The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien himself. In letters 29 and 30, it appears that a German translation of "The Hobbit" was being negotiated in 1938. The German firm enquired whether Tolkien was of "Arisch" (Aryan) origin. Tolkien was infuriated by this, and wrote two drafts of possible replies for his publisher to choose. The first one is not present – in it Tolkien is assumed to have refused to give any declaration whatsoever of his racial origins. The second, surviving, draft included: A former signals officer at the Battle of the Somme, Tolkien frequently expressed his great dislike for war, whatever the cause. This is
Works inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series, aimed at adult readers who enjoyed Tolkien's works. Lester Del Rey, however, sought for new books that would mirror Tolkien's work, and published Terry Brooks' "The Sword of Shannara", David Eddings's "Belgariad", and Stephen R. Donaldson's "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever". Guy Gavriel Kay, who had assisted Christopher Tolkien with the editing of "The Silmarillion", later wrote his own Tolkien-influenced fantasy trilogy, "The Fionavar Tapestry". Russian writer Nick Perumov was able to publish several fantasy novels set in Tolkien's Middle-Earth after the events of "The Lord of the Rings" (due to a loophole