Sorry: Ray appears to have got stuck due to a hospital stay of one of the participants. I hope all will be well soon and ask those still waiting for their kind patience, please.

Smashing parody of Tolkien's famous Lord of the Rings - you'll be anything but bored reading it!

Welcome to my first bookray! If you'd like to read the book, just send me a PM (private message) and I'll put you on the list.

What is a bookray? I can't put it any better than BookRayGirl (can anyone?) - look here.

Rules for this bookray:

- Please be prepared to cover international shipping costs, for you can't know who's going to sign up after you (but relax - it's only a small paperback, so it shouldn't completely ruin your finances...)

- In order to minimize international or even transcontinental shipping, I might group participants according to country. Each country group may consist of up to five participants. You might have to wait a little longer for the book this way, but it saves your bucks.

- This thing starts as a bookray, open ended. However, should I ever feel I want the book back, I'll put myself at the bottom of the list and thus close the bookray (or rather bookring, then).

So here we go, these are the current participants (those who have journalled already are highlighted in red, so you can easily see where the book is at the moment):

hank-chinaski (germany)
Herrundmeyer (germany)
Rabe-de (germany)
powerslave (portugal)
MSO (portugal, left place to Justicar)
Justicar (portugal, took MSO's place, no journal entry)
Kiddie (portugal)
Di78 (portugal)
celiaak (portugal)
bookmanu (portugal)
tit-vinz (france)
Fleurus (france)
Vo2 (france)
Lil-Rhinehart (france)
Jehanne (netherlands)
Mrrr (switzerland)
vampgirl (spain)
Atenea-Nike (spain)
isis-osiris (spain)
moher1999 (spain)
Marielsd (germany)
tayjan (germany)
Aquina (u.k.)
Nightstar (belgium)

Postal release to Herrundmeyer. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Got this in the mail today. Thanks for starting this bookray. I'm looking forward to reading this.

Yes, this is a parody, but sometimes the puns and the mocking of Tolkien's work is slightly too much. Nonetheless, a short fun read.

I like the description of the "Sheep People" (would be the Rohirrim of Rohan in the original). Their accent is very German, and I always had the same impression when the Rohirrim were described in The Lord of the Rings. Here's their song:

"Ve ist der merry, gay Roi-Tanners,
Who like der boots, salutes und banners.
Ve ride der scheeps in vind und vheather
Mit vhips und spurs und drawers of leather.

Ve dance und sing und valse und two-step
Und never ever mach der goose-step.
Peace iss vhat ve vant und do have,
Und a piece of anything you have."

Release planned for Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at Mailed to a fellow Bookcrosser in n/a, n/a Controlled Releases.

Postal release to rabe-de. Enjoy!

Wow, that was quick. I just registered for the Bookray and already the book was in the mail today. :-)

Fortunately its volume is only a fraction of the original, so I hope to get it going to Portugal pretty soon.

The book gave me some good laughs. Maybe there had been more if it hadn't been such a long time since I read the original. I think many of the jokes only work if you know the corresponding parts of the Lord of the Rings. If you like Monty Python's Flying Circus and if you know Tolkien this book is for you.

My favourite part is the introduction of the Vee-Ates (Ents) and their word-games:

'Be not afraid,' grinned the affable vegetable. 'I want to make peas with you'. 'Come come,' said the giant, 'lettuce go and meet my subjects who live in the forrest. They cannot be beet.'

160 pages are enough though.

Thank you hank-chinaski for sharing this book, it is on its way to Powerslave now. Enjoy!

Arrieved by mail yesterday... I thought the book would be bigger :) Better this way! It will take less time to put it on its way :)

The intire book is an absolut nonsense from the very first page to the last single line go the last chapter... it's incredible that a three volume story can be put in such a small book as this one! But somehow the writer of this hilarious book made a very good job changing every character to a clomsy idiot.
An a very good job he did! :)

"Peoples of the West! The battle before the Black Gate of Sorhed will be one of few against many; but the few are of pure heart and the many are of the filthy. Nevertheless, those of you who wish to cringe and run from the fight may do so to quicken our pace. Those who still ride with King of Twodor will live forever in song and legend! The rest may go."

A mighty speech capable of filling the hearts of men with courage to fight the enemy to the last drop of blood... or maybe, just maybe, not. Just take a look at the next paragraph.

"It is said that the dustcloud did not settle for many days after."

Release planned for Monday, March 22, 2004 at entregue em mão in Lisboa, lisboa Portugal.

Going on its way to the next one in the bookray list the fellow BCer MSO.

Chegou-me hoje a mão

I've received the book yesterday at the BC meeting in Saldanha, I'm really curious to read this parody.

Well... I've found some parts really funny but globally it was quite boring. Maybe it takes a native-english speaking to fully understand the humor in it.

Arrived today to my hands at the BC meeting.

05/10/04
Funny but a bit boring and hard to understand.

Will go to the next BC this week.