The Last Ringbearer by Kirill Yeskov torrent

“- I accept the responsibility, Saruman; History will vindicate me.

- I have no doubt that it will; after all, history will be written by those who will win under your banner. There are tried and true recipes for that: cast Mordor as the Evil Empire that wished to enslave the entire Middle Earth, and its inhabitants as non-human monsters that rode werewolves and ate human flesh…\"


The Last Ringbearer, novel by Kirill Yeskov, is a apocryphal description of the events of J.R.R.Tolkien\'s trilogy \"Lord of the Rings\" and their immediate aftermath. The novel is a mix of cryptohistory, fantasy and spy thriller, and it\'s premise lies in an assumption that Tolkien\'s text - \"The Red Book\" - is the romantic legend of the winners, and the critical examination of it as a historical document could present us with a different view on the events of the War of the Rings.

The book was first published in Russia in 1999 and had several reprints since then. It was also translated and published in Poland, Czech Republic, Spain, Portugal and Estonia. Original Russian edition had names of certain characters and places taken directly from Tolkien\'s books, but those had to be changed in Spanish and Portuguese versions for copyright reasons. This English translation, made by Yisroel Markov, is unofficial (although the author was involved) and thus has all the original names left intact.


Notes: this book is not a parody or imitation of LotR, instead it could be described as a kind of apocrypha or alternative history of the Middle Earth. The genre is also different, or is \"eclectic\" a more appropriate term here? It\'s not your standard fantasy epic heroic saga, but a mixture of political thriller and spy action (in the mold of Le Carre and Forsyth), with fantasy adventure and a little bit of science fiction (after all, the author is a scientist - biologist and paleontologist - first and foremost) thrown in for good measure. It also has a flavor of post-modern game (think Tom Stopppard\'s \"Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead\").

Right after it\'s release \"The Last Ringbearer\" stirred a huge uproar in Russia among hardcore Tolkien fans (called \"tolkienists\" here) - countless forum battles were fought, thousands of banhammers had to be used.
I suggest not to read this book if you believe that every word of \"Lord of the Ring\" is sacred and any point of view on the events of the War of the Ring other then the one of the Professor is a heresy and therefore should be burned with fire. If, on the other hand, you are fond of good adventure, fantasy and spy thriller, fun but thought provoking, then I would say that there is a good chance you will like this one.

Enjoy ^_^


Russian cover:

http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/1407/lrrussian.jpg

Spanish cover:

http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/5314/lrspanishalamut.jpg

Portuguese cover:

http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/121/lrportugal.jpg