The Return of The King, by J.R.R Tolkien (BOOK REVIEW)

 

“One tiny Hobbit against all the evil the world could muster. A sane being would have given up, but Samwise burned with a magnificent madness, a glowing obsession to surmount every obstacle, to find Frodo, destroy the Ring, and cleanse Middle Earth of its festering malignancy. He knew he would try again. Fail, perhaps. And try once more. A thousand, thousand times if need be, but he would not give up the quest.”

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 takes part in the desperate battle of the Hornburg. Merry and Pippin, captured by Orcs, escape into Fangorn Forest and there encounter 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.
Meanwhile, the armies of the Dark Lord are massing as the One Ring draws ever nearer to the Cracks of Doom.

“It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule.”

As an avid and devoted reader, I would be ashamed to not be able to say I read this series. But I am proud to say, I have completed the Lord of The Rings series *the crowd goes wild*. Thank you, thank you. This is probably THE most popular fantasy series, if not book series in general. Everyone knows what The Lord of the Rings is, and if they don't *stares*...they must live under a rock. I'm joking. All I'm saying is that this is a very popular and well-known book series. 

"His love for Frodo rose above all other thoughts, and forgetting his peril he cried aloud: "I'm coming, Mr. Frodo!"

I read The Hobbit all the way back in 2022, (That's actually crazy.)  I read The Fellowship of The Ring and The Two Towers in 2023. So here I am, in 2025 finally completing the series. After I finished The Two Towers, I tried to start this one over and over but I just couldn't get into it. Then some of my friends and my sister all started reading it, so I hopped on the train. The main reason why I found myself not really able to get into it, was because I found it very slow and boring. Yes, you could call it that. But I've learned, that especially with older literature, you just have to take it for what it is and not worry about how slow it's going. I really found myself enjoying it as I continued and it wasn't as bad as I made it up to be in my head. 

Tolkien will never fail to produce quality story-telling. Each page in this book was rich and mesmerizing. His writing is so meaty and complex. Every single word is thought out with care. It was so refreshing to read something that actually had good and true morals. Tolkien was an unashamed Christian and he truly wove his beliefs throughout all of his books. You can't read a Tolkien book without reflecting and thinking. 

I love the characters from this series. My top three favorites are probably, Sam, Aragorn and Gandalf. They aren't just funny or pleasant, but they have good personality and solid moral qualities. The love that these friends have for each other is admirable. The relationship that Sam and Frodo have *wipes away a single tear* wow. Just, wow. 

I will say that the ending kind of confused me. I wasn't really expecting everything to be over so fast and then kind of elongated. It was kind of understandable and confusing at the same time. Honestly, I don't know. I usually hate it when the book ends as soon as the plot ends, I like to know how the characters are doing after the fact. However this book, did keep on going. It was nice, but also the littlest bit unenjoyable. I guess maybe I'm just not used to this kind of book. 

Overall, this entire series is a straigh-up-masterpiece. Even with all the struggle I had going through such old literature in this modern day, it was a good learning curve. I think nowadays readers really need to learn patience. It's such an important part of story-telling. Everyone always raves about how fast-paced this book or that book was, which I will admit I do enjoy from time to time, but that just proves how short our attention span is in this day and age. That slow-burn of a story is so important; it's an art that shouldn't be lost. 

“In this hour, I do not believe that any darkness will endure.”

I give this book an 8 out of 10 and recommend it to ages 13+

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Happy Reading!

-Ariana :)