JTFMax:

Twenty years after Peter Jackson's successful trilogy "The Lord of the Rings," Amazon Prime depicts the prehistory of the events. In the coming weeks, on Fridays. The streaming service will spend over a billion dollars on the five-season epic.

Story: Thousands of years before the adventures of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, the continent of Middle Earth is already richly populated. Here, distrustful humans, bear-biting dwarves, elegant, pointy-eared elves, and child-sized hobbits live apart. No race trusts the other.  (sound familiar?)

We follow:

The Elven warrior Galadriel (Morfydd Clark, 33) who seeks to avenge her brother killed by the evil ruler Sauron.

The curious young hobbit girl Nori (Markella Kavenagh, 21), who finds a naked man who seems to have fallen from the sky.

Galadriel's friend Elrond (Robert Aramayo, 29) built a forge.

The single mother, Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi, 42), who secretly loves an elf (Ismael Cruz Cordova, 35).

Sooner or later, the heroes will have to get together. For evil does not sleep; it only waits ...

Comparisons to "Game of Thrones" or its current successor, "House of the Dragon," are unfair.  "The Rings of Power" does not trump cleverly constructed intrigues, bloody action scenes, and naked skin. On the other hand, the fairy tale world of author J. R. R. Tolkien (1892-1973) remains youth-friendly despite bloodthirsty orcs and creepy locations.

What makes "The Rings of Power" stand out are its cleverly interwoven individual stories and the grandiose scenery, not only by TV standards. Fantasy fans are in for some truly magical times if there are five seasons as planned.

Conclusion: A wonderful fairy tale world. Thrillingly told, filled with life by unknown but capable actors. "The Rings of Power" is more than just another fantasy series. That becomes clear after just two hours.