Book Reviews

The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings ; J.R.R. Tolkien; ISBN:0-04-823185-1

1. The Fellowship of the Ring
2. The Two Towers
3. The Return of the King

Ahh, the great grand-daddy of all fantasy and the standard by which all other books in the genre are still measured. This is, in my opinion, the greatest book of the twentieth century. The plot? What? You don't know the plot of Lord of the Rings?! Have you been living under a stone for the past 50 odd years? Well, it concerns the finding, and the quest to destroy, the One Ring of Power created by the dark lord Sauron to rule all the others (nine for kings of Men, seven for Dwarf lords and three for Elven kings) by the hobbit Frodo and the story of the return of the King of Gondor to rule over the lands of the West.
It's a lot more complicated than this, and concerns Hobbits, Men, Elves, Dwarves, Wizards, Ents and some of the best descriptive text that you have ever read!! I really can't describe this book, but it one that any fan of Science Fiction and Fantasy should have in their collection.

Of course, I call it "a book" when it is actually a trilogy. But it is really just one story spread across three books. If you can find one of the many combined volumes then I would advise you to get this since it's easier to carry around. And you will be carrying it around. I've read LOTR eight times since I discovered it back in about 1991. This is really a book that gets under your skin and really doesn't let go!!

You'll have guessed by now that I really love this book! Any down sides? Weelll... I suppose that it takes a while to get started and it does help to have read The Hobbit beforehand, although this isn't essential, but in general, no. This is a book that (as I said before) any SF&F fan should own – heck, it's a book that anybody should own, or have at least read once! Highly recommended.

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