Literary what-ifs are an interesting exercise: What would collaboration between J.R.R. Tolkien, famous for popularising the fantasy genre, and Charles Dickens, famous for his grim Victorian realism, read like? The exercise is futile as the two were born almost a century apart.
However, Britain will now have a Tolkien-Dickens tie-up in the literary sphere: Tolkien’s grandson, Michael G.R. Tolkien, is collaborating with Dickens’ great-great-grandson, Gerald Dickens, on two books for children.
Michael Tolkien is writing two books in verse form based on stories that his grandfather narrated to him when he was a boy.
The first book, Wish, is inspired by Florence Bone’s fantasy story for children, The Rose-Coloured Wish, about two children who set out to use an evil enchanter’s wishing chain of stones to save their alpine valley, only to fall into trouble. The second book, Rainbow, is based on Florence Bone’s fantasy novel The Other Side of the Rainbow.
The books have a strong link in the Tolkien family: Michael was read the stories in the 1940s and 1950s, and he in turn read it to his own children. Michael, who has also published four poetry collections, decided to write the two books as a tribute to the now-neglected stories and to “recreate the spirit of the original in a new dress” through a verse retelling, publisher Thames River press said.
Actor Gerald Dickens will narrate the audiobook versions. “Wish is a timeless story which children will enjoy for years to come. Michael Tolkien has brought it to life in narrative verse,” he said.