Category: Book Reviews

Boddington Fort: Inspiration for Tolkien?

Boddington Fort - looking North-east — Boddington Fort – looking North-east

The Ridgeway, England’s oldest road at 7000 years, runs along the Chiltern Hills, as it heads South to Avebury in Dorset.

My stepmother passed away in the last week and my father passed away almost exactly a year ago. I wasn’t close to either in the final decades, but it made me think about the Autumn of life. I suppose post Covid, many of us have lost family, so it seems appropriate to post something personal, because I last did this during lockdown.

(Right-click the image to see the high-resolution version)

Last week, knowing she hadn’t long, I decided to walk part of the Ridgeway, the oldest road in Britain at 7000 years. I walked the first part, going south from Pitstone Hill to Tring Station (~10.5 miles), in the sweltering heat of the 2022 Summer. I thought this section, from Tring Station to Wendover Station (~10.5 miles) would be a doddle. I was wrong!

I believe Boddington Fort is a serious candidate for Tolkien’s inspiration for the hilltop clearing in the Old Forest from The Fellowship of the Ring. Here’s why.

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Electric car found in pyramid!

Do you remember reading those wonderful books in the 70s by authors like Erich von Daniken and the like, all about aliens visiting Earth milienia ago? How I miss the simple optimism of those books. But now, somebody has actually discovered something strange in the great pyramid:

Remember a few years ago, scientists and engineers managed to get a small wheeled-vehicle up one of those two narrow shafts that lead from the King’s Chamber (tomb) to the exterior of the pyramid in the direction of certain stars? They came up against a tiny wall and although the little robotic vehicle could peer over it, nothing could be seen in the small chamber opposite. They ran out of funding.

Well, they have funding again and last month managed to break through the wall. They found what looks like a robotic vehicle from ancient Egypt! Imagine that! It is battery powered.

You can find out more about ancient pyramids and how they might have originated in my book Unknown Place, Unknown Universe. BOOK 3 in the series, Worlds Like Dust, will be published some time in the next two months. Watch the trailer for Unknown Place, Unknown Universe below. I hope you like it, and if you do, or have anything else to say about this post, please leave a comment.

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Writer’s Block-Gravity’s Rainbow, Spartacus

This week: writer’s block and how to overcome or avoid, guest post on LOB Blog, Gravity’s Rainbow and Kirk Douglas.

Writer’s Block

There is no sneak preview this week because I haven’t written anything. I have also broken my own traditional use of Film Titles again because writer’s block is such an important subject for all writers and I want to make this article as easy to find using search engines as possible. I have a few tricks to share.

To be truthful, I don’t think I am actually suffering what we call the ‘classic’ writer’s block; I simply need a short break from writing. I have written three complete novels this year, two short stories and contributed to three more as well as also editing the novel The Journals of Raymond Brooks and completing my term in a prominent IT role at a London Science Institute. It’s a lot for anybody to take on and only natural that I need a break once in a while. If you read Tip 1 you will see that I simply need to take it easy and get some input from my favourite sources; movies, books and simply thinking. The last for me is something I have always enjoyed. One of the great Greek philosophers once said, if you want to experience please without pain, try philosophy. My thinking more or less involves reflecting one what I have achieved recently including any mistakes I have made, thinking about what I want to do, thinking where all my endeavors fit into the world and my aspirations, and sometimes listening for that illusive ‘voice of the muse’. Continue reading “Writer’s Block-Gravity’s Rainbow, Spartacus” →