What I’ve read about Tolkien shows that he was an intellectual romantic who loved languages. He found ways to describe his world in such beautiful language that it comes alive in your mind. He had a bit of an agenda against industrialization.

I think language and writing for him were the escape from life that a lot of us find in movies and television now. We find that release by consuming. He found it by producing.

I don’t like watching the movie adaptations of his books. I would prefer to read the books themselves to the exclusion of seeing the movies. But I think he is the only author I can say that of. When they say a picture is worth a thousand words, they’re not talking about Tolkien. Maybe 50-100 of his words.

Sanderson, on the other hand, is a professional writer. The number of things he’s written is phenomenal. He has been able to build off of some of the techniques introduced by Tolkien and mass produce them. I love his stories. I think they are truly the works of fantasy. I think Tolkien used fantasy to relate real events and feelings to others.

I can’t wait for film adaptations for Sanderson’s works.