"Balkan Times" by Medvidović - Tolkien/Medvidović theory

[Slonsk]

"Balkan Times" series by Adam Medvidović is the next big thing.
There is a whole conspiracy theory behind the book, from claims that Tolkien and Medvidović were both secret agents of Catholic Church, and that Tolkien was describing in symbolic way in the Lord of the Rings everything what Medvidović reveals in "Night in Zagreb". You get real explanation of the ring, the orcs, the Mordor - like what it was in the real history, the return of the king is explained, France is Gondor, etc...
...to the people saying that Balkan Times reveal that Catholic Church knows that there is an alien invasion coming, that the series reevals third secret of Fatima, etc...

Here is a video of people helding meeting over Medvidović's books, where you can see they all believe it to be true, but they speak about it in code...most of them being priests, nuns, exorcists...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFRy7Nk1oVE&t=384s


But I don't care for all that to be honest, although it does make you wonder, cause everything in the book is presented very factual, there are footnotes for everything. It does provide feeling you are reading something that is happening for real.
I enjoyed the series very much.
It is a true mystery spy thriller, it has that raw vibe of grim Cold War reality of Eastern Europe.
It is tense beyond words from start to finish.
I like how agents and spies have their dress code and they always have to be in those hats or coats of the same color and form.
When I was reading Da Vinci Code I was hoping it will be something like this, but it was miles away from this. This book has its own humour, very sarcastic humour.
I feel the same fire burning when I was reading Lord of the Rings, but insane thing is that I am supposed to wait for it to happen in our near future

[rkomar]

The series sounds like something I could get into, but it doesn't appear to be available in the stores I usually go to here in Canada. Is the series available in English? If so, where is it available?

Edit: I see that it is available from Amazon, which is no good to me.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by rkomar

The series sounds like something I could get into, but it doesn't appear to be available in the stores I usually go to here in Canada. Is the series available in English? If so, where is it available?

Edit: I see that it is available from Amazon, which is no good to me.

Yes, they're in KU. That means they're Amazon exclusives.

You could buy them from Amazon and remove the DRM, of course.

[rkomar]

I don't have a Kindle. Can you remove DRM without one?

[issybird]

Please take questions about removing DRM from Kindle books to the Kindle forum. A promotional thread is not the place.

[rkomar]

I'm not really interested in the details of the DRM. I just want to know if these books are limited to the amazon ecosystem.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by rkomar

I'm not really interested in the details of the DRM. I just want to know if these books are limited to the amazon ecosystem.

Yes, but the DRM can be removed without an eink Kindle.

[rkomar]

Thanks for the info. I know that amazon exclusivity is not a big deal to the vast majority of the market, but it is too much friction for me. I'll wait a few years to see if this series appears in my usual channels. If it is that good, I have some hopes that it will become generally available.

[nana77]

Originally Posted by Slonsk

"Balkan Times" series by Adam Medvidović is the next big thing.
There is a whole conspiracy theory behind the book, from claims that Tolkien and Medvidović were both secret agents of Catholic Church, and that Tolkien was describing in symbolic way in the Lord of the Rings everything what Medvidović reveals in "Night in Zagreb".

A time lapse indeed . I mean, besides the fact anyone can put a stamp to a person that died in 1973, the writing here looks like Medvidović was contemporary.

Excuse me but (won't take the argument if or if not he was a spy, or whatever else),

From 1925 to 1945 Tolkien was the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon and a Fellow of Pembroke College, both at the University of Oxford. He then moved within the same university to become the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature and Fellow of Merton College, and held these positions from 1945 until his retirement in 1959.

For what I recall he did loved to study previous languages, he did build one also; and yes, I'm a dishwasher but yet - imho - it doesn't requires a diploma to imagine that Roans might have been close to Mongolians, for them passion to horses and archers... And so on.
In Hovards' stories Stygians looks like what it was Egypt (imho), and on a videogame like DIsco Elysium the factions also recalls Europe and others Countries, for them languages and behaviours states...
Just I'd like to said it doesn't requires to be a secret spy to speculate references; also what's Tokien wrote is a myth, and iirc on myths stories has a structure that would allow any imagination above.
Sorry while my english is too not that fine.

[Quoth]

It's bonkers, as anyone knows that has studied folklore and legends in Europe, read older modern fantasy (George Macdonald, Lord Dunsany etc) and how Tolkien developed his story and what other "inklings" wrote.
Most of the Lord of the Rings plotting, characters, things etc predate the publishing of the Hobbit in 1937.
Influenced by Beowulf, Norse, Grimm's Fairy tales and the Elves are straight from the Celtic Aes Sidhe. Echos of the Tuath De and Atlantis in the Numenoran stuff.

There has been plenty of this kind of fake analysis since LOTR was published in 1954. The writing from 1937 to 1949 was the creation of a coherent story from the material (his notes) amassed between 1918 and 1937.

Edit:
It's a fictional conspiracy promoted by the author all over Social Media. It's dreck dressed up with the 3rd Secret of Fatima and sexual fantasy / word porn.

Edit2:
My memory had 1918, but it seems it was started in 1914.

[Quoth]

Influences on Tolkien
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influences_on_Tolkien

May contain traces of nuts.


Edit:
Is the OP actually the author? The post contents and style are similar elsewhere.

[nana77]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Influences on Tolkien
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influences_on_Tolkien

This I wasn't to have had ever seen, yet; thanks !