Reviews with content warning for Death - The Two Towers

This book is a bit slower than the first one. The first half was quite boring, dealing with mostly travel and battles which don't interest me, but the second half picked up the pace. I finished that half in one sitting. As usual, the character's interactions and descriptions of the landscape, lore, and present evil are impeccable.

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fox_at_the_circus's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring slow-paced

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

4.0

Tolkien really is a master of words and storytelling. There were sentences, that just described the landscape or a sunrise that made me stop reading for a moment and just be in awe of how beautifully written they are.
Just as the first book, this story and its themes is still so current and so many quotes from the book hit home for me.
I was surprised to see, that the book, unlike the movie, is split in two parts, with the first following Merry and Pippin and the trio of hunters and the second part telling Frodo's and Sam's story. At first I was a bit sceptic, if I wouldn't get a bit bored of just following Frodo and Sam for 200ish pages, but I think, I actually prefer it this way. In the book the relationship between Frodo and Sam and the love between them is so much more clear and more explored. I also really enjoyed Gollum as a character, who is really quite funny in some scenes.
In general, with this book even more than part 1, you spend so much more time with the characters than the movies do and can, and I just loved reading the small scenes between the different memebrs of the fellowship, but also seeing other characters like Faramir more fleshed out.

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judassilver's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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squinnittowinit's review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Andy Serkis as the narrator makes this book bearable for me. Tolkien is the master of "tell, don't show". I love the story of Lord of the Rings so much, yet this book was a slog. I actually really enjoyed the first book in comparison because it felt like more happened in it. Or maybe the things that happened in the first book were just more interesting. If I didn't already know how this series ended, I would abandon it after reading The Two Towers. The filmmakers should be praised beyond measure for taking this book and turning it into such an interesting movie.

2.5 stars mostly because the writing is so unengaging. Plus, it's racist and sexist, as can be expected of its time. The rating would have been lower if not for Andy Serkis, he's that good of a narrator.

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