Back of the first book
In a sleepy village in the Shire, a young hobbit is entrusted with an immense task. He must make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ruling Ring of Power – the only thing that prevents the Dark Lord's evil dominion.
My thoughts
Firstly, I did not read the entire series. I skipped book five and only read part of book six. I found these books very tedious to read, it took me a long time and I kept falling asleep during reading them. I had high hopes for enjoying these books considering they are very popular, have many movies about them and my Nanna recommended them to me after I'd told her about other fantasy/adventure books I've been enjoying. Despite this, I did not enjoy these books.
These books felt really slow to read. Books three and four were a little more action packed and engaging, but even then I was tired at the idea of the adventure being stretched out to take another two books (one novel) to complete. The characters broke out into song and verse quite often which became annoying, especially since I couldn't see what it added to the narrative. Also in the first novel there were large sections of other characters recounting their adventures, instead of the book following their adventures. This changed in the second novel where we got to ride along where the adventure and action was happening.
The one thing that kept me reading was I wanted to know how it ended. Despite how common-place it is to know of the Lord of the Rings, I had no idea what the story really entailed. So I only read far enough into book six to sate that curiosity, then stopped. The books dragged on so long that I lost any care I had for the characters, so I didn't bother to see their epilogue of returning to the Shire (I assume) and however they settle down.
The main driving force for the adventure to happen, is the threat of the Dark Lord. I understand the hobbits are very sheltered in the Shire and are slow to realise the 'true' danger. Yet this ever-present danger never feels like a real threat. We are constantly told how bad and terrible this Dark Lord is but never shown any proof that he is so horrible. This huge threat which makes their purpose inevitable didn't connect with me, and it felt they were going on this adventure because they were told to. I didn't feel the sense of purpose very strongly.
Overall, I won't recommend anyone to read these because I did not find them enjoyable. I like the idea of the adventure and the overall story, but it dragged on without keeping me engaged. I can sort of understand why people find it such an epic tale, but I found it epically boring for how long it was. Not worth it.
TL:DR
Don't recommend. A long story with worthwhile moments few and far between, making for tedious and exhausting reading that removes the fun from it.
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Spoilery Book Reviews
Non-FictionBook reviews written by me. All reviews will contain spoilers. Some books are ones I have read millions of times and are my well known favourites. Some books are really random and bizarre picks for me that were complete surprises.
