A short figure slowly walked into the edge of the campfire’s light.
“Tass… Tasslehoff? Are you okay?” Goldmoon asked, concerned about the shadow which seemed to follow him. He’d slipped away after a brief stop at a pub where a couple of humans gave him a hard time.
“Were you fretting over those jerks making fun of you?” asked Tika, chiming in from across the fire. “Don’t worry - you’re a handsome one, and I don’t even think anyone knows what ‘hipster’ means, anyway.”
“No, I’m not fretting anymore,” Tasslehoff responded. He drew closer to the fire, allowing its warm glow to light his features.
It was only then The Companions saw the dagger in his hand still dripping in blood. Raistlin looked up from his spell book, instantly understanding what had befallen the fools who crossed the legendary assassin, and silently nodded in respect.
“I warned them,” Tasslehoff spoke with a menace in his voice, “Don’t #$%@ with the hair.”
“I didn’t take their lives…Kender don’t steal, you see. I’m just…borrowing them,” he said, flipping a gleaming opal gemstone across the knuckles of his other hand. The stone appeared to be quietly screaming.
Tanis Half-Elven scratched his beard as he approached the two women lying in their bedrolls. “Laurana, Kitiara, my human side wars with my elven side every waking moment. Laurana, your golden hair and pointed ears personify the exotic and ethereal nature of your Qualinesti people. Kitiara, your dark curly locks and heaving bosom embody the lusty nature of mankind. To resolve this struggle in my heart, I must bang one of you immediately.”
Laurana gasped, and pulled her blanket to her neck, revealing an expanse of shapely thigh. Kitiara’s dark eyes amusedly glittered in the campfire light. “How about I give you a half and half, then?”
Awesome! So much potential for storytelling in that universe - Its a rich world in pretty much everyones mind, and a story about someone NOT of the fellowship of the Ring should be pretty great.
I would think the urgency on the Tolkien estate side of things is on licensing The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales.
Copyright on The Silmarillion appears to be up in 2028. Unfinished Tales? 2031.
If you started in pre-development work on a Silmarillion series right now, and it ran for ~7 years? The series would end right about when or just before the copyright on the underlying work expires, at least under UK law.
The Silmarillion was published under JRRT’s name, posthumously, in 1977. JRRT died in 1973 and the Silmarillion was published before the 1988 amendments to the Act came into force. It is governed by the old “life of the author plus 50” rule. (Guy Gavriel Kay did not get a copyright in the work, so joint authorship does not apply.)
Cool news. I wonder how long it will take to bring the first season to Prime? I’d have to guess at least 3 years given casting, scripting and production of the scope needed to pull something like this off. So Fall of 2020 for Season One?
I wonder what Age/era they will choose. They could go back to the War of the Last Alliance, when Sauron was defeated the first time. That would encompass the creation of the Rings of Power and the Nazgul. Lots of potential for intrigue, betrayal, conflict between races and eventually an epic struggle against evil. The problem there is hardly any well known characters to tie casual fans into the series. Elrond, Galadriel, maybe Gandalf…that’s it.