Hello Robert,

Yes I have FINALLY completed this review. Its only been sitting for months. I had mentioned to you that while driving I was listening to LotR: The Fellowship of the Ring. I must confess that even though I have been reading fantasy novels for 15 years I have never before finished reading this classic. Though it might be as difficult as crossing all of Middle Earth and climbing Mt. Doom I will have victory over this series, or at least the first book.

Title: The Fellowship of the Ring
Series: The Lord of the Rings; Book 1
Author: J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Fantasy
Audience: Adult
ROTS Setting: UU, Medieval, Higher Magic
Synopsis: Enter the world of Middle Earth a land of men, elves, dwarves, orcs, magic creatures and hobbits. In which a young man inherits a magic ring from his uncle which changes his entire life. He must leave hearth and home, is chased by monsters, possessed by evil and challenges the loyalty’s of his friends and companions.
Recommendation: Mixed, if you want to read the most complex and wonderful world ever to be built in a fictional setting this book is for you. If you want a deep, fun, exiting plot? Find something else. Looking for a easy read? Look elsewhere. Want hours of reading and a headache? So yeah mixed. Do not attempt without at least a adult reading level. Although there really isn’t any inappropriate content you could read it to a 10 year old and not have to skip over anything. You might have to wake them up repeatedly though.

This is possibly the hardest book to read that I have ever encountered, and as mentioned I’m actually just listening. I read more  enjoyable college text books than this. Heck Shakespeare is actually comparably difficult. To be fair when I had to read Hamlet in school I actually liked it better than “the father of all fantasy.” I feel kind of ashamed to admit that.

Getting onto the brass tacks. The best things about the book over the movie are mostly that Frodo is less annoying. You can’t tell in the movies that Frodo is actually middle-aged and that his three hobbit companions are actually almost 2o years younger than him. Taking into account the long life of hobbits. In the book however Frodo is respectable and even likeable unlike Elijah Wood’s rendition. Another thing I enjoyed was seeing the various parts that where left out of the movie such as Tom Bombadil.

After that sadly there was very little to enjoy. For the most part Peter Jackson did a pretty good job. There are a few minor points which you don’t understand as well as you could from the book to the movie. But I found the movie quite faithful after the hobbits get to Rivendale. Prior to that there is quite a few discrepancies.

Over all just watch the movie and skip the hours of reading. Tolkien may still be hailed as the greatest fantasy world builder. But even he can make a good story very boring. I only recommend this because I think beginning authors should read this as a warning. And so that we don’t over generalize that the book is always better than the movie.

Jared

Links

• The Tolkien Society
• The Official Tolkien Online Store