The Lord of the Rings

hardcover, 1214 pages

Published March 3, 1988 by Houghton Mifflin, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

ISBN:
978-0-395-48932-1
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4 stars (2 reviews)

Originally published from 1954 through 1956, J.R.R. Tolkien's richly complex series ushered in a new age of epic adventure storytelling. A philologist and illustrator who took inspiration from his work, Tolkien invented the modern heroic quest novel from the ground up, creating not just a world, but a domain, not just a lexicon, but a language, that would spawn countless imitators and lead to the inception of the epic fantasy genre. Today, THE LORD OF THE RINGS is considered "the most influential fantasy novel ever written." (THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FANTASY)

During his travels across Middle-earth, the hobbit Bilbo Baggins had found the Ring. But the simple band of gold was far from ordinary; it was in fact the One Ring - the greatest of the ancient Rings of Power. Sauron, the Dark Lord, had infused it with his own evil magic, and when it was lost, he was forced to …

67 editions

reviewed The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings, 1-3)

Obviously the typical fantasy book.

4 stars

This one is like Beatles songs: You notice how they sound kinda similar but "simpler" to other pop songs, until you think about, how they built the whole genre. Everyone after them builds on their formula and this is why they sound similar, but they still have their uniqueness to them.

The Lord of the Rings is the same: Every conversation is a big speech and they don't sound like people would, if they actually just talk to one another. Big descriptions of how the world looks like. Many weird names of places and people (but Tolkien just throws around names like he's paid for the amount of them) and many other things.

But it still has its own story. It's filled with songs, which is an understatement. It seems like people in middle earth are just eager to sing as often as they can. Tolkien tries to make decisions …