Rings, Swords, and Monsters: Exploring Fantasy Literature

This is less "exploring fantasy literature" and more "exploring Tolkien, and some also-rans". The majority of lectures are about Tolkien and each book including the Silmarillion get their own chapter. Fantasy before Tolkien is discussed very briefly but more in the transformation of fairy tales and Victorian book genre classifications. No mention of Lord Dunsany here. No mention of Gormenghast or the mannerist tradition. Now Tolkien is if not by being first, then by sales, a linchpin in Fantasy, but you'll leave this thinking he's the entire story. Likewise the authors who come after are painted as imitators (Brooks) or trying to escape the shadow of Tolkien (Donaldson). Drout's stamp of originality is given to LeGuin. Being a 2006 show more production there's no mention of now dominant names like GRRM.
It's really not a bad series of lectures, especially if you reframe it as not trying to do the genre service as much as talk about Tolkien and his impact. The discussion of each work has enough time to go over the biographical detail (like the evolution of The Hobbit as a book, revisions, why there's more anachronisms), as well as do some thematic analyses. Good introduction to Tolkien (with a lot of competition for deeper dives in other books), less so to the fantasy landscape (the author's personal hot takes and handful of cherrypicked examples rule the day). show less

Engaging, interesting, but there are bits that are simply factually incorrect. Drout is probably a reasonably devout Christian, and this affects his treatment of certain authors. He says that Philip Pullman is a completely humourless author; he must not have read, e.g., "Count Karlstein" or "The Scarecrow and his Servant", which are very funny.

He underrates the cleverness and funniness of Lloyd Alexander.

HIs remarks about Tolkien make "The Lord of the Rings" seem more interesting and impressive than it actually is.

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Having listened to this series of lectures again, I have to conclude again that it is very enjoyable. However, its anti-Pullman stance is a bit one-sided. Also, Drout suggests that humor occurs seldom in fantasy, and show more that even when it does, it's not very good. Lloyd Alexander's books can be quite funny, as can Diana Wynne Jones' and Joan Aiken's. Hugh Cook's "The Wordsmiths and the Warguild" is funny throughout. These book are all real fantasy, unlike Terry Pratchett's books, which as Drout rightly states, do not really belong to the fantasy genre at all.

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2022: Listened to it again and now have a longer list of fantasy books I want to listen to. I found "King Solomon's Mines" unlistenable, but now I have high hopes for "Eric Brighteyes". Will even venture to try "The Lord of the Rings" again. Also, although Philip Pullman is a good book writer, his "tweets" are awful. Maybe Drout was just able to see into the future and know what was coming. And Drout is a bit of a malaprop. He says "interregnum" when I'ld say "hiatus". show less

Fantasy in modern times is held on the fringe much like romance novels and cheap novels. They have a strong following but many just consider them as escapism. Drout through his lectures shows the history and influence of fantasy writing from the Victorian to the present and magical realism. I never read Tolkien but the amount of time spent on the author makes me want to pick up The Hobbit and give it a try for the 57th time. I never got past the party meeting Gollum in the cave.

Ursula K. Le Guin, Terry Brooks, Stephen R. Donaldson, among others are covered in the course. A few I know were missed but the main players were included. There is an interesting lecture the evolution of the Arthurian legend and a wrap up about the difference show more between fantasy and magical realism which includes the Harry Potter series and others.

The Modern Scholar is apparently no longer an active. Extra material is no longer available as their web page is no longer valid. show less

After listening and loving The Hobbit I picked up the Modern Scholar Series Rings, Swords and Monsters which is a series of lectures on fantasy literature by Michael Drout, a professor at Wheaton College. My original plan was just to listen to the one or 2 lectures about The Hobbit. I found that I could not put this down. If you are a fan of fantasy fiction, he covers many of the great authors of the genre - Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Ursula LeGuin, Terry Brooks, and more. His lectures were interspersed with background history, wonderful excerpts that he reads as well as the best audio narrator, and some great analysis. It was enjoyable and I learned so much. I would highly recommend this to fantasy fans.

A Modern Scholar course on audio that (wait for it) explores fantasy literature, with a large emphasis on Tolkien. Interesting material , and Drout is great at presenting it. Recommended if this is your bag.

A little heavy on Tolkien, but good overview otherwise.

Drout is amazing! I love being able to continue to learn from this great teacher. I wanted to participate in this course because I realized that fantasy was a huge part of my childhood reading material and I wanted to re-embrace that genre with more knowledge. Highly recommend this for anyone of the same interest.