Rivvy Reviews Exhibit F: Demetrious Polychron's Fellowship of the King

[Rivvy Elf]

Disclaimer: I'm representing myself and no other entity in my thoughts on this now "Legal Document"

Good luck in finding this thing formerly known as a book online. All physical and digital copies are ordered to be destroyed. However, all the text in this book is used as Exhibit F in the court documents for this whole thing.

If you're confused by now, hopefully, I can illuminate: So in case you haven't heard, a guy by the name of Demetrious Polychron (sp?) wrote The Fellowship of the King, the first in a seven-book series sequel to the Lord of the Rings. He did this without permission from the Tolkien Estate, and when he showed up one day in 2017 and left a completed manuscript at their door he never got a response.

After Amazon released Rings of Power, Polychron had the bright idea of suing Amazon for claiming that they plagiarised Polychron's work. Yes, you read that correctly.

This led to the Tolkien Estate suing Polychron. Recently, the courts ruled in favor of the Estate and Polychron is supposed to destroy all copies of this book.

Since I'm planning on publishing a novel that was inspired by the worldbuilding meta and themes of Tolkien's world, I'm reading this "Court Document" to learn what NOT to do. So when I got it, I was like "Hey, why not analyze and review this thing."

... I've decided to analyze and review this "Court Document" formerly known as a "for-profit book" so you can see all the uhh mostly bad parts without having to suffer finding and reading it yourself. I've read the Front Matter and the Prologue and quite frankly, I'm disgusted because this is ten times worse than any not-for-profit Middle-earth fanfiction. Yes, even the ones where the characters are out-of-character because at least that had some entertainment.

This is worse than My Immortal.

I don't actively criticize fan-works without the explicit permission of the author because they're not trying to make money off of it. But as this person tried to make money off of this work (what was it, 15 dollars for this drivel?), I will have a metaphorical Grond in hand. Besides, as the courts have ordered for this work to be destroyed, destructive criticism of the work itself seems to be warranted.

Feel free to join in on the commentary on this monstrosity. However I'll have to disclaim again that I am writing and representing my views and thoughts, and not the views and thoughts of others.

My next post will be on the Front Matter... which deserves a scathing review by itself.

[Arnyn]

*grabs popcorn and settles in for a good time*

[Merewyn]

*grabs a handful of arnyn's popcorn and also settles in for a good time*

[Rivvy Elf]

Front Matter:

Page i: Did I need to know this was a novel?

Page ii: This normally boring legal matter tiny font stuff is actually interesting in this case. Clearly, the cataloging for their ISBN by the Library of Congress will be rejected. We also see that this was published on September 22, 2022 by Fractal Books. Let's check out their fractalbooks.com website to see what's up with them...

Site Closed

Huh. Not even one of those "You are an idiot" troll gifs. I remember that the author may have created their own publishing company to publish this book.

Well, let's look up Fractal Entertainment, LLC. Their LinkedIn page is still up and they have a different website: Fractalent.com. Let's look over there...

"The domain Fractalent.com may be for sale. Click here to inquire about this domain."

Oookay. Let's go back to their Linkedin page. They cater to musicians and their company size is 2-10 people with 1 associated member. They have 11 followers.

Clearly, it's a front company for something like... publishing this book. Fractal Entertainment, LLC would be interesting to research, but let's focus back on the book.

Page ii continued:

This legal disclaimer is interesting: "This is a work of fiction. The Characters, incidents and dialogue are either drawn from the author's imagination or used fictitiously and are not constructed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, places, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental."

Uhh, isn't this a direct sequel to an already existing work by an author, whose estate hasn't permitted the usage of their characters? That goes against the words in the above disclaimer, so those sentences alone can be used in a court of law against him. We're only on Page ii and this guy could be in hot water.

Page iii: Remember the Strider Riddle written by Bilbo Baggins that was actually plot relevant to introduce one of the most well known characters in Middle-earth?

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

This is a very focused poem where each line is about Aragorn and this is one of the most famous poems in high fantasy ever. Its plot relevant as it was used by Frodo to help identify Strider in Bree.

Well Polychron decides to create a poem with a very similar meter:

All that is precious is not cherished
But love that is true will not fail
Not all the forgotten have perished
The ones who believe will prevail

Those tempered by fire do not burn
Yet not all broken hearts can be mended
Not all who were lost will return
But these Unfinished Tales will be ended

If not courage nor hope are relinquished
Great deeds will not go unrenowned
The Fallen will finally be vanquished
The Rings that were lost shall be found

If you're going to create a very similar poem to the Riddle of Strider, then you best not miss. This poem bricked everything. This poem goes all over the place, contains some of the most cliche lines and attempts to shoehorn in a reference to another one of Tolkien's works (Unfinished Tales). Is this supposed to contain all the themes of the series? All the themes of this work? Why isn't this poem worked in the prose directly? Did Bilbo write this?

So... another issue I have is that you only get one first impression. This first impression is that the author, instead of using their own meter and rhyming scheme, is clearly ripping off Tolkien's rhyming scheme. At this point you need to be showing the reader that your work can stand on its own. Develop your own writing style and voice and the reader will see that you are your own person and are not just copying others work.

Page iv: "Dedicated to the life and work of John Ruel Ronald Tolkien and his son Christopher Tolkien"

... Who in the world is John Ruel Ronald Tolkien?. When you're dedicating works to people, spell their names right. That's not how you spell John Ronald Reuel Tolkien.

Page v: “Don’t adventures ever have an end? I suppose not. Someone else always has to carry on the story.”

Improper citation because while Tolkien wrote that, he didn't say it directly in The Fellowship of the Ring. Bilbo Baggins says it.

We're only five pages into the Front Matter and there are major issues here. Improper citations, taking rhyming patterns of a famous poem ignoring the context and storyline significance of said poem, legal disclaimers that are false, publishers and LLC with little credentials or functioning websites (clearly a front for the publishing of this book).

... And we're not done with the Front Matter. Because the juicy part of page vi, the list of quotes and poems is worthy of its own post.

[Merewyn]

Oh, good grief. This is already better than I anticipated. If this is how bad the first few pages of the front matter are, I cannot WAIT to see the rest of your write up.

[Rivvy Elf]

Front Matter

Page vi: This Quotes & Poems page is worthy of a post of its own. By looking at this page, we have a goldmine of ammunition for the Tolkien Estate's lawyers to pick out. There are the obvious quotes and poems we can choose because it's clearly labeled which ones Tolkien wrote vs what Polychron wrote. We can also tally up the total amount of lines/words that are directly taken from Tolkien. Using my calculator, I already know that 1,412 words could be attributed to one of Tolkien's quotes or poems (I've added the words that Polychron also co-authors). I also know there are 10 quotes from Tolkien, 6 poems from Tolkien, and 2 of those 6 Polychron added stuff into it.

Oh, and the pages are included in there too for easy reference.

What was this guy thinking? Besides the obvious legal reasons, narratively speaking, Tolkien himself doesn't directly exist in Middle-earth! The quotes and poems would need to be attributed to the various human/elf/dwarf/orc people that made it.

But do you notice anything else? Another author is in here that I have not seen credited in some form of introduction or acknowledgments:

G.K Chesterton (I presume he's the Chesterton referenced) for Book 2 poem 7.

So not only is Tolkien being plagiarized without permission here, but so is Chesterton. The difference with Chesterton is that his stuff's copyrighted material may have expired. But what is Chesterton doing here in Middle-earth?

Below is the list of quotes and poems that I copied and pasted from the PDF. I have included my commentary in parentheses following the page numbers.



Quotes & Poems

Book 1

Title Type Source # Lines/Words Page(s)

1. All That Is Precious Poem Polychron 12/83 iii (Seriously? It's only referenced in the Front Matter? Why include it then if it's not going to be in the prose?)
2. Don’t adventures ever end? Quote Tolkien 2/18 v (A quote from the Front Matter that isn't used again. Trying to justify a sequel without permission? Also, Bilbo says it, not Tolkien.)
3. “Three Rings for…” Quote Tolkien 1/6 11 (At the very least label this source as Gandalf or Sauron or the writer of the Red Book of Westmarch)
4. “In Eregion long ago…” Quote Tolkien 4/50 12 (Ready to rehash the creation of the Rings of Power?)
5. Thirteen Rings Rhyme Poem Polychron 8/79 14 (13 rings?! Seriously? We're doing more Rings of Power when the One Ring is destroyed?)
6. Ho! Tom Bombadil! Poem Tolkien 4/34 35 (NO! GET OUT TOM BOMBADIL! NOW'S NOT THE TIME!)
7. An Ant Poem Polychron 24/137 40 (Will this ant talk like that fox in Fellowship of the Ring?)
8. The Maiden’s Song Of May Poem Polychron 20/120 49 (Ugh, from what I read I kinda don't want to read about his ideas on maidenhood)
9. Witch King Prophesy Quote Tolkien 2/27 91 (HE'S DEAD! Don't you dare take that kill away from Eowyn and Merry!)
10. “The Ring! The Ring!” Quote Tolkien 1/9 91 (Why why? Why are we dealing with rings and not things like Silmarils or Arkenstones or anything besides rings?!)
11. To Imagine Poem Polychron 14/213 118-119 (I'll be upset if this is anything similar to John Lennon's Imagine song)
12. The Song Of Manus Tarqus Poem Polychron 16/102 125 (Manus is the Father of the Abyss from Dark Souls. Manus Tarqus would not be a name Tolkien would use probably)

Book 2

1. Erendis hates Uinen Quote Tolkien 1/17 168 (He better not ruin Aldarion and Erendis...)
2. “He is yours, Uinen!” Quote Tolkien 1/4 181 (But how will this be relevant? Is Uinen appearing?)
3. Gil-galad’s Letter Quote Tolkien 6/102 183 (Leave the dead alone)
4. Anardil’s Letter to Galadriel Poem Polychron 8/90 185 (Hopefully it will be an entertaining letter to read)
5. The Beauty Of Fire Poem Polychron 24/237 186 (Aah, I can just see the flames of destruction of this book, as ordered by the courts)
6. Annatar to Celebrimbor Quote Tolkien 4/63 194 (Ugh, please no rings!)
7. It Is Something Poem Chesterton/DP 24/200 199 (Is it?)
8. Something Beautiful Poem Polychron 40/311 202-203 (Two straight poem titles with the word "something"!)
9. Barzhûrk Ring Rhyme Poem Tolkien 4/24 205 (The what? I tried looking this up and got nothing)
10. The Lay Of Númenor Poem Tolkien/DP 48/315 210-211 (I miss reading the Silmarillion)
11. Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin Quote Tolkien 1/13 250 (no no no no, don't drag Turin into this!)
12. Aeglos (Elvish) Poem Tolkien 6/19 251 (Will the spear be used)
13. Aeglos (English) Poem Tolkien/DP 6/25 251 (Spear used be will?)
13. Númenórean Arrows Quote Tolkien 2/23 255 (We're reinventing steel bows?)
14. The Night Sky Poem Polychron 20/120 260-261 (This might ruin the pacing)
15. To Cry Alone Poem Polychron 24/132 263-264 (There's a lot of jokes I want to make with this but I don't want to be sued)
16. The Cave Poem Polychron 16/90 336-337 (Will this be allegorical?)
17. Thirteen Rings Rhyme Poem Polychron 8/79 355 (THIRTEEN?!)
18. The Lay Of The Two Trees Poem Tolkien/Polychron 68/669 367-369 (Don't you dare drag the Two Trees in this!)


Next we'll finally get into the prose: The Prologue