Tyrion Lannister is many things in A Song of Ice and Fire (or the show version – Game of Thrones [played by Peter Dinklage]). For better or for worse he is known as a dwarf, a drunkard, a “whore chaser”, cocky, scoundrel, a Lannister, a reader, a smart ass, but for all these things he is typically best known for his one liners and wit. A pseudo – placement character for the author himself (George R.R. Martin), in a kind of twisted version of a Gary Stu; Tyrion Lannister despite his deficiencies and horrors that happen to him, often comes off looking the best.

This is not to say he’s a “good guy”, but this is also the world – Westeros – where nobody is truly a “good guy”. (The Starks are the closest we get to all around good guys…. and look what happens to all of them.) But, despite being morally grey, he usually comes off looking better than most other characters with his actions, and especially with his wit and wisdom and his acerbic tongue.

One of his biggest quotes that you’ll most likely see on at least one t-shirt at every brewfest is:

I drink and I know things.

Tyrion Lannister

Its usually one of those tongue in cheek quotes you hear (or read) over and over from people who think they are probably far smarter than they are, and also love to drink. Its similar to all of the unironic Joker quotes you see your ‘bro’ friends post on Facebook. Or you’ll probably encounter this quote in some jumbled up fashion as a team name on trivia night at your local brewpub.

The Appeal of the Character of Tyrion Lannister

So that makes me wonder, why exactly is Tyrion Lannister such a favorite? Is it his character? Or is it his wit and one liners? Or is it who and what he is or how he’s written? Is it his dirty potty mouth (the horrors!)? Or is there something more?

I first started this section as ‘The Character of Tyrion Lannister’ and after writing the previous paragraph changed it to ‘The Appeal of the Character of Tyrion Lannister’ because I think that matters most – especially considering this precise little volume. Since there is no ‘The Wit and Wisdom of Ned Stark’ or ‘The Wit and Wisdom of Reek’ or ‘The Wit and Wisdom of Littlefinger’. There could just as easily be one for Varys with all of his great quotes and sage like advice and pseudo – revolutionary and pseudo – deep thought or pseudo – pop – philosophy comments. But there isn’t (yet?). And I think this comes down to the appeal of Tyrion.

It is interesting just how much people have glomed onto the character of Tyrion. I believe a fair portion of that appeal is his ‘underdog status’. Hated by his own father for being a dwarf, and being blamed for the death of his mother at his birth, he is immediately someone we can have sympathy for. Couple this with his empathy for the other ‘lowlier’ characters like fan favorite bastard Jon Snow, and you can get a better more full spectrum of the character. He endures hardships, even by characters that we classically in other fictions would like, and we further empathize with him ourselves. And of course, add to this his whoring, his drinking, and his acerbic quick wit, and its very easy to see why he’s a fan favorite.

Book Review

GoodRead’s Blurb:

The perfect gift for fans of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels and HBO’s Game of Thrones: a collection of wicked one-liners from the incomparable Imp of Casterly Rock, fully illustrated by Jonty Clark!
 
“My mind is my weapon. My brother has his sword, King Robert has his warhammer, and I have my mind . . . and a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone if it is to keep its edge.”
 
The jealous masses of the Seven Kingdoms may call him Halfman, but none have ever accused Tyrion Lannister of being a halfwit. His golden tongue has saved his skin slightly more often than it has landed him in mortal peril. Now, this special illustrated volume preserves his most essential knowledge for future generations, featuring time-tested guidance on such varied subjects as . . .
 
The art of persuasion
“The best lies are seasoned with a bit of truth.”
 
Fine dining
“A little honest loathing can be refreshing, like a tart wine after too much sweet.”
 
The fair sex
“The young ones smell much better, but the old ones know more tricks.”
 
Royal politics
“Crowns do queer things to the heads beneath them.”
 
Common ailments
“A sword through the bowels. A sure cure for constipation.”
 
At once charming, insightful, and ruthlessly irreverent, The Wit & Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister is short on pretense and overflowing with finely crafted gems—just like the man himself.

GoodReads: The Wit and Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister

So…. this is certainly something I would never ever have paid full price for. Back cover price lists it as 16$ American. It is 177 pages with several middling illustrated images – in a cartoony and uninteresting way – of Tyrion Lannister. There is several chapter break pages and a few other blank pages. The quotes themselves are just one page for each quote. So all in all, this should take less then forty minutes at most to read, and that’s counting in the time to pour yourself a beer, and to take sips, and to answer a text or two.

I was able to get this far cheaper (I forget if I got it from the Hershey Public Library book sale, or the Hummelstown Library sale, or from AbeBooks – but I know I didn’t spend more than 2$ on it), otherwise I would never have gotten it.

Firstly, if you like Tyrion Lannister, which is something I would suppose anyone who is reading this book would be; then you should already be well acquainted with at least the majority of the quotes in the book. There shouldn’t really be much in the way of ‘surprising’ content for you, more like memory jogs of things you had read previously, or quotes you remember from the show – depending on your level of involvement with the Westeros universe.

It honestly screams ‘cash grab’ and its small size and smaller reading structure reads as a “neat little gift book” to give someone for Christmas or their birthday. But at its price, it’ll most likely come from someone who knows “oh hey, my buddy loves Game of Thrones, he talks about it all the time, this looks like a fun book for him” type of gift, rather than someone who also knows the material well and is gifting it to their also knowledgeable friend. Its in the vein of the knick-knack gifts you get from friends and family who know that you love Star Wars and get you some esoteric thing just because it has the Star Wars logo on it.

And for that, obvious cash grabs are always kind of an annoyance to me. Especially in the literary world. It just always “makes me sus” right out the gate on something, and this is no different. Its also interesting to point out that this was published in 2013, and at this point George R.R. Martin had (and still has) only released five of the books. And as for Game of Thrones the show, the finale didn’t end up airing until May 2019. Seems odd to release this book in 2013 before the written series isn’t done, and the television series isn’t done… unless you wanted to capitalize on the new found fame of it all for the sake of money, and to have a hold over until George R.R. Martin is able to finish the series – spoiler alert – he still hasn’t finished even the next book of the series by March 2022.

Are the quotes good and entertaining? Sure… but is it worth an entire book for them? No. And is it worth 16$? Certainly not! Especially given that you get roughly 116 quotes (if my counting was correct from a quick leaf through of the work). With each quote being a single sentence or two at most, you are spending 16$ for at most 232 sentences of text. Seems an absurd cost.

My GoodReads Rating: **
My LibraryThing Rating: *.5
Global Average GoodReads Rating: 3.56 (as of 3.12.22).

More Information

For more information on Tyrion Lannister I suggest checking out the ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ Wikipedia:

• Tyrion Lannister (A Song of Ice and Fire Wikipedia)

Thanks For Reading

Hope everyone is enjoying the lovely off and on good and bad weather we’re having here in Central PA (lovely SMARCH weather – Homer Simpsons). At least it gives me a chance to catch up on my “to read” pile, and to hit the library and get more books that I’ll start and hopefully finish before their due back. I am trying to keep up with reading and doing book reviews as soon as I get done. Hope you are all enjoying the book reviews on top of the beer reviews, and hike reviews, and other beer related articles here on the blog.

Also, be sure to check out the March Madness tournament that’s going on. You can find that here: March Madness (2022) – Bigger, Badder, Bolder.

Well, thanks for reading all! And remember to drink and to know things! Cheers!

-B. Kline

As always, thank you everyone for reading! Leave your likes, comments, suggestions, questions, etc, in the comments section. Or use the Feedback – Contact Us – page, and we’ll get right back to you! You can also reach out to us at our direct e-mail address: thebeerthrillers@gmail.com

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

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Disney Canon

Before jumping into the review of this, let’s delve a bit into the Disney Star Wars canon versus the old (now labeled Legends) Expanded Universe canon. This came out around the time of Rogue One (or soon after) and was made to work with the other similar Young Adult (and Adult and even Children’s) literature to work as a larger ‘tie-in’ with the movie. Disney’s Canon (outside of the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy) is pretty vastly different than the old school Legends canon.

This is primarily due to the sequel trilogy and its involvement and change of everything fundamentally post – Endor. They have brought back some aspects of the old canon and integrated it into the new canon, but obviously tweaked, and altered from its origin. The sects and followers of the Force and Jedi is one such example. In the new canon this is represented over some different various sects, religious or not, and followers.

Fast forward to Rogue One and the kyber crystals being more used in the canon, and here we have the introduction of Baze and Chirut who are former Guardians of the Whills who looked after a kyber temple in Jedha. This is one of the few aspects of the new canon that I actually appreciate over the old, or at least as in addition to the old canon. I think there is a lot of story elements and ideas that they can go with and use this for.

Guardians of the Whills

“The Force is with me,
And I am one with the Force;
And I fear nothing,
Because all is as the Force wills it.“

―The Guardian’s Mantra

Guardians of the Whills – Wookiepedia

The above mantra is the one that Chirut repeats to himself several times throughout the movie – Rogue One, as well as he does in various other books / comics / etc that he appears in (like in the novel Guardians of the Whills).

The Guardians of the Whills, also known as the Guardians of the Kyber Temple, were a religious order that existed at least a few years before the Invasion of Naboo. The Guardians later acted as a resistance group^[1] of monks active in the Jedha City on Jedha during the Imperial Era. They traditionally handcrafted the lightbow, a complicated form of bowcaster native to Jedha, such as the one used by Chirrut Îmwe during the Battle of Scarif.^[3] The Guardians protected both the Temple of the Kyber and pilgrims who visited it.

Guardians of the Whills – Wookiepedia

For more information be sure to check out the Wookiepedia page above. Just be careful, the Wookiepedia is a massive rabbit hole (or insert Star Wars themed animal here, gundark hole? sarlaac hole? etc.) that can literally take you hours to crawl back out of. I’ve found myself doing that. Clicking one article to go to another to go to another, after another, after another. Good luck, and May the Force Be With You to see your way back out.

Book Review

Now that we got all of that out of the way, let’s dive into the book and give it an actual review.

GoodReads blurb:

Baze and Chirrut used to be Guardians of the Whills, who looked after the Kyber Temple on Jedha and all those who worshipped there. Then the Empire came and took over the planet. The temple was destroyed and the people scattered. Now Baze and Chirrut do what they can to resist the Empire and protect the people of Jedha, but it never seems to be enough. When a man named Saw Gerrera arrives with grand plans to take down the Empire, it seems like the perfect way for Baze and Chirrut to make a real difference and help the people of Jedha. But will it come at too great a cost?

Guardians of the Whills (Disney Canon – Star Wars Junior Novel) (GoodReads)

This is a ‘young adult’ novel, or a ‘junior’ novel, its relatively short, it has pictures, and pages that are just quotes at each chapters. Its a smaller square hardcover novel. The little poems or philosophies or quotes we get at each chapter add to the universe and the scant knowledge we have of the various Force followers / sects / etc. Its 234 pages and with the larger font, the smaller hardcover size, and the chapter breaks, etc, its a quick read.

One of the complaints about the movie Rogue One was that the characters come off as flat or more plot device based, or woodish and cardboard; this novel goes a long way to providing some insight, some background, and some added backstory to Baze and Chirrut. Arguably two of the more interesting characters to come out of the movie. (I mean, who doesn’t like a Force monk and his gruff buddy who’s given up his religion?)

In many ways this is a study of an odd – couple that have a lifelong friendship despite (or because of) their differences. Chirrut, ever the space Monk, the tidy one, the philosophical, religious, theologian, the clean, the perfunctory, and blind man of faith is juxtaposed by Baze who is gruff, uncouth, rough, harsh exterior yet with a heart of gold, a man of the streets rather than a man of learning or belief. One who has kept his faith despite all that has happened to him, and a man who has lost his faith due to all that has befallen him and his friend.

Baze and Chirrut act as a form of Robin Hood style do gooders, vigilantes on more of a mission of righting wrongs rather than killing for purpose, but as the Empire starts leaning heavier and heavier on the city, squeezing it for all of their kyber crystals; they find themselves working with Saw Guerrera and forming an alliance they rather not really be making with him.

This is a good strong character heavy and introspective novel on two different and interesting characters; especially for a junior / young adult novel. There is some actual sequences (the various little skirmishes in the streets, some other attacks, etc.), but for the most part, this is a drama that plays out in the heads and actions of our two Rogue One characters (Baze and Chirrut). And its done quite well.

Greg Rucka does a good job of getting into these characters, what makes them tick, their differences, their commonalities, their motivations, and leaves them in a good place for the start of Rogue One. This works as a wonderful set up to the movie for these characters.

My GoodReads Rating: ****
Global Average GoodReads Rating: 3.83 (as of 11.2.21)
My LibraryThing Rating: ****

The Beer Thrillers and Star Wars

For more Star Wars content here on The Beer Thrillers, check out the following:

• Book Reviews: The Jedi Path and The Sith Path (Daniel Wallace)
• Beer Review: Mangolorian (Brewery Fire)
• Beer Review: This is the Whey (Bolero Snort)
• Beer Review: Java the Stout (Jackie O’s Brewery)
• Beer Review: The Pandalorian (Tattered Flag)
• Beer Review: Wookie Monster (Fourscore Beer Co)
• Beer Review: Out of Order: Blue Milk (RAR Brewing)
• Revenge of the Fifth / Cinco de Mayo / Beer Review: Issla En El Cielo (Celestial Beer Works)
• May the Fourth Be With You
• Beer Review: This is Nut The Fluff You’re Looking For (Fourscore Beer Co)
• Beer Review: This is the Way (Broken Goblet)
• Beer Review: The Hog (Boneshire Brew Works) (Star Wars Content)
• Beer Review: Moon of Vega (Equilibrium Brewing) (Space Balls)

So far, so good, with the November day to day posts. Two days done so far, and two completed. Yesterday we kicked it off with a Beer Review of Life Sentence by Tattered Flag. Who knows whats in store for tomorrow – the 3rd – and beyond. Be sure to check back and check in often as we kick off this month of daily posts!

(Today’s was a bit of an interesting one, I had about 90% of the article written before I had to leave for work at 9:15AM, worked 10-7PM, stopped at the local high school to vote, and then came home and finished the article. I’m sure there will be plenty more articles and days like this ahead in this November.)

Cheers!

-B. Kline

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Fables

Fables, particularly ones using animals as the characters and giving them human like traits, is as old as Aesop. (Probably older really, but we really only think about Aesop’s Fables). Anthropomorphism has been a literary device since the beginning of time when we used it as a way to describe the behavior of animals, gods, spirits, and other deities or things we couldn’t figure out – as we were just trying to figure out the world itself. Animal based fables have been used as a way of highlighting a point, providing satire or parody, or just illuminating our behaviors through the guise of an animal – and in doing so, driving home the point more.

David Sedaris uses his little animal fables to showcase some of modern time’s more interesting foibles amongst the humans. Sometimes just comedic, sometimes poignant, sometimes meta, sometimes downright ludicrous, but all enlightening about ‘us’. Little things, big things, little topics, big topics, they are all covered here. (And with wonderful illustrations to go with it as well.)

David Sedaris

Sedaris is known for his sardonic, satirical voice, a bit of an ‘everyman’ but also a humorous, sarcastic, satiric one. He has several books to his name, as well as lots of contributions to different magazines, newspapers, and other medias (documentaries, movies, comedy shows, etc.). His sister is Amy Sedaris (actress and writer) and they have worked together on some projects.

David Raymond Sedaris (/sɪˈdɛərɪs/; born December 26, 1956)^[1][2] is an American humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor. He was publicly recognized in 1992 when National Public Radio broadcast his essay “Santaland Diaries“. He published his first collection of essays and short stories, Barrel Fever, in 1994. He is the brother and writing collaborator of actor Amy Sedaris.

Much of Sedaris’s humor is ostensibly autobiographical and self-deprecating and often concerns his family life, his middle-class upbringing in the suburbs of Raleigh, North Carolina, his Greek heritage, homosexuality, jobs, education, drug use, and obsessive behaviors, and his life in France, London, and the English South Downs.

David Sedaris (Wikipedia Introduction)

For more information on him, check out his Wikipedia page and his GoodReads pages:

• David Sedaris (Wikipedia)
• David Sedaris – Author (GoodReads)

Book Review

Featuring David Sedaris’s unique blend of hilarity and heart, this new collection of keen-eyed animal-themed tales is an utter delight. Though the characters may not be human, the situations in these stories bear an uncanny resemblance to the insanity of everyday life.

In “The Toad, the Turtle, and the Duck,” three strangers commiserate about animal bureaucracy while waiting in a complaint line. In “Hello Kitty,” a cynical feline struggles to sit through his prison-mandated AA meetings. In “The Squirrel and the Chipmunk,” a pair of star-crossed lovers is separated by prejudiced family members.

With original illustrations by Ian Falconer, author of the bestselling Olivia series of children’s books, these stories are David Sedaris at his most observant, poignant, and surprising.

Squirrel Seeks Chimpunk (GoodReads Blurb)

This is certainly a fun, and sarcastic look at human foibles. Satirical and a parody of our own lives, South Park like in many ways. Its interesting to see that Ian Falconer is the illustrator and author for the Olivia series of books, and I can definitely see that in his artwork now (my oldest two daughters loved the Olivia book series), but these images in this book, are much more graphic (showing pus, guts, violence, blood, visceral, etc.).

The illustrations do work perfectly with the different stories / fables. As the fables / stories can get rather graphic themselves – oh yes, spoiler alert possibly – but these are definitely not fables for the faint of heart. (Looking at the story of the bear in particular, and with the graphic illustration to go with it…. or the two lab rats…. or the raven with the ewe’s eye….)

No topic is really sacrosanct in this volume either. He covers prejudices, racism, religion, bigotry, politics, parenting, friends, greed, and all of our other vices and avarice. The Storks are used to discuss parenting (shocking huh? but not in the way your thinking about them), the lab rats are used to discuss “new age” thought (positive vibes, good thinking, etc.), the bear shows the ways people manipulate others over their grief, the chipmunk and the squirrel shows the bigotry and racism of our past generations, etc, etc, etc.

The reviews on Amazon and GoodReads on the book are pretty interesting. Comments ranging from “deranged” to “disgusting” to “hopeless” and then going up to the realms of flattery calling it “sarcastic fun”, “satirical gold”, etc. It certainly has evoked a lot of different opinions amongst many readers. That’s not too surprising really; you get a lot of “I didn’t know this was going to be like that” kind of responses. Its akin to Untappd reviewers saying “Good beer, but stouts aren’t my style” and then proceeding to give it a 1 out of 5 cap review. (Check out some of the blogs and Facebook pages devoted to “Untappd Reviews”.)

Overall, my thoughts are that its a fun enjoyable read. You might need a bit of a dark or twisted sense of humor (which luckily I have in spades), and maybe the pictures might be a bit ‘gross’ at times, but they are beautifully drawn. The fables are mostly short and makes the book a quick read.

My GoodReads Rating: ***
Global Average GoodReads Rating: 3.37 (as of 10.17.21)
My LibraryThing Rating: ***.5

Thanks For Reading

Thank you everyone for reading another book review here on The Beer Thrillers. I really appreciate you all taking the time to come check out our writings and reviews and blog. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to leave them in the comments section here.

Cheers!

-B. Kline

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys!

J.R.R. Tolkien

Now, I think most people are familiar who J.R.R. Tolkien, mot likely due to Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit, or just in general knowledge of the man. I’m not about to give a full wrap up or summary of the man, his works, and his influence on the world of literature, especially in fantasy, here, just because… well…. that’d be several blog posts in and of themselves. Maybe for a future in – depth look? Maybe a segment on authors? Who knows. Would be fun or interesting to do. But for here, I’m just going to kinda give an overview, and just a shout out and mentioning.

He’s a man who needs no introduction…. so let me go ahead and introduce him. Unless, we pull the Futurama joke where Bender says “And now, a man who needs no introduction” and just walks right off the stage. Leaving Fry sitting in bafflement until Bender kicks him and tells him he has to go up.

A quick summary of him can be taken from Wikipedia:

“John Ronald Reuel Tolkien CBE FRSL (/ˈruːl ˈtɒlkiːn/;^[a] 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer, poet, philologist, and academic, best known as the author of the high fantasy works The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

He served as the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon and Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford from 1925 to 1945 and the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature and Fellow of Merton College, Oxford from 1945 to 1959. He was a close friend of C. S. Lewis, a co-member of the informal literary discussion group The Inklings. Tolkien was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II on 28 March 1972.

After Tolkien’s death, his son Christopher published a series of works based on his father’s extensive notes and unpublished manuscripts, including The Silmarillion. These, together with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, form a connected body of tales, poems, fictional histories, invented languages, and literary essays about a fantasy world called Arda and, within it, Middle-earth.^[b] Between 1951 and 1955, Tolkien applied the term legendarium to the larger part of these writings.

While many other authors had published works of fantasy before Tolkien, the great success of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings led directly to a popular resurgence of the genre. This has caused Tolkien to be popularly identified as the “father” of modern fantasy literature—or, more precisely, of high fantasy.”

J.R.R. Tolkien: Wikipedia Page

Like I said, he is most famous for his Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, and as a whole his Middle-Earth world. He is a world class linguistic specialist, creating several of his own languages for his Middle-Earth, as well as a top notch world builder. His list of bibliography, most of which was produced posthumously by his estate through his son Chris Tolkien is nearly a mile long. This – The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun being just one such example.

The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun

As per GoodReads:

“Coming from the darker side of J.R.R. Tolkien’s imagination, “The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun” is an important non Middle-earth work to set alongside his other retellings of existing myth and legend, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, The Fall of Arthur and The Story of Kullervo.

Unavailable for more than 70 years, this early but important work is published for the first time with Tolkien’s ‘Corrigan’ poems and other supporting material, including a prefatory note by Christopher Tolkien.

Set ‘In Britain’s land beyond the seas’ during the Age of Chivalry, The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun tells of a childless Breton Lord and Lady (the ‘Aotrou’ and ‘Itroun’ of the title) and the tragedy that befalls them when Aotrou seeks to remedy their situation with the aid of a magic potion obtained from a corrigan, or malevolent fairy. When the potion succeeds and Itroun bears twins, the corrigan returns seeking her fee, and Aotrou is forced to choose between betraying his marriage and losing his life.

Coming from the darker side of J.R.R. Tolkien’s imagination, The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun, together with the two shorter ‘Corrigan’ poems that lead up to it and which are also included, was the outcome of a comparatively short but intense period in Tolkien’s life when he was deeply engaged with Celtic, and particularly Breton, myth and legend.

Originally written in 1930 and long out of print, this early but seminal work is an important addition to the non-Middle-earth portion of his canon and should be set alongside Tolkien’s other retellings of myth and legend, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, The Fall of Arthur and The Story of Kullervo. Like these works, it belongs to a small but important corpus of his ventures into ‘real-world’ mythologies, each of which in its own way would be a formative influence on his own legendarium.”

GoodReads: The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun

This is Tolkien working on his idea of the great British fantasies, in the vein of Sir Arthur, and the Green Knight, and fay and faerie. There’s been several released by Chris Tolkien, such as: Beowulf, Roverandom, The Story of Kullervo, and numerous Middle-Earth pieces (like The Children of Hurin, etc.). Chris Tolkien and a few others have done diligent work reconstructing his father’s manuscripts and page notes and little pieces of scrap paper to make the most comprehensive books out of it all, with numerous versions and editions of the stories, showing you the dates of changes, and everything.

Book Review

Ok, so lets discuss the book finally. Its a very thin, 120~ ish page piece of work (counting in indexes, prefaces, etc.), with a lot of repetition and blank spaces. Its almost an academic study of his work that was originally published in the Welsh Review back in 1945. There’s not a ton of substance to all of this, and much of the work is the same story reiterated in a couple of different but similar ways with just a few, sometimes notable, sometimes not, changes.

Thats not to say this is bad, or boring, or poor piece of work. There is a lot here, and its actually, I think vital, to see all of what Tolkien wrote, and how his own writing evolved too. It gives you a bit of a glimpse into his mental mind and his creative process. Something that is lacking from most authors because all you see is a polished, formal, finished piece of work.

It follows a relatively simplistic plot of a fairy that is in fact evil, tricking a King and causing his wife’s death rather than giving him the heir he thought he was destined to get from her. Most of the versions in the book are done in poem form rather than in prose form, so (in my opinion) loses some of the nuance of character emotions, beliefs, and driving force. You get more of a bare bones of the story, the plot, and it shows the level of ignorance and stubbornness (and stupidity) on the Bretton Lord’s part.

Especially now in 2021, the plot seems obvious, cliche, and done to death. Perhaps back in 1945 it wasn’t, and perhaps even further back from whence Tolkien got the story, it wasn’t (pretty certain it wasn’t then), but nonetheless, this works more as an academic “here’s a story from the past” rather than as a story of the day.

And I think thats the way this needs to be viewed, as an academic view of a past story, and the past of British fantasy in the form of faerie storytelling, rather than as a fictional piece of work to be enjoyed for its fiction and storytelling in that sense. Look at it as the precursor that helped build future fantasy genres and novels and stories rather than as a story in and of its own right.

Maybe? I’m not sure if thats the intent, but thats my way of looking at it, and the way I think it works best as.

My GoodReads Rating: ***
Global Average GoodReads Rating: 4.06 (as of 7.3.21)
LibraryThing Rating: ***

As always everyone, thanks for reading, and hopefully you’re enjoying these non – beer related articles. Between the hikes, the book reviews, etc, if you do or don’t, either way, let us know in the comments!

Cheers and thanks for reading everyone! Hope you enjoyed. Let us know your thoughts on the book and hike reviews! Thanks!

-B. Kline

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Now that the March Madness – Battle of the Breweries (2021) tournament is officially over, and Isle of Que Brewing has been declared the winner (see results here: The Winner of the Battle of the Breweries 2021 is….). So I suppose it’s back to business as usual right?

Well, sorta.

As I’ve discussing on our Facebook page, I am looking to branch out the blog into the other fields that interest me – namely: books, literature, philosophy, hiking. Does this really relate to beer and “beer thrillers”? No, yes, not really, kind of, sorta, not really, but, kind of.

What it really is, is – I have many hobbies and interests, and I want to write about them, and rather than create five hundred different types of blogs or sites, or just keep them on sites like GoodReads or such, I’m going to use the site here to post them. Can you ignore them? Yep, simply, don’t click the articles and don’t read them.

OR….. you can read them. Do you like reading book reviews? If so, then there you go. Do you like reading about hiking and the such? Then there you go! Do you like reading about philosophy or opinion pieces or just personal story type things.

I have gotten a few comments about the books I’m reading and how the books show up in the Instagram posts when I’m out and about, and I made a few posts on our Facebook page (and group page) and people seem interested in the books I read, so this should tie in nicely. Also, a fair number of my “brewery visit” and travelogue posts start off with me hiking (either solo or with Ming or with others), and those posts seem to do well (traffic volume wise). The Rickett’s Glen, Monocacy Battlefield, and the 1000 Steps Trail posts are all some of the most visited.

Am I done writing about beer? No, so don’t worry. I also have plenty of back – logged articles I need to finish editing and post, so those will be coming out as well periodically. Also, there is still Josh writing here on the blog, as well as others, and possibly a few new hands posting soon too. So stay tuned for plenty of beer content as well.

Speaking of that, this Sunday, Josh will be meeting the winners of our tournament – The Isle of Que Brewing at Rubber Soul’s Brewery in Hummelstown, and he will also be meeting Rubber Soul, and taking pictures and such. So he will be doing a write-up about this as well.

Also, in the future there will be much more cross over type stuff planned. Drew and I have planned on doing a YouTube series where we review different things like movies, books, video games, etc; while also drinking and reviewing beer. Drew is the head streamer and creator of Knights of Nostalgia and is a frequent helper and collaborator here on the blog as well.

So have no fear, there is plenty of beer content to come out as well as plenty of brand new kinds of stuff. The main page of the site and blog will also probably be getting a face lift in the upcoming weeks with more links and things in headers and a floating header to make the different pages more accessible.

I am hoping people will like the more varied and larger amount of content. At worst, its a lot more stuff you can ignore, at best, it gives you plenty more stuff to read. So here’s to the growth and expansion of The Beer Thrillers in the future months (and years). Cheers everyone!

-B. Kline

(Look for the first book review to be posted tomorrow – fingers crossed.)

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think.