regshoe

Smith of Wootton Major is definitely worth picking up! It's pretty short and so there's not tons of detail, but the mood and atmosphere are wonderful—I get the impression that this Faery is perhaps a bit nicer than the one in JSMN but still very much otherworldly.

Oh, Fëanor is my absolute fave. :D He makes bad decisions so spectacularly, but I have a lot of sympathy for him as well and he was totally right to rebel against the Valar.

I must admit to having read most of of those drafts and notes, lol. :P It does seem as though the fandom has picked up a few of the details and really run with them (although for some reason everyone ignores the one where Sauron is a giant evil cat, I don't know why), which must make things difficult. Particularly the Quenya names, which (apart from them being pretty) there really isn't much reason to use unless you're writing fic where the characters are actually speaking Quenya. If you read just one of them, though, make it 'The Shibboleth of Fëanor', it has even more Fëanor being extra and Elven linguistic arguments and it's the best.

And I would also love to read that essay about Galadriel and Melian! Their relationship has always intrigued me and I'm sure Galadriel was inspired by Melian and Doriath in her rule over Lothlorien.

Yeah, I think Twenty Thousand Leagues deserves its classic status! It's definitely of its time, and some of the science is pretty dodgy from the perspective of today (although not all of it—Verne did apparently predict the development of submarine and diving suit technology quite well in places) but it's certainly a classic of adventure and speculative worldbuilding.