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Summary: One of The Best
Review: "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" is the one of the best fantasy series ever written. It set the standard for many Author's works that followed. It has had such a strong impact it is difficult to find fantasy novels that are not derivatives of it. I have read it many times, and each reading is a pleasure. The only other series that I have bother to reread is the Dune series by Frank Herbert. It is slow at times, but it is well worth the wait. I hope that the upcoming movies live up to the books, and the hype. Perhaps this will encourage people to read this series, who would normally never crack open a book.
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Summary: GREAT Box Set Collection of Tolkien's Classic!!!!
Review: Great collection of J R R Tolkien's Classic. Complete with all the most recent correction and Additions of Tolkien before his dead! Great volume for anyone interested in getting started on the great fantasy of the Hobbits in The Hobbit and Lord of the Rigs stories!!!!!!!
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Summary: The Holy Grail.............
Review: of the fantasy genre. This is where I started my reading of fantasy 30 years ago and I am still hooked.
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Summary: Not a fantasy person
Review: I know there are plenty of reviews for this book, but I wanted to throw in my two cents as a non-fantasy person..The Hobbit was great. The story moved quickly, a lot of action. The reading level is fairly simple. I'm sure a smart 12 year old would follow along fine.. The Lord of the Rings.. Book 1 set the story up well. Overall, I enjoyed it almost as much as the hobbit. There is definately a big jump in the writing style though, so it's more of an adult book. Book 2 was my least favorite. I thought the story tended to drag after Sam & Frodo left the Company. I did not follow all of the history very well, since the names are tough to keep track of. After the story picked back up with Sam & Frodo, I started to like it more. I think Gollum is a hilarious character because of his language. The Gollum passages are my favorite. Book 3 was back to being good. I would have liked more details about Sauron once Sam & Frodo made their way to Mount Doom. After such a long journey, I expected more about the finale. The end was a bit disappointing. I did not understand why they left via boat to go somewhere else. Maybe I would understand if I read a sequel, but for now I am a little confused about that.. My general opinion.. Hobbits = good, Gollum = great, Humans = a little boring.. Still worth reading..
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Summary: the return of the king
Review: basically, it was boring. the writing, while expressive, was lacking. there wasn't a single action scene worth reading. It was, well, dead. I read the damn thing hoping to find something exciting, but didn't find it anywhere. There's an old saying about writing "don't tell, show" you know what i mean? well, Tolkien tells. 'nuff said.( hey, look at Howard's Conan stories, and you'll see what i mean - he SHOWS!!!) What you need to know about Tolkien: While Tolkien started the modern genre of fantasy, he's at best only the one who introduced it.
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Summary: This is THE book
Review: When it comes to Fanatsy it doesn't get any better than this. Tolkien weaves a tale of such marvelous depth and richness that it is a classic. If envy you if you have not read this book. You get to read it for the first time. I'll never experience that joy again. You have got to read this book even if you have a passing interest in fantasy.
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Summary: Off to a good start
Review: Hello, I got this set a couple of days ago and I have read the first couple of pages and it's good. Tolkien puts a lot of detail in his writing. That is one of the first things you will notice through the first couple of pages. Since I have not finished reading the book, I do not want to review on the story itself but the book quality. It is average paper quality like on most regular novels/books, nothing fancy. It seems well constructed. Anyhow, I hope future readers will enjoy this book as I will.
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Summary: Amazing
Review: These 4 books are amazing, as all of us who have read it well know. "The Hobbit" starts out with Bilbo Baggins sitting at his front door enjoying the sun. Hobbits are small, furry creatures that don't enjoy adventuring at all, and love gardens and flowers. This first book is more of a fairy tale for young kids. All the bad guys die, and all the good guys win. The last 50 pages or so actually start looking serious. "The Fellowship of the Ring" is where Frodo comes into play. He is Bilbo's predecessor, and takes over Frodo's estate and also Bag End, Frodo's hole. Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin start off on their adventure to destroy the One Ring. On the way they run into lots of people, and monsters, and the adventures are great. "The Two Towers" is the second installment in the Lord of the Rings. This is where all the action and stuff comes in place, even though there was plenty of action in the others. Orcs drag off Meriadoc and Peregin and they are on the way to take them to Saruman. Riders of Rohan intercept the orcs and kill them all. I don't want to spoil any of it, because pretty much every page in these books are great and action-packed, plenty of foreshadowing and great dialogue is in these books. "The Return of the King" is the last and greatest book. In book VI we are brought in, out and under the Dark Land of Sauron. Sauron has been alive forever, he forged the one and most powerful ring, and he lost it, and wants it back. If he gets it back, then he has won the war, and Evil takes over forever. In order for this not to happen, the ring must be destroyed. Mount Doom is where the ring must be taken, and it must be destroyed. The problem is, is that the Ring is evil, and whoever wears it falls under its power and wont give it up to anyone or anything. This is what happens to Frodo, just like it did to Bilbo. Well, in order to not "Give away the farm" I'm going to stop. I've given away too much already, these are very enjoying, and really, it's hard not to keep reading these book until you are finished. Mark_Sigel
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Summary: Where's the proofreader?
Review: The story is great, but this Ballantine version has numerous typographical errors. Even characters' names are misspelled! Everyone should know that Frodo's name is not spelled "Frondo". I found the errors to be distracting and annoying. This company has butchered Tolkien's great work.
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Summary: Supreme Epic Fantasy
Review: I read the Lord of the Rings saga and The Hobbit after careful persuasion of several of my friends who were totally enthralled by the books. From the first couple lines of the Hobbit ("In a hole there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole filled with ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat; it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort") to the discovery of the ring, and to the heroic triumph of the fellowship of the rings, I was totally and completely spell-bound. The imagery was excellent, everything was described as if though it was alive right outside your window or taking place in your most vivid dreams. The characters are the most extraordinary in the entire fantasy world, from the faithful Sam, to the powerful Gandalf, and finally to the insidious Sauron, everyone of them came alive as if you knew them all of your life. The plot line and the brief glimpses of Middle Earth history in the books gave the series an added depth that transcended any fantasy book written before and even after. These books are the paradigm of all fantasy books written there after and all writers incorporate some of the basic ideas of Tolkien found in this series. Tolkien was a devout man of faith and as such he wrote these books not only to entertain, but to teach important life and spiritual lessons to those who read them. Many of his ideas for this series come from the Bible. For this reason these books are strongly recommended for kids to read, even though they are difficult books to understand. The books are enjoyable for anyone who reads them and is definetly recommended for everyone.
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