The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, Book 3)

Rating:
Summary: One of the Greatest Books Ever Written
Review: The beautiful conclusion of the entire trilogy is realized here. This novel is satisfying on many levels and has a complexity and vision that is missing from many of it's imitators.
Please be aware though that there is a difference in the pacing of the novel from the films. I read the novel before I saw the film, and it is possible that seeing the film first may distract some readers. This novel is written at a leisurley place, it is not a quick read, but it is a doorway into the authors imagination and philosophy. Definitely worth the trip.

Rating:
Summary: It's okay to read once, but...
Review: Definitely too much description. Tolkien wrote an epic classic, but he did "describe the color of the landscape," for 20 pages. I enjoyed reading it once, but I could not read it more than that. Buy it and read it, it's good. Or a better idea is to get it from the library.

Rating:
Summary: "The Lord of the Ring - Return of the the King"
Review: LOTR III: The Return of the Kings, like the other works of Tolkien on Middle-Earth, is very time-consuming and yet truly worth your time. If you have the time I would advise you to read this.

Rating:
Summary: Finally got my full attention
Review: At long last I read the final volume all the way through on my third stab at the trilogy. I've just always run out of gas after the first 1000 or so pages so it made sense to just start with this one and give it the attention it deserves (especially after seeing the film). I was suprised at how much I enjoyed the journey of the hobbits back to the Shire to kick some hindquarters as toughened warriors. Also, this was the first time for me that a book (or movie) took the time to delve into the feelings of the protagonists as their heroic climax passes and they fade back into to normal life. I found it useful in my own life.

Rating:
Summary: The return of the king is awesome
Review: The third Lord of the Rings was my favorite of all of them. It had so many cool things that they didn't show in the movie. My favorite part was when the hobbits go back to the Shire and they see that Saruman has taken over. Then they gather their friends and family and go to take it back no matter what the consequences. I recommend this book to anyone who can read. It was really one of the greatest!

Rating:
Summary: Pales in comparison to its predecessors, but still good...
Review: Let's face it, "The Return of the King" is easily the worst of the trilogy (as far as the books go), but that doesn't stop it from being an beaitifully written and exciting conclusion. It's probably the hardest and all the chapters are really huge, so its only for dedicated readers. I loved this book, except for Chapter Eight of Book Six, "The Scouring of the Shire." But then, very few people do like that particular bit.

Rating:
Summary: "His Will was Set, and Only Death would Break It..."
Review: There are many opinions and discussions that one could have on Tolkien's great epic, but one thing is for certain: he saved the best for last. Even Peter Jackson, the director of the film trilogy was heard to say: "I made the first two movies so that I could make the third." Everything that has been building in the first two installments now explodes across the pages: battles, intrigues, madness, escapes, disguises, rescues, chases - it's all here as the allied forces of Middle-Earth (Hobbits, Men, Elves, Dwarves and Ents) make their last desperate stand against the converging forces of evil.

Like the previous volumes, "The Return of the King" is divided into two books: Book Five and Book Six. Book Five concerns the reunion of most of the Fellowship and the lengths they take in order to draw the Dark Lord Sauron's eye away from Frodo and Sam. But this togetherness is not to last - soon Gandalf whisks Pippin away to the white city of Gondor in order to stir the city up for battle, whilst Merry swears fealty to King Theoden of Rohan and attempts to find a way to follow him into battle. In even more peril is Aragorn, who decides to take the dread Paths of Dead in order to muster the ghoulish allies that may be found there - with Legolas and Gimli at his side.

They will all converge once more in Gondor, (along with Faramir, Eomer, Eowyn and Denethor, the grim Stewart of the King) where the battle of their time will take place outside the walls...

In Book Six, Sam finds himself alone in the terrible realm of Mordor after realising that Frodo is not dead, but now captured by the Enemy. After Gollum's betrayal, Sam has nothing left to do but sneak his way into the very fortress of the Dark Lord in the attempt to find Frodo and continue their journey to Mount Doom. But with the Ring now in his keeping, he becomes aware for the first time of its terrible lure...

Everything that Tolkien has set up in the previous books come to fruition and is dealt with in its proper time and place - not always to happy endings, but to satisfactory and bittersweet ones: the fading of the elves, the cost of battle, the return of the king, and even Tolkien's subtle but vitally important Christian resonances in the course of the story. To point them out directly would be to take away your opportunity to discover them yourself, but keep in mind the triad role of Frodo, Gollum and the Ring: Frodo's continual mercy toward him, Gandalf's past words that "he has yet a part to play, for good or for evil," and the divine grace that seems to intercede at a crucial moment, where the fate of the entire world seems to hang in the balance.

At the end of the day, credit must be given where credit is due, and in many ways the hero of the piece is Samwise Gamgee. By the time we reach Book Six most of the journey is seen through Sam's point of view in order to better witness Frodo's decline and the intense devotion that Sam bestows on him. Perhaps my favourite part of the book is Sam's epiphany, when he gazes up at a lonely star in the sky - but again, I'll let you discover that for yourself.

Reading "The Lord of the Rings" is an amazing experience. By this stage, you'll probably be intensely invested in these characters and their situations, as well as enveloped in the detailed and three dimensional realm of Middle-Earth, the most vivid and realistic sub-creation that the literary world has ever seen, bar none. From the movement of armies to the pitiful sight of two tiny hobbits crawling up the side of a mountain; Tolkien can effortlessly describe both epic and intimate moments. In fact, in this contrast lies one of his most tear-stirring ideas - the careful and deliberate decision on the part of Aragorn, Gandalf and their allies use themselves as bait in the hope of the barest possible chance that Frodo will be able to complete his mission. The display of such enormous self-sacrifice is just...well, I'm lost for words to describe it.

Just as Peter Jackson made the first two movies in order to make the last one, reading the first two books definitely has its payoff in this magnificent conclusion.