The Illustrated the Return of the King (Señor de los Anillos) (Lord of the Rings, #2)

by J. R. R. Tolkien

Alan Lee (Illustrator)

A one-volume collector's edition containing the complete texts: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King, and six appendices. "So relevant to the actual human situation yet so free from allegory . . . What fine shading there is in the variations of style to meet the endless diversity of scenes and characters." -- C. S. Lewis

• ISBN10: 0261103407
• ISBN13: 9780261103405
• Publish Date: 4 November 1996 (first published 11 November 1954)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 11 January 2003
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
• Edition: New edition
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 440
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.co.uk

Reviews

[moraa]

Not all those who wander are lost.

I kind of enjoyed it...?
I think it was mostly nostalgia though.

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

Where The Fellowship of the Ring dragged on for an age (thanks, Council of Elrond!), The Two Towers swiftly picks up its pace. The fellowship have now gone their separate ways and are having battles and adventures of their own. Merry and Pippin have teamed with the Ents. Gimli, Legolas, and Aragorn connect with an old friend. And as for Frodo and Sam? The two Hobbits are following the perilous journey to Mordor to destroy the One Ring.

While as a whole I think The Fellowship of the Ring is a more successful novel in that it feels like things are actually getting done, I do find The Two Towers more enjoyable. With the fellowship separated, the pacing of the story really picks up, and I found my attention was less apt to wander. Tolkien’s writing is very dense, and for myself, I have to focus extra hard to make sure I’m actually paying attention to the story and not just letting the words slip through my brain unabsorbed.

Depending on whether you like all the characters or just some of them, The Two Towers may be an extra chore. I’m fortunate in that I love Merry and Pippin’s adventure with the Ents, and I enjoy Sam and Smeagol, and the feats of Aragorn and Co. I’ll be honest – if Frodo went off on his own and didn’t have Sam there with him, I’d likely be bored to tears for the most important storyline in the trilogy. Tolkien does a very good job balancing his characters, and it’s so important in a long-winded epic fantasy. Without likable characters, the drudgery of this type of writing would repel the average reader, leaving The Lord of the Rings to be a piece for deep fan speculation.

My biggest complaint with The Two Towers is that even though it seemed to be moving swiftly, nothing happened. There was a small battle that took out a minor character, but there were whole scenes that added nothing to the plot. A lot of time in the beginning was spent speaking of the dead. When Aragorn and Co. meet up with Merry and Pippin, we are told about a past battle rather than experiencing it ourselves. There’s a lot of dialogue where there should be action. It gets boring. At the beginning of The Two Towers, there’s no real direction, and at the end of The Two Towers, the groups have made commitments, but haven’t made it very far down the road. It leaves a lot for The Return of the King to cover.

Even without any real feel of progress, this book is enjoyable enough. Characters who felt flat in the first book have fleshed out a little bit – Legolas’s love for Fangorn Forest gives him some depth, for one. While Merry and Pippin still blend together and Aragorn’s complexities are still mostly conversation, there’s hope for these others as the trilogy continues.

As with book one, the bits and pieces I find particularly interesting seem so short. I remember being fascinated by the Dead Marshes in the film, and I was hoping for a little more depth about those in The Two Towers. The magic of Middle Earth is a constant fascination to me – particularly magic of the dead. The Barrow King, the Dead Marshes, even the naming of Sauron as The Necromancer. For LotR fans out there – is there more depth on these things in the appendices or other works?

As a whole, The Two Towers reads better than The Fellowship of the Ring and of course, we need to know what happens to everyone, so it’s on to The Return of the King! Nonetheless, for casual readers I still feel pretty confident in saying that the films with Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, etc., are a pretty good overview of the story for those who find the books daunting.

[inlibrisveritas]

It's been so much fun revisiting this!

[Rinn]

I have read this book once a year since the age of 10, with a few exceptions.

2016's re-read was also as part of a buddy read over at Dragons & Jetpacks, and an event on my blog called 'March into Middle-earth'.

- My thoughts on Chapters I - V
- My thoughts on Chapters VI - XI
(Will be updated as each post goes live on my blog)

Also a fangirling session with Claire:
- Part One
- Part Two

[Annie Jackson]

For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.

[Liz (Bent Bookworm)]

Reread, via audiobook. It was lovely, as remembered. Every time I read through this book I pick up on new details, or get things straight that the movies (curse you, Peter Jackson) messed up.

Tolkien's world is rich and his characters almost walk out of the pages at you. This is a comfort read at it's finest.

[CrowNoYami]

I'm not going to lie, I read this book after watching the movies. It's not that I didn't want to sit down and read the book, but to be honest it was a bit of a long read for me. That being said, as always, the book was much better. There are so many details inside these pages that never made it to the big screen, and I encourage anyone who enjoyed the movies to give it a try, you might surprise yourself.

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

Book Three

We begin with t he Fellowship broken, Sam and Frodo are off to Mordor, Boromir is dead, Merry and Pippen have been taken by Orcs with Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli following their trail.

In the first half, we flip-flop from the kidnapped hobbits and the three compainons. Even though they are under brutal, orc smelling conditions, Pippen still manages to use his head and drops a clip the fellowship will recognize and warm the trail. Merry and Pippen manage to escape during an attack and run in with talking trees. Like Tom Bombadil, I could have forgone the Ents, I'm not saying they didn't have their use as they help Saurman go bye-bye but at times I found them a little dull like winter bark on a tree. And don't get me started on their songs...

Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli do discover the clip but stop to help the Rhoan army fight against a band of orcs. Aragorn is his usual cool self with Legolas and Gimli (who have now become BFFs) begin a contest as to who kills the most orc. It's a little disgusting in my opinion but I like that Tolkien is showing that prejudice between elves and Dwarves are beginning to fade away. After battle they discover a white hooded figure and lo and behold, Gandolf didn't die, the four then take a detour to Rhoan in ask of support before fleeing to discover the Hobbits. Of course Merry and Pippin are found in good health and spirits and are reprimanded in jest for all the fun they've been having. With Isengaurd captured and Saurman out of the way, the group discovers a magic ball, palaantiri as powerful as the one ring, all of which Pippen finds out the hard way. With the grouping in as good of spirits as can be book three comes to a close.

Book Four

Is it wrong to say I love Gollum? He is just so entertaining with his prolonged sssss and placating those tricksy Hobbites while screwing them over at the same time. Sick I know, but some times I feel he is the comic relieve at the end of a dark tunnel.

Frodo and Sam continue on the quest meeting up with that slinky Smeagol with Frodo's trust being the only thing keeping him alive, but at this point it is obvious that precious is possessing Frodo and only keeps Gollum around out of compassion and a common interest i.e. The One Ring.

The two companions (Gollum slinking away at this point) meet Faramir, Boromir's brother and as different as night and day. Faramir offers help without the threat of taking the Ring but Frodo, who foolishly feels he must carry the burden alone declines and continues on the perilous way.

While Frodo is becoming more and more pathetic, weakened by the Ring, Sam must take leadership tentatively stepping up from his position of servant. Samwise is a bad-ass. Frodo's life becomes endangered, (due to his blind trust in Gollum I might add) leaving Sam to take his master's sword Sting, killing a disgustingly foul beast, baring the Ring to continue on the quest his master started, and through loyalty is determined to save Frodo. Its always the quite ones.

It is so common for the second book in a trilogy to fall flat and feel like "filler" in between book one and three; this was not the case with The Two Towers, in fact it was even more enthralling than The Fellowship of the Ring, which is a difficult feat. I loved the second installment of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, leaving me starving for more.

It's one of the oldest fantasy books I've read and It's writing style is interesting and kind of hard to read, but once you get through to the action parts of the books. It get easier to read. Tolkien created a fantastic world that is very detailed.

[Jack]

Loved the book, but school got in the way and I was unable to finish it. Perhaps I'll pick it up again when I have more time.