The Fellowship of the Ring

As much as I love the Lord of the Rings films, I could never get into the books. Tolkien definitely has a style, and to be honest, I'm more a sci-fi guy than fantasy. However, I listened to all three books in the series this year because they're read by Gollum himself, Andy Serkis. Serkis is a legendary talent. He does different voices for all the characters and offers an incredible narrator tone. This is easily the best audiobook I've ever heard. Highly recommended.

To be fair this was part of my re-read of the entire LotR series, but I hadn't read them in over 20 years. I had seen the movies quite a few times, and while I love them but there's something about reading the originals. This is especially true for scenes either altered or left out of the films. I'm not knocking Jackson, even with the deletions and alterations his adaptation of the story runs over 9 hours. However, meeting the original characters and reading the unaltered scenes provides an even deeper picture of Middle-Earth. The pace may be a bit… show more.

Where to start? Lord of the Rings contains countless unlikely heroes. From Frodo and Sam, simple hobbits who have to undergo an impossible task to save the entire world, to Theoden or Faramir, the books are full of tales of valor and strength as the good of the world strives to overcome an impossible evil.

The books are written with the key theme that even ordinary people can do great good, and that is reflected in the Hobbits. They are an ordinary race, unimportant for most of history, but they possess the courage and the heart to save their world.… show more.

Without a single doubt, the father of the modern epic fantasy genre. Wizards, Hobbits, Giants, Dragons, epic quests, and a great Dark lord. This book and the subsequent books that followed drew millions to the idea that this nerdy stuff could be way cool and relevant. It satisfies on so many levels. It was brilliantly written and transported me into another world full of wonder, danger, suspense, and the supernatural.

I fell in love with the characters and so will you. The audiobook dramatized version by “Minds eye Radio production” was incredible to me. A must for all audiobook fantasy… show more.

While I have enjoyed virtually everything I have read of Tolkien’s, I am particularly passionate about Middle Earth. This tale's imagery and grand narrative certainly stand on its own, but there is an even greater depth that comes from Tolkien’s religious convictions.

From the book’s symbolism to the dialogue, it infuses and distills many elements of the Catholic tradition into its pages. For Tolkien, fairy stories were more than ways to simply pass the time; they were reminders of eternal qualities. While I am digressing to the final book in Tolkien’s trilogy, Samwise Gamgee’s willingness to take on Frodo’s hideous… show more.

What is not to love about the LotR series? Everything from the world, the characters, the descriptions, and the entire narrative is truly sublime. But what I think I liked the best about Tolkien’s work is the depth of his lore. 

Not only did he build an entire history for all the races, but he also created their individual languages and heritage. The breadth of work Tolkien put into Middle Earth is staggering and is something all fantasy authors (myself included) have tried to emulate in their own work.

Anyone unfamiliar with Tolkien’s epic fantasy trilogy has been in an extended coma or is under five. Still, when I discovered these magnificent fantasy tales, I was about 15, and it would have been around 1962. No one knew Tolkien (outside of a very small circle of friends), and when I later wanted to do a term paper on the series, my teacher told me the books were too obscure, and there would be no reviews or research to draw on. 

I find myself using the word “transformational” in these reviews, and I guess that is what defines a “great… show more.

Everything we know of Fantasy began with J.R.R. Tolkien: magical elves, warrior dwarves, powerful wizards, fantastic lands, and noble quests. All of these have been done to death in genre form, but they are mere shadows of Tolkien, whose prose allows you to get lost in an amazing world of his own design.

Tolkien created Middle Earth from the ground up, not only the magical map in his novels’ opening pages but also the languages of the mystical creatures and even their history from before the most famous trilogy of all time. This book is more than an adventure story;… show more.

When I first read this book in 1957, I had the now-impossible experience of reading a book I had never heard of by an unknown author. It was an unforgettable and unrepeatable experience, and I’ve never lost the sheer wonder of that discovery, even though it has now become the unintended inspiration for all of the sword-and-sorcery fantasies and little-guy-with-a-big-mission sagas that weigh down the shelves of today’s bookstores.

Several things distinguish it from its hapless descendants. 1. It's writing: Tolkien’s ability to change the tone from down-to-earth vernacular to the language of high medieval romance cannot be matched by… show more.

There are many books a reader works on, and yet few that work on the reader; J.R.R. Tolkien wrote such a book. I will be the first to admit I don’t love it, which makes it all the more profound. I finished it feeling inspired, uplifted, and believing in the Good. 

It worked so powerfully in me that it did not matter what I thought of the book, my soul was touched by Tolkien's Magnus Opus. Watching the interplay between the fellowship, and the heroism of the ordinary man, inspired me to follow virtue and ignore the miasma of nihilism