The Lord of the Rings   Basic facts title: The Lord of the Rings part 1 - The Fellowship of the Ring part 2 - The Two Towers part 3 - The Return of the King ISBN:  0 261 10235 4 0 261 10236 2 0 261 10237 0 author: J.R.R. Tolkien language: English (original language) fantasy publisher: Harper Collins Publishers / Grafton 1527 pages published: 1991, first published in 1954 my rating: includes: maps, index, appendices on history and language   The story 'The Lord of the Rings' is the story of Frodo Baggins, a hobbit from the Shire. To him falls the immense task to destroy the Ring of Power, once forged by Sauron, the Dark Power. Part 1, 'The Fellowship of the Ring', tells about how the fellowship is formed around Frodo and follows the fellowship on the first part of its journey to Mordor, the land of Sauron. The book ends when the fellowship is broken up by an Orc attack. In part 2, 'The Two Towers', some members of the fellowship come to the aid of the land of Rohan, while Frodo continues his perilous journey, only to be captured by Sauron's orc soldiers on the borders of Mordor. Part 3, 'The Return of the King', tells how the members of the fellowship battle Sauron in the land of Gondor to keep his attention away from Frodo, who in the end manages to complete his task in the heart of the enemy's land. A new king is crowned in Gondor and Frodo returns to the Shire, to find out that his quest is not completed yet ...   My opinion In this trilogy Tolkien has created a marvellous fantasy world, occupied by hobbits, elves, dwarves, orcs, magicians and many other creatures. This world of Middle Earth is filled with a multitude of different characters, of which some are good, some are bad and others are a little bit of both. The interaction between the characters and their environment is very credible in the context of this world, and is kept consistent throughout the story. The story has a lot of action in it, although in the first chapters it does not develop very fast. This is however more than made up by the style of writing, which is very attractive and describes every event in a realistic way. Once the Fellowship of the Ring is broken up, the story continues to follow both groups alternating. This is on one hand somewhat irritant as it causes the story line to be interrupted a number of times. On the other hand these transitions certainly create a cliffhanger when they occur, adding to the suspense. I have read these books many times now and do still very much enjoy them. Perhaps the best proof of my appreciation is the fact that when I read these books for the first time, I managed to read all three parts in a single weekend.   Additional notes The story in 'The Lord of the Rings' can be seen as a continuation of Tolkien's book 'The Hobbit'. Although 'The Lord of the Rings' does contain some references to this book, it can be read very well without having read 'The Hobbit' previously.

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