Rating: 
Summary: Very exaggerated
Review: I have read these books 10 years ago, long before the movies came out. It was my first fantasy series, aside from Narnia or whatever. I just liked those heroic tales about kings, princes, war, and swordfighting... I never felt comfort with other genres like science fiction, thrillers or horror.
So I just stumbled on this book in the library, my first fantasy novel. You can imagine when I was sitting in my little room day and night, that cold winter 10 years ago, reading Tolkien's work. I finished the whole series in just two weeks. That day when I turned the last page of the third and last book "The Return of the King" I thought I wouldn't read any better series. I promised myself I would read them again another time... Easy cake right? So I thought...
Years passed and I eventually became a better reader with tons of fantasy books on my backbone. Today I can tell what books is a great read and what books to stay away from. I tried to read TLOTR several times, and every time I did that I gave up in 24 hours no matter what edition I bought or how much motivated I was.
Why was I giving up? Well... There aren't really much of a story in theese books, is it? I almost knew what was going to happen in every next page, except for how many leaves that tree in the next forest had of course. There isn't much happening in TLOTR and because of that I couldn't read it again a second time. Other fantasy series is very enjoyable, such as George RR Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire", and you can reread it again and again without getting bored. But to me that's impossible when it comes to TLOTR even when I really wanted to, especially before the release of the excellent movies by Peter Jackson. Some Tolkien fan might mention that I should read the Hobbit or Silmarillion because it makes it easier. That might be true, but that's not my point, I mean that the story is too slow and not engaging enough after a while.
In my opinion TLOTR is great if you never have read it before, but after that I don't think most of you'll be able to read it again unless you suffer from sever Alzheimer's and have forgotten everything or are a Real fan that can speak those Elven language and dress as a Hobbit like Peter Jackson :) ( Those Tolkien fans I have met acts more like a cult, if they saw me writing this review I would be found in a dark alley motionless).
I know that that many authors "copied" Tolkien's world. Almost 89 percent of the fantasy books begin with the journy of a boy (Frodo) who will try to save the world from evil with the guidance of a mysterious hero (Gandalf or Aragorn). But most of these writers are at least much more entertaining than he is. If I can't read it twice it doesn't deserve a 4 from me. 3 and 1/5
Rating: 
Summary: The Lord of the Rings (Millennium Edition)
Review: This review is not of the Lord of the Rings. So much has been written already and after the movies everyone has their own opinion. I purchased The Lord of the Rings (Millennium Edition) in 2000 and I absolutely love the set I have. I have read the books countless times, but I like how there are seven separate volumes (six books one appendix). Each volume has the original book title that Tolkien himself named it. This is how Tolkien intended for the Lord of the Rings to be read. Each volume is hardbound and artwork on the box is all top notch. I recommend this to anyone looking for a quality Lord of the Rings set.
Rating: 
Summary: This edition is NOT recommended! ISBN: 0395489326
Review: I bought the Hardcover Boxed edition published October, 1988, by Houghton Mifflin Co (Trd); ISBN: 0395489326 -- and I have to say that this edition is a disgrace.
The books are hardcovered with brown cloth and are protected by a tannish yellow cover, each with different artwork by Alan Lee.
This edition is horrible because the ink and printing is NOT really well-done. There are hard-to-read words, smears, blotches, etc. The paper quality is grain and has a tint of yellow in it - not recommended for white-white paper book readers. Each book has a "Middle-Earth" foldout map at the end of the book. These maps are terribly glued on to the back flap and are stuck close to the binding. If you try to take the maps out, which is intended to be taken out to hang on the wall, the brown flap paper will stick and tear along with the folded map.
J.R.R. Tolkein's trilogy of the Lord of the Rings is a true masterpiece, but keeping a set that I will read over and over needs to be well-made. I do not recommend this 1988 edition because of the quality that Houghtin Mifflin printed and bounded. The artwork covers are beautifully done and well-designed. Everything else is fair game.
Rating:
Summary: The best book ever
Review: The Lord of the Rings has a different view of life than its prelude, The Hobbit. The Hobbit is very comical and features an adventure, while The Lord of the Rings is very serious and features a quest.
The Lord of the Rings is a great story, but some of the parts may seem a bit boring and confusing to those who have not read The Simarillian.
The best part of the book (which the movie dosn't really show) is the "Moralistic" parts. Without friendship,freedom, trust, pity and hope the story would have ended tragicly.One part that made me think was how Men envy the Elves' immortality , while Elves envy Men because they hate to see all that they love fade. This contridicts a lot of people's thinking.People who have watched the movie will also note many wonderful characters and scenes never even shown. Also, although there is a bit of love between Arwen and Aragorn, the whole story is not about their love!!!! ( the movie also leaves Eowyn and Faramir at loose ends while they fall in love in the book) The violent war scences depicted in the movie THE RETURN OF THE KING do not take up half of the story, either.
The Lord of the Rings is my favourite book, and I think that it would be wise to devout a few hours of your time to read it.
Rating:
Summary: The edition of LOTR to own...
Review: With all the different editions of Lord of the Rings available, I recommend this version for a few reasons:
1) Hardcover - classics should be owned in hardcover. Paperback is best for books you don't intend to re-read.
2) Alan Lee - simply the best of all the Tolkien artists (and there are other great ones out there). Alan Lee has a keen sense of the look and feel of Middle Earth and its inhabitants, and has a particularly excellent ability to capture mood and emotion within a particular scene.
3) Although I like the idea of publishing LOTR in a single volume, as Tolkien intended originally, I find the single volumes difficult to actually read comfortably. Keeping the books as three separate volumes makes the books physically easier to read.
Rating:
Summary: The second time. . .
Review: The Fellowship of the Ring tells the story of the Hobbit Frodo Baggins and of how he discovers that the invisibility ring handed down to him by his uncle Bilbo is in fact the One Ring of Power, the most dangerous of artifacts, forged by the evil lord Sauron to ensnare all the peoples of Middle-Earth and bent them to his will. It has to be destroyed! Following Gandalf the old Wizard's advice, Frodo leaves his quiet Hobbit hole in the Shire and with three of his friends, makes for Rivendell to seek the Elves' counsel. There he volunteers to be the Ring-Bearer, the one who must destroy the Ring by casting into the very fire in which it was forged, in the furnaces of Mount Doom. With eight companions, he sets off on a most perilous quest, over mountains and under them, on rivers and through forests beautiful beyond words, to the heart of Mordor.The adventure goes on in The Two Towers. The Fellowship has just been broken, and as the Hobbits Merry and Pippin are captured by Orcs to be brought to the traitor wizard Saruman, now the ally of Sauron, Frodo and his friend Sam are slowly making their way through desolate plains and treacherous bogs, to Mordor. Soon they realize that Gollum, a nasty creature who once possessed the Ring, is following them. Captured, and still under the irresistible lure of the Ring, the twisted wretch agrees to become their guide to the forsaken land. Meanwhile Aragorn the Heir of Kings, Legolas the Elf and Gimli the Dwarf are running across the grassy plains of Rohan, the domain of the Rohirrim horse masters, to rescue Merry and Pippin and later help Théoden, King of Rohan, defend his people against Saruman's army in the battle of Helm's Deep. In The Return of the King, as Frodo and Sam are ineluctably treading closer to the heart of danger, putting the goal of their quest in jeopardy every day a little bit more as Frodo's mind threatens to give in to the power of the Ring, Aragorn and his companions must defend the beautiful white city of Minas Tirith, capital of Gondor, in a hopeless struggle against Sauron's reckless army of berserkers. How does one go about writing a review of such a masterpiece, now that The Lord of the Rings is not only the second most read book of the twentieth century (after the Bible), but also a blockbuster movie trilogy? How does one do it justice? One just can't. That's it, I admit defeat. I simply lack superlatives to describe the tidal waves of emotions that overwhelm me each time I read this book. So I'll just say this: read it. And re-read it. And again. The Lord of the Rings is timeless, atemporal. Even though Tolkien himself was notoriously not fond of allegories, I can't help seeing that, in these dark and sad days of our time, it stands as a beacon, a bright message of peace, telling us that even when evil and fear threatens to drown us all, there's still hope... May it be tomorrow's Bible.
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