by J.R.R.Tolkien
ISBN: 0-04-823186-X
First published 1954
442 pages
Publisher: Unwin Paperbacks
4.5/5 stars
A thrilling continuation of the saga first started in The Fellowship of the Ring.
Each chapter has its own story arc, and has a self-contained plot.
This book contains the original stories
- Book III: The Treason of Isengard
- Book IV: The Journey to Mordor
Unlike the film version by Peter Jackson – there is no interspersion of the stories, each is separate.
Highlights include the ‘The Riders of Rohan’, ‘The Uruk-hai’ and the Garden of Ithilien (‘Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit’).
Tolkien’s genius is in giving us such a rich history of each place and background to each character. A palate of plot-lines, a cornucopia of characters.
It is to be savoured and read leisurely, the greater the effort in reading, the greater the joy in understanding Tolkien’s great work of creation, Middle-Earth.
The Eclectic Book Review 