough men to fight Sauron in Mordor so the seven year siege can end; all the while, Sauron's minions try everything they can to thwart the Allies. We see the Corsairs of Umbar attack Pelagir, Gondor's seaport, and the defenders are only saved by the timely arrival of the White Fleet of Lindon; the battle to retake Minas Ithil from the hands of the Nazgul; the final confrontation with Sauron in Mordor and the deaths of Elendil and Gil-galad; and at the end Isildur and his eldest sons' deaths at the Gladden fields. Elrond, Galariel, and Celeborn play important roles, with smaller appearances by Isildur's sons Elendur, Aratan, and Ciryon and his nephew Menedil.

Crawford does an excellent job staying true to Tolkien while at the same time filling in the gaps from his own imagination. In the last few years, he has revised and self published Isildur through the Createspace company; I own a PB copy of the book.

While I'm well aware that the Tolkien Estate would never sanction a Middle Earth film based on a book spinning off from Tolkien's work, I still dream about a film based on Crawford's Isildur. Please consider checking out the link above; I think you'll find Isildur a worthy addition to Middle Earth lore. Note: the version in the link above is the original version of the novel, which is markedly different in some places from the version that he self published

 

John E. Thompson?

 

Does anyone else with The Desolation of Smaug is quite a bit weaker as a title than the other two in the trilogy?