The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
1954 / 352 pgs Epic Fantasy

Part two of the epic, The Lord of the Rings, doesn’t disappoint! Picking up from the end of the Fellowship of the Ring, the broken Fellowship continues the quest on their separate paths. Aragon, Gimli, and Legolas hunted down and found Pippen and Merry, who Orcs took prisoners. During their travels, they find the Riders of Rohan and also Gandolf the White. The party then goes to Rohan, and the great battle of Helms Deep is fought between the forces of the West and East. 

Merry and Pippen go into Fangor and start their adventure with the Ent’s and meet Treebeard. After informing him about the current events in the East, the Ent’s gather and attack Isengard and tear down everything around it. Trapping Saruman in the Tower, they eat and smoke while the party with Gandolf arrives. They retell the story of how the Ents tore apart Isengard and isolated the wizard in the Tower. 

Interestingly, book three is the first half of the Two Towers. Book four is about Frodo and Sam and their adventure into Mordor. With Gollum guiding them, they eventually reach the black gate, double back, and go into the forest where Shelob resides. Frodo is stabbed, and Sam takes the Ring. Frodo is found by Orcs and brought into a fort. This is the end with Sam believing Frodo is dead.

The pace of this book is fantastic. I didn’t want to put it down. It was thrilling, definitely making the completion of The Fellowship of the Ring worth the work. There isn’t only action in this book. As Tolkien takes many pages to build the back story and world-building, it’s not monotonous or boring in the entire read. I would absolutely recommend this book, as it was a fantastic section of the Lord of the Rings.

Enjoy a good cup of coffee and a good book! 

Lopaka

The Lord Of The Rings
I The Fellowship of the Ring
II The Two Towers
III The Return of the King