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Summary: This set: Poor type, but good maps and photos
Review: Just to set the record straight, I give the stories themselves 5 stars. This commentary concerns the quality of this particular boxed set.The type in these books looks like it was photocopied--the letters aren't sharp, and parts of some letters are even missing. If you need/want sharp text for legibility or aesthetics, this is not the set for you. That said, I do like the maps in these books better than the maps in other LOTR editions that I own. There is an overall map, and then there are maps that zoom in on sections of the overall map. And last but not least, the multiple movie stills on the front and back covers are excellent. They may override all other considerations when deciding which of the many editions to purchase.
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Summary: Don't read these books...
Review: unless you are ready for an adventure the likes of which you have never had and cannot imagine! I read them first about twenty years ago and have returned to them three times since. Certain other epic works (Frank Herbert's Dune trilogy comes to mind) have rated revisiting, but the appeal of Tolkien's masterwork is as strong on the fourth read as it was on the first. You will be swept into a world of such richness and detail that you will literally lose yourself. The evils you will face will chill your soul to its depths and cause you to lie awake at night. The aching beauty and nobility of the words and deeds you will find in Middle Earth could bring tears from granite. When Strider announces to Frodo and Company that he is "Aragorn, son of Arathorn, and if by life or death I can save you, I will", you would have to be dead and cold to not be moved. No review can do justice to what J.R.R. Tolkien has wrought, so just buy them and keep them safe after you have finished, beacuse you will be back. There is simply no equal in all of literature.
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Summary: A Great Fantasy Book- They are Amongst the Best Published
Review: These books, which are the full story of the One Ring, which is explained along with other matters in The Silmarillion (Written by Tolkien, but his son edited and published it on account of his father's death) are indeed one of the best if not the best fantasy books written. The plot is simple and intriguing at the same time. I love these books and find Tolkien to be a sheer genius, as he created and made the entire history of Middle-Earth, almost as detailed as a Bible. Something that may draw people away is racial comments, which are proved UNTRUE. Tolkien published the book and said it has nothing to do with outside affairs. The Orcs in these books are evil, and always considered so, as they are TRAINED to be evil, yes trained. Elves in these books are usually portrayed the greatest, but note that the Orcs came from Elves, which says that they cannot be perfect. Same with Hobbits, look at Smeagol (Gollum) who was a Hobbit and became a vile creature. Apart from that, I'll comment on how the book is so great. The incredible description of characters, which makes you feel like you actually know them. If you were to read the LotR, I would recommend to read The Silmarillion, first, followed by The Hobbit. Those two books are for those who really wish to know the series. It's still easy to read the LotR without being dumbfounded, but I think it is a wise choice to read these two. If the man takes his entire life making and building the history, and creating the languages and the people, you just have to know that his books must be excellent. Thankyou.
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Summary: One Book To Rule Them All
Review: I read this first in 1968, and have read it many times in the following years. The movie disappointed me so much that I was moved to go back and read all three books again, and I found the work to be profoundly richer, deeper, and more troubling than I remembered. It goes beyond being an engrossing fantasy or work of adventure. This is an incisive character study, with keen and harrowing examinations of the nature of good and evil. The heros are flawed - they can be weak and cowardly, and at times show stupendous bad judgement. The most evil characters (outside THE source of evil, Sauron) have a failed nobility; one senses they became evil out of the best of intentions. The ultimate triumph of good brings about much sadness and loss in its wake, and the central hero does not return from his trials to live happily ever after. I think what the book teaches us is that great acts of heroism and decency can come from the least likely of sources, that acts of great courage entail great risk, that evil is more insidious and close at hand that we might want to think. So, although it is probably the greatest 20th century work of imagination and adventure, what will make it endure in other centuries is its examination of the nature of good and evil, and of how the most ordinary of characters (and hence, readers) struggle with them both in daily life.
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Summary: Silly packaging
Review: LOTR is a great story. One of the greatest. These comments pertain to the Millennium edition seven volume set. LOTR was written as a single book. Due to WWII era paper shortages it was broken up and published in three volumes each a few years apart. It seems silly to break it up further. If you want a portable LOTR, buy the paperback boxed set. If its a bookshelf copy to replace your worn out paperbacks, get the single volume "red" collector edition.
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Summary: Almost perfect
Review: While not as good as Robert Jordans Wheel of time series, The Lord of the Rings is a wonderful story. I'm awarding 5 out of 5 stars with no second thoughts. Wonderful!
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Summary: The Ultimate Fiction Series
Review: This series captured me about 25 years ago and has not let go. It is delightful, exciting, full of visual imagery. Tolkien was best at character development and one cannot help but become engrossed with the ultimate fate of Frodo, Sam, Aragorn, even Gollum. There is a wide chasm betweeen those good and those evil (unlike in Harry Potter).
I always thought this would make a good movie series as well, and it proves to be so. My first experience with the LOTR was in high school. At 45 years of age,I re-read it this year before the movie came out and was smitten all over again.
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Summary: One of the greatest books I have ever read
Review: I went and saw the movie first. That was a bad thing but reading the book helps alot. I really liked to book. It gives much more descriptions and details then the movie. I know that if they put everything in the movie then it would be almost eight hours long and no one would see it then. Now concerning the book. In the begining it went a little slow. But towards the middle it gets more fast paced. I enjoyed it more then. I can't wait to read the Two Towers.
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Summary: Product specific review only - no story comments
Review: Tolkien is my hero, and the reason I began writing in the first place. I don't feel like I can write a review that will do him justice, nor do I think I need to - far wiser people than I have written reviews of the books themselves. This is just a note for people who are thinking of buying this particular boxed set. The cover art is beautiful. Fellowship is a panorama of Hobbiton. The Two Towers is a picture of Gandalf and Saruman silhouetted in Orthanc. The Return of the King is a group of riders, probably the Rohirrim. Incidentally, in the back of RotK you get a sneak peek of Eowyn! I was sorry when I first opened one that the map of Middle Earth wasn't in the front of the book...then I saw the huge fold-out map inside the back cover! This is the fourth LOTR boxed set my parents and I own between us (the 1968 version is falling apart, and the one I got for graduation got borrowed & never returned) and I don't regret the money I spent on it. Indeed, my one regret about this set is that they didn't do The Hobbit to include. They could easily have used a picture of Bilbo or the Lonely Mountain on the cover and issued a full set. Still, there are some beautiful editions of The Hobbit out there and I'll pick one eventually to go with this lovely set.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful imagination, but mediocre and redundant writing
Review: After reading Harry Potter and the Chronicles of Narnia, I was very interested in other books by the authors that these have been compared to. I picked up Fellowship of the Ring, and I made my way through it, determined to read it. Tolkien has a wonderful imagination, but the plot is a bit redundant and the writing is hard to understand at points. I have read other works far more advanced, so my lack of understanding is not from being uneducated. It just doesn't flow. My two stars were for his imagination, because I respect anyone who takes a chance with the creation of another world. Bottom line: While he has an imagination, this is a book you might have to struggle with because of it's mediocre writing.
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