A review by erica_cronje
The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

adventurous emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

I am not exactly sure what i expected from the book, but it sure wasn't this. I'm not going to do my usual review style - with mention to the characters and the writing style etc, i would rather keep that until after i finished the trilogy, simply because Lotr is meant to be read as one novel. So this will just be a very short, 'final thoughts' entry. 

I was mostly surprised by how well-developed the world of Tolkien is, with characters referencing events that had taken place in the first age or the second. The world-building is already just so expansive and everthing is so clear and so fleshed out, it was really refreshing to read. 

I absolutely adored the way Tolkien described nature, personifying so many of the elements. You could really feel his love and respect for nature through his writing. 

 . . .the endless voice if Rauros (a waterfall) calling. 

One theme that felt perfectly executed to me was that of war, and Tolkien's aversion of war. The scene where

Frodo is standing on Amon Hen and sees all the chaos and destruction that the battles around him - all throughout Middle-earth - are bringing, makes Tolkien's standpoint of war clear, that it should be an absolute last measure of the Fellowship, that death and war is never a honourable thing, even in the face of great evil.

I can't wait to see how this theme is explored even further in the next two books. I suspect it will go hand in hand with the theme of redemption and forgiveness Tolkien also displays in later works.

The only real reason i did not rate this four stars was simply that the writing could get quite dense at times, especially scenes where characters were mostly just talking (Council of Elrond) or if the landscape was barren (Moria). I hope that on a reread it will be easier to get through and will maybe even push my rating toa 5 star!