Rating: 
Summary: I want to say this was a great book... but it wasn't
Review: I have never seen the movie and I only started to read this book after the movie came out. Actually, I was forced by my English teacher. I thought, since the book was good enough to have a movie after it, it probably wouldn't be such a bad book.
Well, I started to read the prolouge. Bad idea. My biggest advice is, DO NOT READ THE PROLOUGE!!! It took me days to get through the ten pages of it. This part is so confusing and worthless information that you really don't need to make sense of the book. Anyways, the rest of the book was very slow. If you want a quick read, this book is not for you. The details go on and on and there really is no action what so ever.
However, this book wasn't all bad. I got through it, but I could only read about ten pages at a time or i would lose intrest. At the end it is a nice story but I don't know if the pain reading it amounted to the pleasure of finishing it afterwards.
Rating: 
Summary: Get the hate mail ready . . . this book STINKS!
Review: Tolkein is by far the most overrated author I have ever read! The meticulous attention to detail does not create vivid imagery, rather it bogs down the entire story. Have you noticed how the pace of the book seems to speed up toward the end. It's almost as if his editor's said, "Um, describing every tree in the forest is nice, but do you think you could wrap things up soon?" With respect to you Tolkein fanboys out there, this book is garbage. I wouldn't line a litter box with this junk. If you enjoy being bored to tears by minutia, this book is for you. Everyone else, stay the hell away!
Rating:
Summary: Boring
Review: Boring. Here are the reasons why this book is so incredibly boring, slow moving, and often frustrating.
ok, first of all, Tolkien spent more time describing the scenery than he did anything else.
There's hardly any character development. I mean, honestly, the book is more surroundings rather than narration. Plus, the book was just too wordy.
Not enough action. Where are the battles? Tolkien had the talent of creating a good battle scene, but, unfortunately, there were hardly any action scenes, and the ones that were there you had to get through atleast a hundred pages of fluff, and in the end the battle scene was only two pages long!
Needed more excitement. Oh man, I don't even wanna begin to tell you how much minimal, (yes, MINIMAL) excitement this book has. The movie was ten times better, no make that one hundred times better. No, make that a thousand time better.
Overall, I wouldn't be willing to spend one dime on any of these books. I read one hundred pages of the fellowship, and it was just so boring. Where were all the good battle scenes? Where were the monsters? There were hardly any other creatures of interest besides Orcs and Hobbits. That's basicly it.
I just don't like any of the lord of the rings books. I want action books, not only with action, though. I don't expect an action scene every two pages, I just want an action scene atleast every one hundred pages! I also want a book that has SOME KIND OF EXCITEMENT OR A HOOK! this book didn't supply that at all. Plus, it's frustrating. Why is it frustrating? Because it has nothing which makes the quality of a book good. That's it.
Rating: 
Summary: not much to add on whats been said
Review: what can i say. it is the lord of the rings and it is the most famous book of the past century. it is fun, dark, poetic, enlightening and inspiring. i don't know what else to add cause i could go on foever but just read it and create your own opinion. it is a work of art.
Rating: 
Summary: Not the best reading -- but for now the only reading.
Review: This is the final instalment in my reviews of the three volumes of the Lord of the Rings as read by Robert Inglis. Anyone who has read my first two will know by now that I am no fan of his style OR delivery. Having said that, and I feel it necessary to say this at the outset of each review to forestall the lynching: this is the ONLY unabridged version that is available, and it not nearly so objectionable that it can not be recommended. Indeed, I feel compelled, my misgivings notwithstanding to place this version in a "must have" category - but only until a better version comes along - Frederic Davidson? Where are you? Your country and Tolkein's readers need you! It is my view that Inglis does Tolkien and his characters great disservice in many and varied ways. Aragorn comes across as an arch, cloying, pompous lout. The Hobbits are uniformly presented as servile, unctuous, country bumpkins - Sam is the worst. Legolas is fay and effeminate - almost goofy. There are times you just want to smack his Frodo and say, "oh for god's sake man, get a grip on yourself." I was NEVER annoyed with any of these characters when I read the book, but one can easily become annoyed with them as presented by Inglis. An interesting "acid test" for this is Peter Jackson's movie version. Virtually ALL of his actors and characters get it "right" - and Inglis does not do well by the comparison. When Inglis does get it right, he is capable of "nailing it". Gandalf is excellent, Gollum brilliant, and Treebeard surpassing. The problem is that Inglis has a deep voice and is incapable of pitching it into the higher registers. His performance rapidly degrades with the number of characters he is required to present in a short period of time. "Return of the King" is the worst of the three volumes because there is a welter of voices - most of them men. At times it is hard to remember who the heck is speaking - so similar do the voices become. And there is another, more insidious problem - my brother Ross first noted this. When Inglis is required to deliver scenes of great drama - he becomes somewhat shrill and affected. And now I will allow myself on comment on the book itself. I read this book as a youth - I was enchanted. And I came back to it as a perhaps jaded 47 year old. You know what disappointed me the most? It is the PRFOUNDLY undemocratic nature of Tolkein's tale. Of course the immediate riposte to this is that it is a fairy-tale. And fairy-tales are all about kings and queens. Well, yes, sure, SOME of them are - but by no means all of them. But The Rings is a tale of a pagan time and as my friend Fox and I were discussing, the pagan world was distinctly non-aristocratic. And it is not as though Tolkein didn't have loads of democratic or semi-democratic models to crib from. I cringed as the aristocratic leaders made ALL the decisions for their men - there is no HINT of collective decision making. I thought constantly of the Iliad and the Anabasis of Xenophen -- where the lords and their men regularly debate policy, strategy and even tactics. Does this destroy the book? Of course not. But I do view the apotheosis of Aragorn, for that is what it is, as the central failure of the book. Tolkein had a magnificent opportunity to have his Aragorn cast off the tyranny of aristocratic blood-lines and establish a democratic society wherein men were governed by elected officials and the rule of law. And this could have been done without compromising the romance of the story one whit. But that's just me...a 47 year old curmudgeon! You'll find me happily ensconced in hell with the tyrannicides and regicides.
Rating:
Summary: very good but not perfect
Review: I really wanted to give this book 5 stars but after I thought about it I realized that it wouldn't be right. This book is inspirational and it's beautifully dramatic. However, there are some things wrong with it. For instance, I think it had way too much unneccesary descriptions that made it hard to follow the actual story. Whenever I got to a long and boring description, I put the book down for a week and then made myself struggle through it. Maybe if I were a little older it would've been easier to read. Also, I think the characters were quite unrealistic and unlikable. And there were no important female chatacters either. The action is good though, and I really enjoyed this book.
Rating:
Summary: BORED of the Rings.
Review: This book is definitely NOT all the hype that money can buy. I muddled through The Hobbit with about as much interest as a five-year-old at a lecture on world geopolitics, and I couldn't even get 50 pages into this drivel before tossing it across the room. It is quite possibly the most boring thing I've ever read, and suffice it to say, it's a waste of time and money. Read something DECENT, rather than this heap. Terrible.
Rating: 
Summary: Overall good job
Review: This is the only way you can get the unabridged version in audio format right now. That in itself makes this a worthwhile purchase. Rob Inglis is a good, but not great reader. He has a rich voice, but doesn't have the expressiveness and vocal changes by character you find with the reader on the Harry Potter audio formats. Truthfully his reading makes it difficult to pay attention some times. You may find yourself wandering off mentally. He does do an excellent Gollum, though. It's nice soothing listening while you are driving in your car.
Rating:
Summary: Neils review
Review: The Fellowship of the Ring is the first of three books in The Lord of the Rings; a story set in the fictional world of Middle Earth. The Lord of the Rings is Sauron, the Dark Lord, who long ago lost the One Ring that holds much of his power. His really wants his ring back and is controls some of the inhabitants Middle Earth. Through unknown ways, the ring is given to Frodo Baggins, a hobbit. Because of the ring, however, Frodo is caught up in business that will change Middle Earth forever
. With Gandalf advice, Frodo sets out with three of his hobbit friends to keep the ring out of Sauron's hands. Lord Sauron's minions attack them, but, with the help of a man named Strider, they make it safely to Rivendell, a home of elves. There, with the help of Elrond, Frodo takes the task of taking the ring to the only place it can be destroyed, the pits of hell in the fiery mountain Orodruin, inside Sauron's realm of Mordor. A Fellowship is created to help him, consisting of Frodo, his servant Sam, two other hobbits, Strider, Gandalf, an elf named Legolas, a dwarf named Gemini, and a man from the south named Boromir. The Fellowship heads south and tries to pass under the Misty Mountains through Moria, the ancient realm of the dwarves. There, Gandalf falls into the chasm of Khazad-dum while protecting the party from a terrible demon called a Balrog. The rest of the party continues on to Lorien, the forest of the Galadrim elves, where the Galadriel tests their hearts and gives them gifts to help them on the quest. From there, they go down the Anduin River by boat. When they must return to land, they cannot decide whether to head toward Mordor on the east or toward the sanctuary of Minas Tirith on the west. Boromir wants the ring and confronts Frodo, who decides that he must go to Mordor. However, Frodo cannot bear to take his friends with him or to subject them to further temptation, so he attempts to leave secretly and continue the quest alone. He does not, however, manage to escape his faithful friend Sam, so they set out together for the realm of the Dark Lord. I really liked this book it was good easy reading. I am a complete Fantasy guy so I loved that and it has a great plot. I really like Strider a lot but Lord Sauron is the coolest by far.
Rating:
Summary: Well writen, but could you leave out some of the detail
Review: As I read through the incredible story of The Fellowship of The Ring I was amazed at what J.R.R. Tolkien was able to create. Through all the imagination of the story and wide variety of characters I was entranced from the minute I started reading. I felt like I was part of the story all the way through to the end.
I very much enjoyed The Lord of The Rings and am quite excited to finally be moving on to the second book. Throughout the first book you really get the introduction of the story and all the characters. From poor old Bilbo to the young spirit filled Frodo the adventure begins.
It really starts out in the quiet parts of the Shire where Bilbo and Frodo Baggins both live. On Bilbo's 111th birthday he leaves the Shire forever leaving Frodo his most prized possession. This most prized possession is the ring. To describe the ring I leave you this poem of description which can be found in the first page of the book. Three Rings for the elven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their hall of stone, Nine for mortal men doomed to die, One for the dark lord on his dark thrown, In the land of mordor where the shadows lie. One ring to rule them all, One ring to find them, One ring to bring them all together and in the darkness bind them, In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie. This one ring falls into the hands of our young boy Frodo and on his adventure to destroy the ring is where the real plot begins. My favorite part of The Lord of The Rings I must say is the part where the company is staying in Bree and come across there soon to be 5th companion named Strider. The descriptions of this great powerful man with rustic, broad features are amazing and very overtaking. He is by far my favorite character.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to everyone who can get through all the details and really enjoy the true nature of the book. J.R.R. Tolkien really takes you through his own world of imagination and I hope you enjoy the book like I did.
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