The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
1955 / 416 pgs Epic Fantasy

The conclusion of the epic, The Lord of the Rings, doesn’t disappoint! Picking up from the end of The Two Towers, Book V moves along with Gandolf and Pippen riding into Minas Tirith. Tolkien describes the city and every layer of it, giving the reader a wonderful picture of this vast city with seven layers and meanings. The current Steward, Denethor, was slowly going mad. Boromir was his favorite son and set to take his chair; what is not understood until later is that Denethor was using a Palantir. As the story slowly but interestingly builds in narrative, Tolkien uses Book V to continue world-building. Several chapters are just conversations between characters giving background information about past times or even the city’s rules. The Battle of the Pelennor Fields is epic, yet only one chapter; however, it is a chapter! This chapter made my hair stand when I read,

 “But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Éowyn I am, Éomund’s daughter. You stand between me and my Lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.” – Tolkien, J. R. R. The Lord of the Rings.

After this chapter, much of the rest of Book V is about the eventual rise of Aragon to King Elessar. Also, the great debate, the attack at the Black Gate that will divert Sauron’s attention from Frodo and Sam. Leading into Book VI, focused on Frodo and Sam and the eventual fall of the Ring into Mount Doom. After the fall of Sauron, the narrative brings the remaining members of the Fellowship back together for the crowning of the King. Then, as the Fellowship breaks upon their various paths, the Hobbits have one last quest to take back the Shire. 

Once the narrative picks up in The Two Towers, this is an epic tale that goes. The details and world-building are stunning! The aspects you don’t see in other books make it extraordinary. For example, Gandolf, naturally, is known by many names depending on the region he is dwelling. While residing at Minas Tirith, they called him Mithrandir.  Even the appendix has a vast world-building, including the language used.

Naturally, I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone. It is stunning. I would forewarn, get past Tom Bombadil in The Fellowship of the Ring, as the narrative starts slow; however, as it picks up, it goes, and you don’t want to put it down. When I started The Two Towers, I wanted to finish the whole series, not to have it completed, because it was that good! Also, I would recommend having the soundtrack to LOTR or The Hobbit playing in the background sometimes; it makes the scene you are reading very interesting.

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

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