Rating: 
Summary: Warning
Review: LOve the books! But I just wanted to let you know that my copy of The Hobbit that came in this company's box set is not cut correctly. The bottom and top of the book are cut slightly diagonal. Of course you can't tell this until you take it out of the box.
Rating:
Summary: The Hobbit
Review: I would give The Hobbit 4 stars.It is a great book by J.R.R.Tolkien.It is the prelude to the Lord of the Rings.It is about a hobbit named Bilbo that is chosen by a wizard to go on an aventure(hobbits are not very aventureous).He goes along with 13 dwarves and the wizard.The wizard is not with him and the dwarves the whole time though.I think that kids and adults would both like this book.ALso if you like aventure and magic books.
Rating: 
Summary: A book to hold close.
Review: I've read it over a year ago and it's still in my mind. I plan to read it again before the end of the year. It's a work to behold, and I can't think of another book like it in the way it transports you to a world you wish was real. It feels real in your heart as you read from the Hobbit down to the third part of Lord of the Rings(Return of the King)and you become exhausted because it felt like you went on an adventure with the characters and now you don't want to go. The full beauty of Middle-Earth became a picture in my mind, fully realized before the movies came out. There's so much that can be taken from this book if one is willing to look into it with respect for the way it has enchanted readers for decades. Read this, but also check out George R.R. Martin A Song of Fire & Ice(he knows how to keep you entertained while reading, I consider his books pulp fantasy in the way Pulp Fiction was pulp cinema. I really liked Pulp Fiction btw). Also check out Martha Wells' Death of the Necromancer and Wheel of the Infinite (she really impresses me by making characters you'll want to continue to read about) Oh and give the Last Unicorn by Beagle a try if you want a fairy tale to really give you something to cherish(that is if you haven't read it already).
Rating:
Summary: This may just be a rehash of what other reviewers have said.
Review: But I'm not about to read 1000+ reviews, so I'll just say what I want to say.The book itself deserves 3 stars on first reading. The main problem with this book is that Tolkien becomes progressively longer and longer winded. The book starts out being told in the avuncular style of the Hobbit (by the way, I loved that style; the whole time I was reading the Hobbit I had this mental picture of Tolkien sitting in a leatherbound chair in front of a fire, reading to a group of little children. It was very enjoyable for me.) By the time you get near the end, however, the book becomes more of an epic slog. Now, I am not too easily bored. I have been riveted by school textbooks that would put most people to sleep. But Return of the King was hard for me, it really was. Especially boring were books 3 and 5, because Tolkien was going on and on about Aragorn, Gandalf, Gimli, Legolas, Merry, and Pippin, when I JUST WANTED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO FRODO AND SAM! GRRR! The parts that actually contained Frodo and Sam were wonderful, however. They were filled with such pathos that I couldn't but fall in love, and Gollum is one of the best literary characters I have ever encountered. Anyway, this gets five stars on the second reading. The long-windedness is still irritating, but not so much because you expect the long-windedness, and you know exactly how it turns out with Frodo and Sam. 3 stars plus 5 stars is 8 stars, 8 stars divided by 2 gives us an average score of 4 stars. I added 1 bonus star because the Lord of the Rings inspired most of the fantasy fiction out today, as well as RPGs and three films starring an assortment of hot guys. Thank you very much.
Rating:
Summary: A Phenomenon!
Review: These four books, "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" book trilogy, are wonderful! All four books have a lot of adventure, fantasy, and literature in them. By reading these books you would almost feel as if these stories actually happened in a time long, long, ago. The author J.R.R. Tolkien has really created a masterpeice by writing these four phenomenal books! I highly recommend that you by "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" [Box Set] by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Rating:
Summary: More historically significant than entertaining
Review: Lord of the Rings is at times captivating and at other times tedious, as even the most devout fans will sometimes admit. It seems Tolkien's purpose was not to entertain, but to describe. Personally, I don't think that Tolkien was capable of writing a purely entertaining novel. He is more like a diligent archeologist who assembled an encyclopedic taxonomy of creatures from another time. He left it to other fantasy authors who followed to create the really interesting stories that take place in his universe. Many credit Tolkien with creating the fantasy genre, although literary historians can probably name his predecessors. Whether he is the father of the genre or not, I think it's probably safe to say that Tolkien set down such a intricate and complete description of Middle-earth and its occupants that many of the fantasy authors since have felt comfortable working within his framework. Impressive: yes
Interesting: some of the time
Rating:
Summary: Lord of Books
Review: CS Lewis, in a letter to JRR Tolkien, once wrote:
The essence of a myth [is that] it should have no taint of allegory to the maker and yet should suggest incipient allegories to the reader. The Lord of the Rings is not an allegory, but a mythology. The elements of the storyline can't be traced to a particular religious tradition or system of ethics. Beyond its basic function as a "recreational mythology" of northern medieval Europe, the story means very different things to different people. They flock to Tolkien because he shows them a way out of a dreary office cubicle, inspires good to triumph over evil, or sends them on their own spiritual life adventure. People approach this book as if it were a remarkably successful self-help book or even a religious scripture. There exist world-wide organizations devoted to Tolkien scholarship and even fans who read the book annually. It changes priorities, minds, hearts, and lives...and yet it's simply one intricately woven fiction. There's something about the way the story builds and broods in the first book, launches into a head-long adventure in the second, and triumphantly climaxes at last, that catches the reader and binds him to his seat. Tolkien's ability to seamlessly weave together the small and the gigantic carries the scope of the work to phenomenal heights. That one little Hobbit could, by his own courage and a greater grace, conquer insurmountable odds and save the world is a lesson for all of us. And yet somehow we have a hard time living what we know deep inside and what Tolkien tells us: greatness really does live in meekness, wealth really is giving to others, and a fulfilling life does require a tremendous sense of bravery. But this isn't just a typical hero's journey. The never-ending appeal of Tolkien is largely the result of his ability to set a remarkably believable historical backdrop for a truly spiritual story. And this is not the dry factualism comprising so much of modern academia; there's something truly ancient lurking in the depths of Khazad-dum, a primordial force-content to remain perpetually mysterious-underlying the power of the Istari or The One Ring. Indeed, The Ring itself, imbued with the spirit of Sauron, arises as an invasive and destructive force in Middle Earth, sent ultimately from the Void of Eru beyond the bounds of the Earth. And the light of the phial of Galadriel is the same light emanating from the two trees of Valinor, made by the song of Yavanna and watered with Nienna's tears. This very light, arising by the power of the gods themselves, is the very thing that saves Frodo and allows the ring to be destroyed. It is this sense of interconnectedness, of divine providence and grace, that gives the work a profoundly meaningful place in the lives of so many readers. And the quest of the Ring doesn't just depend on sheer luck or divine intervention, but on free will. After all, it is Frodo's power to forgive evil-against all reason and common sense-that allows him to succeed in the end. Divine saving grace offers aid to those who make right and moral decisions even when it appears probable that such decisions will lead to failure. This is exactly the position espoused by Gandalf when he encourages Frodo to respect Gollum's life or pleads with Denethor at the tombs of Minas Tirith. It is the basic notion of hope that is fundamental to Christianity. And not just hope, but the idea that we human beings are completely fallible and inadequate for the task of life. Frodo carries the ring as far and as best he can of his own power and strength, but if he failed in the end to conquer the ring it is only because the task was too large for any mortal being. Only grace could tip the scale of failure and success. So you could say that Frodo succeeded in the highest degree, for what greater triumph exists than that of God over Satan for the benefit (and by the will) of human kind? What a grand vision it is that the mortal and the divine are fighting together for the benefit of humans! After all, God doesn't need our help. In the beginning, evil arose as an offspring of the thought of God, and the cosmic dream was set in motion so that its creative elements could partake in the Music of the Ainur that is its source. The laboratory of the universe, with its polar forms of temptation and illumination, houses the developing consciousness of creation; it is the relationship to this finite yet eternal creation that we seek to cultivate. The Quest of the Ring is nothing less than the internal struggle within each of us to overthrow the enslaving forces of our own minds. We are thereby unified with divinity, and not through our own will and for our own selves, but by and for the glory of God. Tolkien himself acknowledged Frodo's ultimately averse attitude toward the shire as a last lingering pride, a desire to be the hero and conqueror of the Ring which he could not be. But in the end Frodo realizes that "It must often be so...when things are danger: some one has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them." The sacrifice of the self is not made to rebuild the self, but to uphold a greater good. And somehow I feel as though I haven't seen the last of Frodo, though he may have long ago past into the west and relinquished his mortal life on the undying shores of Osse. I'm like Sam, still stuck on the other side, hoping that one day my "time may come."
Rating:
Summary: A Great Work
Review: The Lord of the Rings trilogy is a work of pure genius. Mr. Tolkien had a wonderful imagination. He makes everything come alive, giving the feeling that this isn't fantasy but reality, which seems like it's some ancient history that has been long forgotten. This trilogy also gives readers the imagination to soar into worlds far away, dreams of heroes, conflict, beauty and grandeur.
Rating:
Summary: I Haven't Read These Books Yet
Review: I can't wait to read "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" book trilogy! A lot of my friends have read all four books saying that they are really good. Now I am ready to buy "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" [Box Set] by J.R.R. Tolkien. All four books should be remarkably good, I hope.
Rating:
Summary: This is a great book.
Review: I have read this book many times since I was introduced to it at age 21, and I fall right into it every time. Leaving for Middle Earth is such a pleasure, and I was happy to discover back then that there were other people who felt as I did. When my daughter discovered Harry Potter and couldn't wait for the next installment I let her in on my favorite escape. At first she was a little too young but I soon found my tattered copy was missing and had gone to live in her room. I had to get her a new one of her own. Dad is fascinated with our obsession with Middle Earth and is hooked on the movie version; he watches us in awe as we discuss the changes from book to movie and whether we approve of them. His main questions are whether Gollum is in the next movie and whether Frodo survives, and we of course tell him to go read the book... a journey we hope he will soon take with us. A classic born in our own time, not to be forgotten soon.
| 
