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A review by astrangewind
The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
What a lovely, thrilling conclusion to this adventure. As usual, Tolkien's characters are brimming with life; their conversations with one another may be long, but they serve to deepen the reader's connection with them. Each aspect of the world comes alive before the reader's eyes: the landscape, be it lush or barren; the evil plaguing the land and its inexorable pull; every tension and connection. Just beautifully done. Even at the end, when all was said and done, and the Ring was destroyed in Mount Doom, there were 70 pages left! I had trouble imagining what was left, and it turns out there was one last mini-adventure left, which I found equally as compelling as the original quest.
As with The Two Towers, the first half (roughly) of the book concern the war, while the second half is what continues the quest of Frodo and Sam. I tend to be less interested in war, even in fantasy settings, so I found it quite difficult to get through this section of the book. (The rest of it I devoured much more quickly.) Despite this difficulty, Tolkien's writing aligns both halves of the book in time, so that a deeper understanding of both storylines is gained upon reading.
One thing I struggled with is that nearly every female character who interacts with the main company ends up being reduced to nothing.I loved Éowyn for her grit and desire to battle, but near the end, she drops all of that, claiming that she no longer wishes for that, in order to marry Faramir. We were so close to having an awesome female character! I won't complain too much about the characters; while the female representation sucks, there are so many examples of intimate male platonic relationships. Frodo and Sam, Merry and Pippin, and Legolas and Gimli are all major examples of true love - deep, intimate love - between male friends. I find that beautiful.
My one last gripe with this book is really a gripe with the editions of all three books. Occasionally, there are footnotes in the book that read something like, "Appendix F, page 1107." However, being three separate books, there is no page 1107, so the reader is left to either read the entire appendices (which are roughly 150 pages long in total and at the end of the third book), or compute what the page number actually should be. With this edition, I feel like these footnotes could have been rewritten to indicate the actual page number of the appendix. But, of course, this isn't an issue with Tolkien's story - only this edition.
As with The Two Towers, the first half (roughly) of the book concern the war, while the second half is what continues the quest of Frodo and Sam. I tend to be less interested in war, even in fantasy settings, so I found it quite difficult to get through this section of the book. (The rest of it I devoured much more quickly.) Despite this difficulty, Tolkien's writing aligns both halves of the book in time, so that a deeper understanding of both storylines is gained upon reading.
One thing I struggled with is that nearly every female character who interacts with the main company ends up being reduced to nothing.
My one last gripe with this book is really a gripe with the editions of all three books. Occasionally, there are footnotes in the book that read something like, "Appendix F, page 1107." However, being three separate books, there is no page 1107, so the reader is left to either read the entire appendices (which are roughly 150 pages long in total and at the end of the third book), or compute what the page number actually should be. With this edition, I feel like these footnotes could have been rewritten to indicate the actual page number of the appendix. But, of course, this isn't an issue with Tolkien's story - only this edition.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Violence, Torture, Slavery, and Colonisation
Minor: Grief, Xenophobia, and Injury/Injury detail