An evil overlord who embodies darkness and seeks domination of the world, usually from a distant fortress. Sauron and Morgoth made the figure a fantasy staple, repeated in countless imitators and games.
An evil overlord who embodies darkness and seeks domination of the world, usually from a distant fortress. Sauron and Morgoth made the figure a fantasy staple, repeated in countless imitators and games.
A hobbit carries the Dark Lord's ring across a dying world to destroy it — the twelve-year epic that defined high fantasy and handed the tabletop and computer RPG their races, rangers and quests.
Tolkien's lifelong book of the Elder Days — the making of the world, the theft of three holy jewels and the long doom of the elves — published by his son four years after his death.
A protagonist marked by prophecy or bloodline as the only one who can save the world, typically an unassuming youth who discovers a hidden destiny. The trope runs from Arthurian legend through The Belgariad and The Wheel of Time to Harry Potter, and many modern works subvert it.
The genre of the map in the front of the book: invented worlds, world-ending threats and quests that span trilogies — Tolkien's legacy, from Morris and Eddison to Jordan and Sanderson.
Fourteen volumes, two authors and 23 years: Robert Jordan's saga of the Dragon Reborn defined the doorstopper epic of the 1990s and was finished by Brandon Sanderson after Jordan's death.