Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Year: 1955
It can go without my saying it: Lord of the Rings is the greatest fantasy series of all time. And it’s more than that; it’s the grandfather of every such series that has come after, from The Wheel of Time to The Game of Thrones. This series is so impactful that really it becomes a pillar all its own, above our critique and opinion. So instead of trying, I’m really only writing this to praise the books, and to officially review that I’ve read them, before I ultimately read them a dozen more times.
Following the events of The Hobbit, and concerning the newly found One Ring, The Lord of the Rings tells the tale of the fight between all good creatures of Middle Earth and the darkness & malice of Sauron. First, the Fellowship is formed, a group whose task is to destroy the Ring in their possession, the only weapon that Sauron needs to win the ultimate war. Along the way, the Fellowship is broken, many parties going separate ways and championing separate missions. But all roads lead to Mordor, where the evil lies, and eventually the fate of the world will have to be decided, with our heroes at the center of it all.
These three books, Fellowship of the Ring, Two Towers, and Return of the King, are simply so great that they become magic. Tolkien wrote something so huge (in only three relatively short books) that their magnitude will never be dwarfed (pardon the pun). They do get a little long-winded at time, they go into Elvish history a bit, it isn’t always constant action, but by the end, when you sink down into it, you won’t care; the beauty of the books wil overwhelm you. Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Gandalf, Aragorn, and all their friends; these adventures will live on forever, and each time we read or watch fantasy we will compare it to the best that has ever been made.
My rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★