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A review by rikuson1
The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-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? Yes
2.75
It was Okay 🥴
-★★âœâ˜†â˜†- (2.75/5.00)
My Grading Score = 55% (C-)
The Return of the King I had high expectations for with it being the final part of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. And unfortunately, to say I came out disappointed is a bit of an understatement. I already knew that the first half (Book 5) was going to be all focused on the side of basically everyone who was not Frodo and Sam. And going off of how I felt in The Two Towers, I doubt anything they were doing was going to be able to intrigue me enough to care. And I was right they didn't do anything interesting enough for me to care. I can tell that Tolkien tried to give Pippin and Merry moments of their own to showcase some level of growth in them, but unlike Sam at the end of The Two Towers for me, I was still not sold on the feats that Pippin and Merry did. This first half is only a tad bit better than the first half of The Two Towers for me, but that's not saying much. It's the second half that I was looking forward to the most since going off the pattern that The Two Towers set up, its second half should engross me and hopefully save the book, as it did for The Two Towers for me.
The first half of the second half instantly engrossed me as it picked up right where the great cliffhanger that the Two Towers ended on. It was definitely the most fun I had with this book, which, at this point, I'm going to call "The third quarter portion" of this book. It focused on Sam continuing to showcase why he's my favorite character with great moments, scaring off enemies with imposing stances, taking out enemies, saving Frodo, and essentially nursing him back to care. Sam felt like he became the true hero this story needed in this portion, and I enjoyed basically all of it. The struggle shown when Frodo flipped out on him when Sam suggested that he could bare some of the burden of the Ring is also very well done. And when Gollum came back into the equation again, I was having a great time until I was not.
At this point in the story, I assumed that since now they are basically in front of the Crack of Doom ready to fulfill the overall story's objective, this is when Sauron would show up for one more last big attempt to stop them in some way shape, or form. I also thought this is where they'd take all the other characters like Gandalf, Legalis, Aragorn, and Pippin (but not really Merry since he was down for the count from his moment which I didn't care for nor anything associated with that so I'm not even going to talk about it) have them all reach the location of Frodo and Sam and assist them in the final clash against Sauron (and I guess Gollum as well). But this expectation never occurred. Now I understand getting mad/disappointed because what I wanted to happen did not happen is not the right way to go about this, but I can't help but feel that what was provided instead which was just essentially Gollum flipping out and taking the Ring from Frodo going insane because he finally got his "precious" back and falling into the crack of doom was a good end to Gollum as a character sure but beyond anticlimatic to the end Sauron and the Ring itself for me.
And then I come to find out that there's still a quarter of this book left to go beyond this point. I'm sitting here like what the heck else is there to cover? The extra epilogue feeling arc where characters are saying their farewells, coming back together, and going their separate ways back to their respective homes. The Hobbits go back to their shire, which starts an arc, which is known in the community as "The Scouring of the Shire," (and is also the name of the chapter this arc takes place in) which is very mixed in its reception and I can understand why. Now I understand the reasoning behind the existence of this arc, in a nutshell, it was the showcase how much The Hobbits have grown in regard to competence in dealing with dire situations. But that doesn't mean it was all that interesting to read, nor did I care for it to any degree outside of the showing of Saruman and Wormtongue at the very end. Once again, I felt it was quite anti-climatic to a villain who was hyped up as much as Sauron himself. The story felt like they portrayed him as basically "the evil Gandalf" but for this entire story, all I really remember him doing is arguing with Gandalf like a baby in The Two Thrones and this part right here where he basically gets killed by his own servant for treating him disrespectfully for that last time. Someone who is supposed to be almost as dangerous as Gandalf being taken out in such a fashion was such an anti-climatic way to go out, honestly to me it felt like Tolkien said "dang I feel like I need a bigger threat for The Hobbits to go up against for this arc I have here since they easily resolved the Scouring of this Shire, oh I know I left Saruman rotting in that castle a book ago let's bring him back before I completely forget about him and throw him in here at the last minute". To me, it honestly felt rushed, contrived, last minute, and once again anticlimactic all around.
When I finished The Return of the King and I looked back on The Fellowship of the Rings all the way to here and everything they've done, the first sentence I said to myself was "man this really could have been condensed into one book and did not feel like it needed to be three". Then I came to find out that Tolkien apparently only wanted to make one book, but his publishers wanted it to be more than one. If that is true, I can most definitely see that.
Verdict
I sadly can not use the words "I liked it" when it comes to the entry. I only like 1/4 of it. Everything else to me was uninteresting, too slow-paced here or too rushed there, too contrived here, or anticlimactic there. With that being said, though his prose still held up, his worldbuilding is still great and holds up. At absolute highest, this comes in at a C- for me, which is the highest rating of "It was Okay," which sounds accurate to me, for me. It was not bad, and I can't say, "I did not like it." I can probably say, "I mostly did not like it," though. I wouldn't be surprised if I like the movies more. (Update I do and by a lot)
It was Okay
-★★âœâ˜†â˜†- (2.75/5.00)
My Grading Score = 55% (C-)
The Return of the King I had high expectations for with it being the final part of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. And unfortunately, to say I came out disappointed is a bit of an understatement. I already knew that the first half (Book 5) was going to be all focused on the side of basically everyone who was not Frodo and Sam. And going off of how I felt in The Two Towers, I doubt anything they were doing was going to be able to intrigue me enough to care. And I was right they didn't do anything interesting enough for me to care. I can tell that Tolkien tried to give Pippin and Merry moments of their own to showcase some level of growth in them, but unlike Sam at the end of The Two Towers for me, I was still not sold on the feats that Pippin and Merry did. This first half is only a tad bit better than the first half of The Two Towers for me, but that's not saying much. It's the second half that I was looking forward to the most since going off the pattern that The Two Towers set up, its second half should engross me and hopefully save the book, as it did for The Two Towers for me.
The first half of the second half instantly engrossed me as it picked up right where the great cliffhanger that the Two Towers ended on. It was definitely the most fun I had with this book, which, at this point, I'm going to call "The third quarter portion" of this book. It focused on Sam continuing to showcase why he's my favorite character with great moments, scaring off enemies with imposing stances, taking out enemies, saving Frodo, and essentially nursing him back to care. Sam felt like he became the true hero this story needed in this portion, and I enjoyed basically all of it. The struggle shown when Frodo flipped out on him when Sam suggested that he could bare some of the burden of the Ring is also very well done. And when Gollum came back into the equation again, I was having a great time until I was not.
At this point in the story, I assumed that since now they are basically in front of the Crack of Doom ready to fulfill the overall story's objective, this is when Sauron would show up for one more last big attempt to stop them in some way shape, or form. I also thought this is where they'd take all the other characters like Gandalf, Legalis, Aragorn, and Pippin (but not really Merry since he was down for the count from his moment which I didn't care for nor anything associated with that so I'm not even going to talk about it) have them all reach the location of Frodo and Sam and assist them in the final clash against Sauron (and I guess Gollum as well). But this expectation never occurred. Now I understand getting mad/disappointed because what I wanted to happen did not happen is not the right way to go about this, but I can't help but feel that what was provided instead which was just essentially Gollum flipping out and taking the Ring from Frodo going insane because he finally got his "precious" back and falling into the crack of doom was a good end to Gollum as a character sure but beyond anticlimatic to the end Sauron and the Ring itself for me.
And then I come to find out that there's still a quarter of this book left to go beyond this point. I'm sitting here like what the heck else is there to cover? The extra epilogue feeling arc where characters are saying their farewells, coming back together, and going their separate ways back to their respective homes. The Hobbits go back to their shire, which starts an arc, which is known in the community as "The Scouring of the Shire," (and is also the name of the chapter this arc takes place in) which is very mixed in its reception and I can understand why. Now I understand the reasoning behind the existence of this arc, in a nutshell, it was the showcase how much The Hobbits have grown in regard to competence in dealing with dire situations. But that doesn't mean it was all that interesting to read, nor did I care for it to any degree outside of the showing of Saruman and Wormtongue at the very end. Once again, I felt it was quite anti-climatic to a villain who was hyped up as much as Sauron himself. The story felt like they portrayed him as basically "the evil Gandalf" but for this entire story, all I really remember him doing is arguing with Gandalf like a baby in The Two Thrones and this part right here where he basically gets killed by his own servant for treating him disrespectfully for that last time. Someone who is supposed to be almost as dangerous as Gandalf being taken out in such a fashion was such an anti-climatic way to go out, honestly to me it felt like Tolkien said "dang I feel like I need a bigger threat for The Hobbits to go up against for this arc I have here since they easily resolved the Scouring of this Shire, oh I know I left Saruman rotting in that castle a book ago let's bring him back before I completely forget about him and throw him in here at the last minute". To me, it honestly felt rushed, contrived, last minute, and once again anticlimactic all around.
When I finished The Return of the King and I looked back on The Fellowship of the Rings all the way to here and everything they've done, the first sentence I said to myself was "man this really could have been condensed into one book and did not feel like it needed to be three". Then I came to find out that Tolkien apparently only wanted to make one book, but his publishers wanted it to be more than one. If that is true, I can most definitely see that.
Verdict
I sadly can not use the words "I liked it" when it comes to the entry. I only like 1/4 of it. Everything else to me was uninteresting, too slow-paced here or too rushed there, too contrived here, or anticlimactic there. With that being said, though his prose still held up, his worldbuilding is still great and holds up. At absolute highest, this comes in at a C- for me, which is the highest rating of "It was Okay," which sounds accurate to me, for me. It was not bad, and I can't say, "I did not like it." I can probably say, "I mostly did not like it," though. I wouldn't be surprised if I like the movies more. (Update I do and by a lot)
It was Okay
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief