> Whereas Middle-earth is fairly static: over about 12,000 years, civilization seems to have been stuck at the same level of development. (Maybe because the one

> Whereas Middle-earth is fairly static: over about 12,000 years, civilization seems to have been stuck at the same level of development. (Maybe because the one guy who tries to industrialize, in addition to being the only one to use telecommunications, is swiftly defeated by an army of slow-moving talking trees.) That's such an original take! I never thought of Saruman as the great builder that Middle Earth needed but didn't deserve.