Rating: 
Summary: At Last.
Review: The magnificence of Rob Inglis' dramatization, both with respect to its place in the Tolkien Legend and in comparision to the present state of the spoken theatre, is quite simply ineffible. Here presented is THE ONLY completely unabriged reading of the Lord of the Rings to be found, and to commuters like me, it represents a long awaited opportunity to become aquianted with the work of a genius without fear of losing precious shards of his masterpiece to the whim of an editor. Worth every moment of the 20 hour listening time, from the endearing character voices to the hearty singing of songs and chanting of poetry that is sure to linger in your mind throughout the day. A purely wonderful experience for both Tolkien Veterans and the uninitiated alike.
Rating:
Summary: The Journey continues...
Review: The Journey continues... 5 starsThis book starts off exactly where, "The Fellowship of the Ring," (see my review) ends. The Nine Walkers of Boromir, Aragorn, Gandalf, Gimli, Legolas, Pippin, Merry and the Ring-bear Frodo set out from Rivendell. After their leader and guide fell into the abyss in Moria (an ancient palace of the Dwarves in the mountains), Aragorn became their leader. After emerging from the mountains, and passing through the land of Lorien, the Company faced a choice. Should they go to Mordor, where Frodo must go to destroy the Ring, the all-powerful instrument of evil and corruption or travel to Minis Tirith (Tower of the Guard) capital of the Gondor, a nation of Men who are at war with Mordor and its evil ruler Sauron. The Hobbits Sam and Frodo disappear and depart for Mordor. The other two Hobbits (Merry and Pippin) are taken captive by Orcs, despite being defended by Boromir, who is killed in their defence. In the first half of, "The Two Towers," the tale of what happened to Pippin, Merry, Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn is related. In the second half of, "The Two Towers," the tale of what happened to Frodo and Sam is related. Within the book, I much prefer the first section of it. The reunion of the Hobbits with Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas is one of my favorite moments in the book. In some ways, whenever I undertake to read, "The Lord of the Rings," I dread the second section of, "The Two Towers." Personally, I do no appreciate the pain-staking description of every mountain, rock and flower; I keep waiting for some actual dialogue or action to happen. Tolkien obviously had a vivid, EXTREMELY detailed imagination for he invented every single part of his fictional world of Middle-Earth to be believable. There is a history of behind all the races and some of the races have their very own languages. The problem that Tolkien may have run into in his epic work is that he lost something in attempting to achieve the grand scale he sought to produce. His heavy use of allusions to persons and events that the reader knows nothing of start off as evocative and then begins to get annoying. However, in terms of good epic length fantasy literature, "The Lord of the Rings," started it and it is probably one of the best novels of the 20th century. One last note, remember, Tolkien originally wrote the story for his own enjoyment, he did not envision millions of people in dozens of languages reading his work.
Rating: 
Summary: A most imaginative and action-packed fantasy confection
Review: J.R.R. Tolkien continues The Lord of the Rings with triumph and imagination once again. Sheer brilliance mixed with an epic storyline. Middle-Earth is once again filled with enchanting landscapes, an assortment of creatures and a sense of danger and evil all around. But the second part of LOTR is still not perfect. The Two Towers continues right where the first part left off. Hobbits Frodo and Sam leave the Fellowship and trek to Mordor alone, being followed by a creepy critter. Merry and Pippin have been caught by Uruk-Hai warriors and Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli travel to Rohan to speak to the King Theoden. After Gandalf makes a stunning return, the four adventurers convince the troubled King of Rohan to prepare for war, as Saruman is ready to attack with his army of Uruk-Hai. The people of Rohan head to the fortress of Helm's Deep, confronting the evil Uruk-Hai. As Frodo and Sam are lost, they are confronted by Gollum, the pathetic creature with long possession of the Ring. He promises to lead them to Mordor, but the two hobbits have a suspicion that the sly creature has another dark deed in mind. Merry & Pippin are rescued by Treebeard, an Ent of Middle-Earth, and takes them to Isengard. The Two Towers has it's many moments, but the same problem of FotR plagues the second part: Tolkien has a bit too many unessesary sub-plots and dialogue. Of what could be the perfect novels, they are sometimes clogged with un-needed elements that would've just made the story flow smoother. However, I'd say that The Two Towers has a sharper narrative than the more episodic Fellowship of the Ring did. With all of it's glorious mountains, fields, rivers and forests, and the different varieties of creatures running around, the main reason these books are so great are because of the characters. Gandalf's booming directing or Sam's hearty nature, the characters are the most memorable elements of Lord of the Rings. It only is better with the more three-dimension Gollum. The Two Towers succeeds where Fellowship of the Ring somewhat lacked, even though they sometimes contain the same problem. However, this is a fantastic adventure book, filled with action and suspense, imagination and flair. The climactic battle is unforgettable. And do please check out Peter Jackson's 'The Two Towers' film that's now in theaters. Fantastic.
Rating:
Summary: World-Class
Review: Inevitably, after reading The Fellowship of the Ring, the natural reaction is to reach for The Two Towers. The second part of a classic trilogy, The Two Towers picks up exactly where The Fellowship of the Ring left off. With most of the main characters already established and the main focus of the journey identified, the truly exciting scenes begin to take place. The novel splits up into a pair of books that take the reader through two different adventures based on the now divided characters. The two books take place during the same time line, which I felt was a very interesting way to observe the storylines. Talking about all the amazing qualities of Two Towers might spoil your own experience, but if you are ready to read Two Towers, you are already have an idea of what type of brilliance lies ahead. The imagery laid forth by Tolkien is simply dazzling, he was a master of the written word and this book exemplifies as well as magnifies that fact. Full of excitement and adventure, this continuation of the quest to rid the world from the threat of evil takes the reader right through the heart of one of the most colorful, well known and amazing fantasy adventures of all-time. After being left breathless at the end of this one, the reader will take part in his or her own journey to get their hands on The Return of the King to finish out the trilogy. Simply Spectacular!
Rating:
Summary: The Best of the Trilogy
Review: Lord of the Rings is a fantastic piece of literature. While all of the parts are exceptional, part two, The Two Towers, is without a doubt the best of the series. The novel starts off with Aragorn finding a wounded Boromir. Boromir explains that the Uruk-Hai ambushed him and captured Merry and Pippin. This part of the series is split up into two books (Book 3 and Book 4). While Book 4 is fantastic and details the continued adventures of the Ring-Bearer, Book 3 really shines. The chapter about the Battle of Helm's Deep might be the best chapter in any book ever. For those readers rather uninterested in what happens to Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas, Book 4 will be your favorite. An old enemy of Bilbo's is back to guide Frodo and Sam, but instead leads them into a trap. One warning though. As great as this book is, do not read it unless you can soon-after beging The Return of the King. The Two Towers has even more of a cliffhanger ending than Fellowship of the Ring did. I highly recommend this great piece of work.
Rating:
Summary: Lord of the Rings the Two Towers
Review: The second book of J.R.R. Tolkien's three piece story. It has a lot of action and suspense. The book has basically two different stories intwined togather. One of the stories is the becoming of a king. The other story is about the small hobbit who has to save the world by destroying the magical ring of power. Aragorn and his fellow friends are trying to tarck down their other friends who were captured by some orcs. The two hobbits that were captured gathered up some tree-like creatures and destroyed one of the two towers it was called Isengard. While the small hobbit named Frodo is led on by an evil being named Gollum who leads Frodo it to a trap near the end. This book is a real page turner. You may never want to put this one down. There is so much developement within each of the characters that you feel like you have known them for a long time. I would reccomend this book to somebody of any age who likes action-packed fanstasy stories.
Rating:
Summary: The Two Towers
Review: Great continuation of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
May 11, 2004
The continuation of the Fellowship of the Ring the Lord of the Rings: Two Towers is an excellent sequel. It is the continued story of Frodo Baggins and his journey to destroy the one ring. As Legolas, Aragorn, Gimli, Gandalf the White, and the armies of Rohan are fighting Orcs at Helm's Deep Frodo and Sam encounter Gollum and ask for his aid to the gates of Mordor. J.R.R Tolkien does a great job in the second Lord of the Rings book. For children that have enjoyed the first book The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers will be equally enjoyable. If children wish to find out what happens after the end of The Two Towers, children should read the last book in the series The Return of the King. For children wishing to know how Bilbo got the one ring, they should read The Hobbit a prequel of The Fellowship of the Ring.
Rating:
Summary: The Adventure Continues
Review: The adventures continue for the fellowship in book 2, The Two Towers. There seemed to be a lot more action and fighting in this book than the first. Tolkien's writing style makes this book just as magical as the first, however, I did feel that it dragged on in a few spots and just didn't seem to hold my attention quite like the 1st book. However, I would recommend this book to anybody who loves the movies and anybody who loves the 1st book or the Hobbit.
Rating:
Summary: The Revenge Of Gandalf
Review: THE TWO TOWERS by J.R.R. Tolkien is a fantastic book. I like that book because it is my favorite movie. It gives me lots of details so I can see the picture in my head while I am reading. When I was reading I could see how beautiful the setting is. The main characters are Frodo, Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli. The main part was the war. I like this book because it is very challenging. I think you should read this book because it is very scary and magical. I like this book and you should too! I hope you read this book!
Rating:
Summary: The Two Towers
Review: The Two Towers continues at the point where the first book ends; Frodo leaves the fellowship to travel to Mordor with only his faithful friend Sam as his companion. Merry and Pippin have been taking captive by orcs sent by Saruman. Aragorn decides to leave Frodo to his quest and to follow the orcs in hopes of rescuing Merry and Pippin. The Two Towers is divided into two parts; the first part tells the tale of Aragorn, Gimly, Legolas, Merry, and Pippin while the second part of the book talks about the journey of Frodo and Sam. I found the first part of the book really enjoyable; this is where most of the action was and where the story became more interesting. I felt the second part of the book was a little dull, mostly consisting of tedious description. It didn't hold my interest as well as the first part of the book.
During the first part of the book Aragorn's pursuit of the orcs leads him, Gimly, and Legolas to Fangorn forest where Gandalf makes his triumphant return. The four of them travel to the land of Rohan to speak with King Théoden who is currently under the control of Saruman. After Gandalf breaks his Saruman's hold the people of Rohan flee to Helms Deep to prepare a defense against Saruman's army.
Meanwhile, Merry and Pippin's encounter an Ent, kind of walking, talking tree, named Treebeard. Merry and Pippin learn of the Ent's hatred of the orcs and Saruman because of the harm that they were bringing to the forest. The Ent's agreed that Saruman must be stopped and they begin their march on Isengard after Saruman has sent his army to attack Helms Deep.
There were many exciting and interesting events that happened in the first part of the book. I especially enjoyed Aragorn's pursuit of the orcs; it truly demonstrated his skills as a ranger. He was able to deduce several events that took place by simply analyzing various tracks and imprints on the ground. During this pursuit Tolkien also describes Legolas' keen senses. Legolas was able to see across great distances and make out minor details. Tolkien also mentions the great endurance that Gimly and other dwarves possess. Gimly was able to run for long periods of time without resting or getting short on breath.
This was one aspect that I thought Tolkien improved on in his writing. He began to write about some of his characters in greater detail. I've always thought that his characters were interesting and now that I began to learn more about them I've come to like them more. Stories with interesting characters are far more enjoyable than stories that are entirely driven by their plots. When the characters are more interesting I become more concerned with the events surrounding them, making me more interested in the plot.
This was on reason that I didn't find the second part of the book as enjoyable as the first. It didn't have the same level of excitement as the first. Much of it was tedious description of every rock and plant Sam and Frodo passed as they continued on their journey. The main reason that I was interested in the second part of the book was because of Gollum, who I thought was another very interesting character.
Gollum was in possession of the ring for so long that it gave him an unnaturally long life and corrupted his mind. He practically had split personalities. His "better" half was Sméagol, or who he used to be before he found the ring. His more evil and selfish side was Gollum, one who desired to have the ring above all else. Gollum wasn't a villain when compared to Sauron or Saruman, nor was he a hero. He was a poor twisted soul that had been corrupted by the ring's evil power.
Gollum became bound to the ring; it was something that he had to have and he followed Frodo throughout most of his journey just to get it back. When Gollum finally encounters Frodo and Sam they capture Gollum. Like Bilbo, who had encountered him long ago, Frodo couldn't kill Gollum. Instead Frodo spares him. Gollum swears to serve his new master, Frodo, and to guide them to Mordor. Sam is unsuccessful in his attempt to get Frodo to either kill Gollum or leave him behind and shortly after the three continue on their journey.
I found their journey dull for the most part because it didn't really compare to the journey that the others experienced in the first part of the book. It wasn't until towards the end of the book did Frodo and Sam's journey become more interesting. Gollum had led the two hobbits to Shelob's liar in an attempt to reclaim the ring. Shelob is a giant spider creature that had existed on Middle Earth since almost the beginning of time. Once Gollum leads them to the lair he leaves the two hobbits in the dark as pray for Shelob. I thought this was an interesting change of pace because it portrayed Sam as a hero and he displayed the same courage that Aragorn and the others displayed in the battle of Helms Deep.
Overall I felt that the Two Towers was a good story but I thought it would've been better if Tolkien had made Frodo and Sam's subplot alternate with the subplot of Aragorn and the others instead of separating the book into two sections. It was hard for me to change from the great suspense of Aragorn's pursuit, the battle of Helms Deep, and the Ents siege on Isengard, to a much slower pace story. If they hadn't been done separately the story would've been much better in my opinion because there wouldn't be such a large change of pace between the two parts of the book. However, I still felt that this was a great story.
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