The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien My rating: 4 of 5 stars “The Silmarillion” is a VERY different book from what most fans of “Lord of the Rings” may expect. First of all, it’s an anthology of several different works J.R.R. Tolkien had started but had never published on their own. While they are separate works, they all deal with the origins of Middle-Earth and some of the important Elvish characters, mostly Elrond, Cirdan, and Galadriel. The second thing is that this isn’t a narrative driven […]

The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien My rating: 5 of 5 stars Wrapping up the quest the Fellowship set out to accomplish, Sam and Frodo make it to Mordor while the rest tie their fates the world of men and the battle at Monas Tirith. After the major events conclude the Fellowship is reunited and the diverging narratives come back together like it was in the beginning. Then begins the part I hate: the goodbyes. I hate goodbyes. Literary or real. Especially after […]

The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien My rating: 5 of 5 stars “Two Towers” avoids the middle-book syndrome I often encounter in a series. Yes, I know that originally the Lord of the Rings wasn’t in three books, but for the sake of this review, because I read them in three separate books, I’ll refer to them separately. What I noticed this time was that since the Fellowship breaks up, the plot literally thickens because we suddenly have two different quests happening. Aragorn, Gimli, and […]

The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien My rating: 4 of 5 stars As much as I’m a fan of LOTR, I’ve only ever read the books twice. This second reread was a much better experience than the first time. For some reason my memory of reading the books was that I had enjoyed them, but was a little bored. This time, the second time, I enjoyed and found myself encountering moments I hadn’t appreciated on the first read. For example, the first time […]

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien My rating: 4 of 5 stars Like many people I read “The Hobbit” after seeing and reading “The Lord of the Rings” series. Personally, I don’t think it matters all that much which order you read them in. The tonal shift between the two books makes for an abrupt image anyways. “The Hobbit” introduces readers to Bilbo, the One Ring (although we don’t know it’s that yet), Gollum, Gandalf, Elrond, and the world of Middle […]