Reviews

The War of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien

ninarg's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

My favorite book of the series so far, perhaps along with the third one (Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn chase Merry and Pippin across Rohan. ) The battle of Gondor takes place and I loved the action and excitement of it all. Merry and Pippin find out that they are made of braver stuff than they supposed, Merry even being essential in the slaying of the terrifying black captain along with Eowyn who is a kickass hellcat. Cool, brave and tough, who knows what might have happened but for her and Merry. If only Tolkien had left out how beautiful her blond hair was as the sun shone upon it. The male warriors didn't get those kind of descriptions...

Faramir is still one of my favorites, despite being ill with a fever most of the time. Denethor is a bastard for constantly belittling and criticising Faramir for not being Boromir, and then intending to burn him alive on a pyre. What a great stewart of Gondor he was... Theoden on the other hand was made of the right stuff.

Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn return in the nick of time, and Tolkien delights in throwing in one nursery rhyme after the other to prove that Aragorn is indeed the true king. Funny how many old verses are still remembered to prove Aragorn's claim. But anyway ...

The troops of the West are now gathered outside Mordor and it is not looking good...

charlottejones952's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

I won't do a full review of this book because it is the 5th book in the series (the first half of Return of the King). This one was much more action-packed than the rest of the series so far and I absolutely love following this set of characters compared to Frodo and Sam, and the way this one ended, I really need to read the last one soon!

raitalle's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Continued exploration of Tolkien's notes and drafts for The Lord of the Rings, this time covering the end of The Two Towers and the beginning of The Return of the King. It is so interesting to see how much was still growing and changing even at this late point, and I'm guessing since we still have one more book to cover the remaining story, that there is still a lot to come.

leeg's review

Go to review page

4.0

I find the HoME books pretty useful in understanding the material at hand. Lots of Tolkien's drafts are more focused and faster paced than the finished matter although not internally consistent.
More...