Reviews

An excellent conclusion to the granddaddy of all fantasy trilogies! I will confess that this is my first reading of this book, and it did not disappoint. I enjoyed the parts of the book that did not make the movie, along with the elaboration of some things that were skimmed over in the book. I liked getting a more complete picture of Denethor, instead of the Peter Jackson version. It greatly helped to see why he was the way he was. I also enjoyed a different version of Pippen, one not so clumsy.

I'm not sure I saw Aragorn as desperate to take his throne, at least not to the degree that some other sources have claimed. Especially where he first refused to enter the city with his banner until invited.

The indexes at the end were a nice touch. I had read before how detailed Tolkien made his world, but until I read that I hadn't seen this, and the material used from them to flesh out the movies was extraordinary!

Overall, an excellent read. I little tough based on modern reading patterns, especially in the indexes, but well worth it!

smbrenning's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

triiipler's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

watlingtonmark's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

zedem's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

4.5

mightyjor's review against another edition

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4.0

4/5 Stars

After 20 years of calling myself a Lord of Rings fan, I've finally finished the trilogy. I can't tell you the number of times I've started and stopped prematurely. It's probably obvious that I consider the movies some of the best cinema ever put to film. It's one of the greatest stories ever told. It might be that I've watched the movies almost once a year since they released, but seeing it in print felt cozy and familiar, though not entirely engaging. I never really felt pressed to continue and was able to just casually read the books over the last year or so. The few sections that had me gripped were the ones that were cut from the movies, which seems to support my theory that I would have liked them more had I read them before watching the movies.

Oh well, everyone has they're own journey to go on and that's what happened with mine.

The series is great, but I think it can be tough to recommend to a modern audience. Most of what works brilliantly here has been copied and iterated upon by everything from wheel of time to Stormlight Archive to fantasy that bears almost no resemblance to the original like Rings of Power. It means that's reading this now just feels kind of old and tired, despite being the first to do it all.

Where I think the book really deserves to be read though is the chapters following the end of the main quest to destroy the ring and all the epilogue style chapters. It's so clear that Tolkien really loved these characters and this world. After a whole trilogy with them, they all get the attention they needed to leave the reader feeling satisfied.

Overall the book is a great read and it's a classic for a reason.

doler12's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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