In it, Mordor and the Orcs are a science advanced nation and the southern countries are the aggressors. It’s a great “history is written by the victor” take on the mythos. I highly recommend checking it out.
Is history written by the victor? Maybe. But the lord of the rings is not intended to be read that way. I find it tiresome to have someone come out and say this nice fantasy story, that is not a hard deep dive on morality or political reality, is actually something entirely wrong; and to then have it implicitly suggested that if I don’t buy it that I don’t get “the point”.
Our post modern society has truth written by whichever side validates your beliefs at this point. I’m not convinced that “written by the Victor” is even an accurate take.
BUT the whole "reality is distorted by desire" thing is dead seriously real, and it is a big deal (The Buddha himself ranted about it). And the ring IS a total solid desire macguffin. People go crazy over it. And Bilbo DID change his story. So... it makes an interesting line of thought, you gotta agree.
Also : You ever read Lord Dunsany, CS Lewis or Lovecraft? They were all sorta on the same page as Tolkien.
Is this book promoting critical thought? Or is it promoting the idea that conspiracy is correct? I won’t care to guess about the author’s intentions although I have my opinions.
But assuming a best faith Interpretation, I feel strongly that the Lord of the Rings is not the setting where this ought to be explored. The more time we spend debating conspiracy and political theory within the lord of the rings, the less we focus on what Tolkien intended to embed within the story.
One of the newer Star Wars did this. In a world where one faction identified as the dark side, fueled by hatred, the director thought to ask who was the bad guy? Maybe it was the rebels, purchasing weapons from arms dealers that had slaves?!? Contrived and polluting an otherwise clear narrative world. Imo it is artistically lazy to thrive in controversy where it doesn’t belong. We should be more willing to criticize artistic themes.
I sort of recommend Khraniteli, the Soviet Lord of the Rings Soviet TV movie from 1991. Delightfully bizarre in small doses but a little hard to sit through the whole thing.