Rating: 
Summary: INDISPUTEABLY THE VERY BEST!!!!!!!!!!1
Review: WHAT CAN I SAY OTHER THAN THE FIVE STAR MARK PUTS THE HOLY GRAIL OF FANTASY LITERATURE TO SHAME- THE LEGEND (NOT MERELY A NOVEL) DESERVES MORE THAN FIVE STARS, IT DESERVES THE MYRIAD OF THEM IN THE SKY AND MORE THEN. I FIRST READ THE HOBBIT WHEN I WAS IN FOURTH GRADE AND NEEDLESS TO SAY I LOVED IT, BUT UNFORTUNATELY I WAS NOT AWARE OF THE EXISTANCE OF THE LORD OF THE RINGS AND WAS DEPRIVED OF ITS RADIANCE FOR A FEW MORE YEARS. SINCE THEN I HAVE READ THE TRILLOGY THROUGH THREE TIMES (UNFORTUNATELY ONLY ONE OF THOSE READINGS WAS UNINTERUPTED). TOLKIEN IS DEFINITELY ONE OF MY LARGEST INFLUENCES TO DATE AND I OWN THE TRILLOGY (THE BOXED SET, THE ORIGINAL SET- BOTH INCLUDING THE HOBBIT, AND THE CENTENARY EDITION IN ONE VOLUME AND THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK I OWN), THE SILMARILLION, UNFINISHED TALES, THE ATLAS OF MIDDLE EARTH, THE TOLKIEN COMPANION, AND VOLUMES 1,2,3,4,5,8,10, AND 11 OF THE HISTORY OF MIDDLE EARTH BY CHRISTOPHER TOLKIEN. MY MATERIAL ON MIDDLE EARTH TAKES UP NEARLY A FULL SHELF IN MY BOOK CASE AND I TREASURE IT. A PREVIOUS COMMENT IS CORRECT ABOUT TERRY BROOKS, HE CAN'T BEAT LotR, HE CAN'T AND NEVER WILL, FOR THAT MATTER NEITHER WILL ANYONE ELSE. TOLKIEN IS SIMPLY THE GOLD STANDARD OF FANTASY LITERATURE. NOT THAT THERE ISN'T ANY OTHER GOOD LITERATURE OUT THERE (I.E. ROBERT JORDANS WHEEL OF TIME SERIES, WHICH IS OBVIOUSLY TOLKIEN INFLUENCED BUT IS RE-MOLDED ENOUGH TO BE UNIQUE). I NOTICE THAT MANY PEOPLE HAVE CONFUSED COMPLEX AND HIGH WRITING WITH POOR AND RAMBLING WRITING- TOLKIEN DOES NOT RAMBLE, HE HAS A SLOW AND ELEGANT STYLE OF STORY TELLING AND ONE MUST PATIENT, FOR EVEN IF THEY FINISH THE BOOKS, THEY CANNOT POSSIBLY APPRECIATE THE BEAUTY OF THE WRITING IF THEY RUSH IT. TOLKIENS GREATEST ACHIEVMENT IS NOT HIS NEAR-LIVING CHARACTERS OR HIS GRAND DEPICTION OF WORLD ALTERING BATTLES, NOR EVEN THE TORN ROMANCE BETWEEN ARAGORN AND ARWEN AND EOWYN, BUT IN THE FACT THAT HE HAS CREATED A GROUP OF GODS AND MYTHS AND LEGENDS (THE SILMARILLION IS MIDDLE EARTHS OWN GENESIS STORY). HE HAS CREATED NATIONS AND BLOODLINES WITH THE HISTORIES TO JUSTIFY THE FAMILIES'S NOBILITY. THE ELVES, THE DWARVES THE NUMENOREANS, THE MEN, AND THE SERVANTS OF SAURON ALL HAVE DEVISED AND DIFFERENT LANGUAGES WHICH ARE FREQUENTLY PUT INTO PRACTICE. HE HAS CREATED A WORLD WITH A BACKGROUND AS BELIEVABLE AS OUR OWN. THE WORLD WITHIN HIS PAGES SEEMS TO EXIST AS YOU READ THEM AND ONE SINCERELY WISHES THAT IT DID WHEN ONE REALIZES THAT IT DOES NOT. IF YOU READ IT FOLLOW SAMWISE GAMGEE, FOR I THINK HE IS THE TRUE HERO OF THE STORY AND I SOME TIMES CONTEMPLATE NAMING MY SON AFTER HIM, IF I EVER HAVE A SON. I WISH SOME DAY TOO THAT AN FAITHFUL MOVIE VERSION IS RELEASED, FOR FILMS ARE A GREAT WAY OF EXPOSING PEOPLE TO NEW THINGS. PEOPLE WHO SEEK TO CRITICISE TOLKIEN MASTERWORK SHOULD DO SO IN PRIVATE FOR THERE ARE SO MANY LEGIONS OF "RABID FANATICS" THAT THE FLAME MAIL WOOULD CRASH HIS COMPUTER FOR PUBLIC NEGATIVE FEEDBACK. IN MY OPINION, ANYBODY WHO CAN'T REALIZE THE GRANDUER THAT IS TOLKIEN SHOULD BE TOSSED TO SMAUG AS PUNISHMENT. LOYAL "RABIDS", FEEL FREE TO RESPOND (AS WELL AS OTHERS)
Rating: 
Summary: One man's bread...
Review: ...is another man's poison. Before I get flamed by rabid Tolkien fanatics, let me state that I've attempted to enjoy this book several times over the last 7 years or so. Each time, I've managed to get perhaps 1/3 of the way through before I finally give up. I mean, I enjoyed "The Hobbit", and, as devoted fantasy readers, it's our duty to worship L.O.T.R., right? Sorry, but this is one book of flowery prose that zaps me (and many readers, I'm betting) right into slumberland. The characters and situations are well-crafted, but his style of writing about them generates a 0 on the interest meter.
Rating:
Summary: those who do not understand are to be pitied, not reviled
Review: I Came I Saw I ReadNothing else will be the same
Rating:
Summary: the greatest fantasy novel of alltime
Review: In this series tolkien did something that no one else has ever done he created a mythilogical cycle not only did he create a myth he created one to rival the greatest of myths like the Irish Fiannin cycle, the Greek Iliad, and the Norse myth cycle.If there is any modern fantasy to rival tolkien they are Patricia a. Mckillip's Riddle master series Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar series and George r. Martin's song of fire and ice series.
Rating: 
Summary: Good But Somewhat Boring
Review: This was a great book overall, and I think J.R.R. Tolkien is definitely a genius. Since I haven't read the entire trilogy, I can't judge the three as a whole. There are some chapters that you can't stop reading, and there are some that you just can't wait to be over. It takes perseverance to finish, but well worth it in the end.
Rating:
Summary: A MASTERPEISE!!!
Review: I AM ONLY TWELVE, BUT I THINK THE LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY MAY BE THE BEST BOOKS I WILL EVER READ!!!
Rating:
Summary: A classic influential fantasy adventure
Review: I have read many of the reviews concerning this book and I have to agree with them. Tolkien is the master of them all. It may be rather difficult to read initially, but if you have the patience to do so you will be rewarded by its empathic prose that will guarantee a long rewarding read. Whoever wrote that Terry Brook's The Sword of Shannara is better should consider the fact that that novel is generally regarded by many as a rip-off of The Lord of the Rings. It's that influential. The only authors of this genre that would come close are David Eddings and Stephen Donaldson. But Tolkien is still the king of the pack.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: I simply have to laugh at the one-star review below. To compare Tolkien to Brooks is like comparing Mozart's Don Giovanni to Cats. One is art, the other is light entertainment. Not that art can't be entertaining (I find the LoTR immensely so), or that there can't be art in entertainment (I very much enjoy Brooks' work myself, although I don't think he's a particularly brilliant writer), but they just aren't on the same level. Tolkien's writing is certainly difficult, which may put some readers off, but there's no question that this is one of the masterworks of fiction of this century. It spawned an entire genre of high fantasy, and few if any authors in the genre can claim to be uninfluenced by his work. The trilogy rewards multiple re-readings. Fans of Tolkien's work, I suggest doing some research into Old English literature (Beowulf, for example) -- this was Tolkien's area of study, and you can see the influences from that tradition in LoTR.
Rating:
Summary: A NEW GENRE IS BORN
Review: This trilogy is like Michael Jordan: the best there is, the best there ever will be. Let us pity those unfortunate souls who never experience this materpiece. And to J.R.R Tolkien, who dwells now in the gardens of Vinyamar in the Uttermost West: Thank You.
Rating:
Summary: Une oeuvre maitresse de la fantaisie heroique
Review: Le livre a emporter sur une ile deserte ! La richesse de son contenu n'a d'egale que l'excellence du style. Un univers de reve d'ou il est tres difficile de s'extraire pour retrouver le terne quotidien. Que ne vivons nous en terre du milieu !
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