Keep ‘em coming.

Sincerely yours,
The Blaine Boy

The story was amusing, and it was fun seeing Tolkien’s well-worn world turned upside down in a new way, far more interesting than most of the countless pastiches that have drawn from it over the years.

If it had been the original Bilbo (Baggins) himself, I might have taken issue with the “perversion” of Tolkien’s characters, but this was clearly set in a later time with different characters- although for a moment I thought the wizard was going to be an irate Gandalf.

The nitpicky geek in me wants to mention that, at least as far as I recall, there were a finite number of wizards in Middle Earth, who were not humans who learned magic, but rather Istari, angelic beings who had taken human form in order to help guide the fate of Middle Earth. More diligent Tolkien enthusiasts can correct me if I’m mistaken about that.

All in all, a good story, well read. Looking forward to the next one.

Damn Tory/Republican hobbits and their hulking gay troll skinhead bodyguards; they’re everywhere these days!

As for the story, I found it nice, if a bit heavy handed. I understand that, in the restrictive frame of the short story some elements of longer form story telling by necessity must be given less precedence, but it’s almost as if Subtlety and Nuance were taken out behind the shed and beaten in the writing of this one. Still, it was a decent enough story.

I must ask, though - did this story seem to end way to abruptly for anyone else? Almost like an arbitrary stopping point, a boundary if you will, was decided upon, and any and all words beyond were declared “foreign” and forbidden from settling on this story’s soils.

Great podcast, and great stories. It’s really nothing personal, just tough for me to focus with this reader.

Sigh.

I guess I join those ranks, for “Senator Bilbo” really rubbed me the wrong way. It wasn’t Frank Key’s reading, dependably excellent as always, or even the story itself. For what it was, Andy Duncan laid out the tale clearly with descriptive panache, creating memorable characters quickly, and making halfling bureaucracy not seem wonkish . The tale was about as subtle as a third grade play, but I suppose if social commentary is the aim, “let that be your last battlefield.”

My problem is twofold:

Mixing politics into any story, especially fantasy, is a tricky proposition. If it’s organic from the material, that’s one thing, but an obvious pastiche can look tacky. In particular, the subject of immigration and racial/national identity is at the very least challenging, and treating it with some Boolean-like “either/or” morality reduces both the story and the struggle.

My bigger issue is with the milieu. Certainly Fantasy is no sacred cow, and is as deserving of parody or satire as any genre. Witness the witty and hilarious “Hallah Iron Thighs” of a few weeks ago. However, in that story, the humor derives mostly from the personal struggles of an aging woman blended into the chain-mail babe setting. Fun is poked, but at the tropes, archetypes and cliches of barbarian tales, not at anything specific.

I think “Senator Bilbo” could have achieved its purpose with a recognizable but generic fantasy setting. There was no need to swipe another’s , and of all people, Mr. Tolkien. Say what you want about him; modern fantasy, including this podcast, would not be here without his imagination and hard work.

Tolkien fans have surely read the theories that LOTR is an allegory for WWII, and industrial gentrification of Tolkien’s homeland. You must also know how abhorrent the author found those ideas, and how adamant he was to the bitter end that Middle Earth was as wholly separate a place as he could make it.

If Tolkien were alive today and read this story, and I think he would be mortified. Now, I believe in artistic freedom, and certainly a cultural icon is fair game, but I just cannot help but wonder why this subject, and why this place. It cheapens the “clever,” and makes me sad to see it.