The Return of the King - BookWyrm Underscore

No cover — J.R.R. Tolkien: The Return of the King (Paperback, 1983, Houghton Mifflin)

trade paperback, 440 pages

English language

Published Jan. 14, 1983 by Houghton Mifflin.

ISBN:: 978-0-395-27221-3
OCLC Number:: 53126739

(1 review)

In celebration of The Hobbit's fifteenth anniversary, the authoritative edition of its stirring sequel, The Lord of the Rings, is elegantly presented in handsome, uniform editions. In the First Part of The Lord of the Rings, 111-year-old Bilbo Baggins (hero of The Hobbit) passed along his magical ring to his orphaned nephew, Frodo — unwittingly setting its original owner, the horrible Gollum, on his trail. Lest the ring fall into evil hands, Frodo sought to destroy it at the Mountain of Fire in the enemy land of Mordor. In the Second Part, which recounts his perilous journey, Frodo succeeded in taming Gollum and enlisting his aid; the creature's treacherous nature, however, soon reasserted itself. As the Third Part opens, Frodo has been captured by orcs, and the task of destroying the ring — and saving the world of Middle-earth — falls to his plucky servant, Samwise. --back cover

76 editions

Bert Schal 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, …

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, maybe, but I have far yet to go."

There are still The Hobbit, The Silmarillion and other stories. But right now I'm gonna watch the extended movie versions by Peter Jackson.

If you're into fantasy, you probably know The Lord of the Rings already, and if not. Read the books, they are highly recommended.