The Return of the King

Being the Third Part of The Lord of the Rings

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J.R.R. Tolkien: The Return of the King (Paperback, 2001, Houghton Mifflin Company)

Paperback, 406 pages

English language

Published Aug. 13, 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company.

ISBN:
978-0-618-12911-9
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OCLC Number:
48034080

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5 stars (1 review)

As the Shadow of Mordor grows across the land, the Companions of the Ring have become involved in separate adventures. Aragorn, revealed as the hidden heir of the ancient Kings of the West, has joined with the Riders of Rohan against the forces of Isengard, and took part in the desperate victory of the Hornburg. Merry and Pippin, captured by Orcs, escaped into Fangorn Forest and there encountered the Ents. Gandalf has miraculously returned and defeated the evil wizard, Saruman. Sam has left his master for dead after a battle with the giant spider, Shelob; but Frodo is still alive -- now in the foul hands of the Orcs.

And all the while the armies of the Dark Lord are massing as the One Ring draws ever nearer to the Cracks of Doom.

--back cover

76 editions

reviewed The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings, #3)

Still captivating

5 stars

Yes, I liked it. It was really great to revisit the Lord of the Rings books after reading them 20+ years ago.

So, which book is the best. Hmm, I see it as a whole so every book, every volume has its ups and downs - definitely more ups than downs.

I think I liked volume 1 - the beginning - the best. With Volume 3 I thought it would've been perfectly ok to end it with Chapter 4 of Book 6. But it went on and even though I didn't like chapter 8 I think chapter 9 was beautifully written and a very superb ending to an amazing series.

The appendix is absoluetely fascinating, even though I only skimmed it. I had to return the book to the library. The next reader was already waiting.

And where should I go from here? To quote Theoden "This journey is over, …