The Return of the King Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings

This is my first time reading through. It started slow, though it is clear from the beginning why people love Tolkien. His pen is strong. Once the fellowship forms, the book picks up a pace and the thrill does not end. I’m eagerly looking forward to reading the next one.

Best book ever.

5 ★ - (adored, absolute favorite) rtc! this. was. amazing. Tolkien has got to be one of my most favorite authors *cries* CWs, or things that caught my attention: mentions/descriptions of death, evil, spying, lying, threat of death, creepy half-alive beings,

Re-reading this series for my Tolkien class at school. A classic. Everyone should read these books especially if you like the movies. Tolkien's images through out the book are just amazing. I can picture ever little detail. The pacing is great and through the books you get the added bonus of the hobbit songs, which I love. Highly recommend for any fantasy lover.

Gets off to a slow start, but once you've left The Shire, you've left the book, the immediate place you are in, all earthly dimensions, and any plans of what you were about to do before you picked up this book. It's pure story telling, and at its best. I mean, come on...it's freakin LOTR, man.

I'm not crying...there's just something in my eye...

SO GOOOD

I don't have the most coherent review of this book or some grand statement(s) to make about its literary merit or importance or uniqueness. I just have some disparate thoughts that ultimately boil down to the fact that I mostly really liked this. It's not imperative that you really commit every paragraph about hobbit history to memory, but it's also not a story to rush through. It's just a journey to enjoy. And look, I didn't enjoy every detail. It's very man-forward. Good and bad are mostly oversimplified and the villain isn't so compelling as he is intimidating. There's a lot of (too much) singing, and if Tolkien wanted to be a poet, he should have been a poet (probably good that he didn't, though). Like everyone else including Peter Jackson, I was like, "why?" at Tom Bombadil. Sam needs to go to therapy to figure out how to break codependent patterns. A world-ending ring is kept in a pocket for some reason. I wanted to scream every time the phrase "at long last" was used because it's used that much. But oh, my goodness, this trilogy has been a wonderful winter companion. I always crave fantasy this time of year (upper midwest escapism, maybe), and this hit the spot. It's warm. It's cozy. The audiobook versions made walking my dog in my small town feel kind of epic. Even if I'm not that into Sauron as a villain, the Nazgul are dope enemies. The fellowship that bridges races and histories is compelling even if individual character's aren't. Plus, whatever complexity the characters lack is made up for tenfold in the settings and creatures that Tolkien creates; the Lothlorien section in particular really took me there. It's hard to explain, but even the depths of Moria made such a peaceful bedtime read. A warm blanket of a book.

De todos los libros de Tolkien, esta segunda entrega de la trilogía es uno de los mejores. Me gusta que al final de la historia no sea la trama central la que entretiene de verdad, sino las tramas alternas que surgen a la par. Es un libro enriquecedor, tanto en valores como en palabras y vocabulario. Todos deberían poder leerlo y disfrutarlo tanto como yo.

There's definitely a whole lot more to this book than destroying the One Ring, but every single part represents a different allegory. Pretty sure this book was published around the time of World War II, which might suggest that Tolkien had written this book to bring ease to those around him and help them understand the situation which they were in, for instance, "From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring".

Hermoso, simplemente hermoso. Mi recomendación es que, comiencen la saga de el señor de los anillos, leyendo este. Como siempre la pluma de Tolkien impecable, muy estimulante. Lo lees y es imposible no verlo en tu mente. Si hay que elegir cuales son los libros que quiero tener para siempre en la biblioteca, sin dudas son los de esta saga, con este incluido.

Undeniably phenomenal but not without flaws This book (well this and it's two original companions) pioneered fantasy and are the reason that elves, dwarves, long journeys and so much more are tropes of modern fantasy and have just become part of fantastical world's without explanation. In the 500 pages (only 1/3 of the full journey) this book explored such a variety of people, cultures and lands that it felt like a book of many smaller stories. Truly something special. However, as mentioned, this book isn't perfect. At times the pacing can be very slow, there's also a LOT of text that is purely long text of the travelling they're doing and the land around them. If the land were fantastical and there were much to see during all of these, it would make sense, but often it is simply written to emphasise the length of their journey. As a result, it can drag and can sometimes take a little rereading. However I cannot knock this book down for that as it is part of what gives the book its feel. It is supposed to feel like a long journey for naive hobbits travelling much much further than they ever have before and seeing many characters, creatures and cultures they never knew even existed. Can't wait to read the second...but may have a couple days off to build up the concentration levels again.

'So Frodo and Sam set off on the last stage of the Quest together.'

3-3.5 at times. i enjoyed reading this a lot more than the first time around, but i do think the first part of this was way too long. it takes them forever to leave the shire and then another eternity to finally get to rivendell. immediately after the council of elrond happens, the pace picks up though, and it's a much easier read. it's also, i think, in these parts that tolkien's writing excels (gandalf's fall in moria was beautifully done, and the grief that comes after; the entire lothlorien chapter felt like a fairytale). overall, i can also say that i'm not mad about any of the changes that they've made in the movies, and i find them all pertinent. tom bombadil's chapters were quite long & honestly didn't really fit the tone of the movie, leaning more into a bizarre, adventurous tale, than fitting for this story (removing him also doesn't change much, overall, so... makes sense to not include him and burden viewers with more information than they need). i also like that in the movies, aragorn is given an arc throughout the entire series, where we see him grow into accepting his role as king. i do have to say though that i love book aragorn so much, he's charming and confident, and a friend to all. frodo relies so much on him and his counsel, and i loved the little bits when he notices the small changes in aragorn - no longer a ranger, but slowly becoming the king he was meant to be. another change i personally enjoyed is how they breathed more life into characters like boromir and even gandalf a little more so that when (view spoiler)[ their deaths come (hide spoiler)] it would be more impactful, and we would care so much more. legolas, however, i kind of like more in the book - he's a bit weird, and says the strangest things, and only speaks to bring the worst news, i love him. i switched between reading my physical copy & listening to this on audio, and i have to say andy serkis does such an incredible job of narrating this, to the point that it felt as if i was watching the whole thing play out in my mind (completely separate from the movie). it made all the singing come to life, and i didn't actually find it annoying (although, it does feel at times as if tolkien wanted this to be a musical), and he does such good impressions of the characters, that i almost wondered at times if they brought the entire cast together for this. so, if you want to go about reading this in any way, i fully recommend the audiobook narrated by serkis, it's so worth it.

Oh. My. Goodness. I had read The Hobbit a year ago for an English class and never thought to read LOTR. I got this copy of the trilogy bc I found it on sale on Amazon one day. I didn't actually pick it up and read it for quite a while, but when I did, I was immediately captivated. I saw why my friends were all telling me to get this book... It is my favorite book. Ever. JRR Tolkien is a master writer.

This book is a better book than I am a reader, I think. The attentive and imaginative reader will have a great time here, and I expect that it rewards multiple reads over time.

Well worth the whole journey to arrive here. Deeply satisfying. (view spoiler)[After all we've been through, ending the story by doing battle with petty tyrants and liars was very clever and I think enjoyed that most of all! (hide spoiler)]

too many songs

Book 3 was so freaking fun! Pippin and Merry are my beautiful best boys. 4 stars Book 4 was boring af almost dnf. I just dont vibe with Frodo and Sam. 2 stars

Aragorn, my beloved, you can do no wrong. Anyway, 3.5 stars cuz I still dont like Frodo and Sam ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (also I prefer my female characters to actually talk to each other but thats just me ig)

there's not much to be said, really. it's my favourite book of all time (i read it every 2 years).

A classic of high fantasy, and one of my favourite books of all-time. Tolkein's world-building is second to none, and no author I've read comes close to him when describing darkness that Frodo and Sam experience in Middle-Earth. There's certainly some slow sections that now seem dated (eg the chapters with Faramir) and others that could do with more detail (eg the Ents). But overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this re-read. I'm looking forward to finishing the trilogy with The Return of the King, but I'm saving it for when I can really enjoy it.

I have so much nostalgia for this world and this series and it was nice to see things how Tolkein wrote it! Now I just need to watch all the movies again.

it's a great conclusion of a story about friendship, huge bravery and sacrifice which managed to completely immerse me. the world of it is so vivid and the way the story goes on after the final confrontation makes you realise not only what the characters were fighting for but also what loss and irreversible damage they had to face after that and it sincerely moved me.