Read an Excerpt

The old adage that "change is inevitable" is a message oft
repeated, rephrased and expanded, from the ancient philosopher
Heraclitus to the Terminator movies. But none has ever said
it with quite the passion and resonance of J. R. R. Tolkien in his
groundbreaking opus, THE LORD OF THE RINGS. This lengthy sequel to
THE HOBBIT, mistakenly considered a trilogy due to its being
published in three parts ("The Fellowship of the Ring," "The Two
Towers," and "The Return of the King"), has maintained its
reputation as the benchmark achievement of "sword-and-sorcery"
literature for 47 years. 

In the exquisitely detailed story of Middle-Earth's great war and
the quest to destroy the One Ring, a token imbued with evil power,
stands a fable for the ages echoing with the message that the
future is ours to choose even in the face of inevitable change.
This epic stands as such a singular achievement due in part to its
broadly identifiable heroes, vivid realization of Middle-Earth and
its history, and the epic scope of the story in which everyone is
willing to risk themselves for the good of the world.

The story picks up some 60 years after THE HOBBIT, enjoying the
same conspiratorial tone of narration as that of its predecessor.
In the Shire, home of the diminutive, man-like race called Hobbits,
we meet young Frodo, new owner of the Ring of Invisibility. The
comforts of his rustic homeland become all the more dear to Frodo
when he learns that his ring is the One Ring of Power, possessed of
endless evil from its maker, the evil Sauron. Informed that Sauron
is searching for the Ring --- the only thing standing between him
and world domination --- and that the Ring will ultimately corrupt
any one who owns it, Frodo undertakes a mission to travel across
Middle-Earth to destroy the Ring in Sauron's own stronghold.
Accompanied by three Hobbit friends --- Sam, Merry, and Pippin ---
Gandalf the Wizard, and four others appointed as representatives of
the free races of Middle-Earth, Frodo ventures beyond the world
that he knows into the wild of the larger world and places fraught
with peril. Each of the so-called "Nine Walkers" has a critical
role to play in the course of events, both in the destruction of
the Ring and in the coordination of the war against Sauron's
forces.

Frodo himself is very much the Everyman with whom readers will
identify so well. In his fear, indecision, and courage, the little
hobbit represents anyone who reaches a point in life when they have
to make irrevocable choices without certainty of the results. Faced
with the choice to do nothing and risk harm to everyone he knows or
to venture into the unknown alone, against his greatest fear, Frodo
chooses --- time and again --- to do the right thing. "I feel that
as long as the Shire lies behind, safe and comfortable, I shall
find wandering more bearable…" Accompanying Frodo to the
bitter end is his gardener, Sam Gamgee, a character possessed of an
astounding level of loyalty to his employer. In Sam Gamgee, Tolkien
crafted the true friend who stays with us through thick and thin
and who would give us the shirt off his back without being asked.
Sam remains overtly overprotective of Frodo from beginning to end,
refusing to be left behind even for his own good and even forgoing
food and water for Frodo's benefit. The choices that Sam is forced
to make provide some of the book's most heartbreaking moments. The
other hobbits, Merry and Pippin, display a range of irksome
silliness and denial until pressed to hard choices, and both prove
themselves worthy players on the stage of world affairs.

Through the character of Strider (Aragorn), a seasoned warrior wise
beyond belief, Tolkien is able to interweave elements of mystery,
bittersweet romance, unrequited love, predestination, and ultimate
sacrifice. While every character is willing to expend themselves in
the efforts to stop Sauron, Strider is the first after Gandalf to
join the quest with a full understanding of the consequences of
failure ("…if by life or death I can save you, I will"). The
introduction of Strider also introduces us to the diversity of
Middle-Earth through the many names by which the various races
(Elves, Dwarves, nations of Men, Orcs) call him. Throughout most of
the novel languages are interchanged, giving people, objects, and
places a variety of names. In this way THE LORD OF THE RINGS
realizes the gravity of the situation, that a vast group of divided
nations are putting aside their differences to face a common enemy
who threatens the entire world. This idea is also affirmed in the
unconventional friendship that develops between Gimli the Dwarf and
Legolas the Elf, whose races have a history of enmity dating back
centuries. 

Tolkien worked on this novel over the course of 13 years, a fact
that becomes clear in the narrative tone that moves from
conspiratorial to grimly melodramatic as the story moves towards
its climax and the heroes' respective situations become dire ("So
they were come to the bitter end"). The extent to which the author
labored over this work is also apparent in the complete
realizations he painted of each character and each race. The
inherent qualities of the various species are thoroughly described
in terms of the physical, spiritual, aesthetic, lingual, and
intellectual. The speech and actions of each reinforces the images
of "stupid Hobbits," "foul Orcs," "fair Elves," and "hardy
Dwarves."

A lot of attention is also paid to the terrain of Middle-Earth as
the travelers move from the lush, green comfort of the Shire to
rough mountain passes and wastelands created by industrial
processes. Whether the characters experience comfort or suffering
in the wilderness, the reader feels the situation fully. The
greatest evidence of Tolkien's extensive mythology-building is the
103 pages of appendices to which the text frequently refers. It is
hard to say whether readers should refer to these whenever prompted
or simply read the book straight through and then read the
appendices. Either way, the appendices (which chronicle everything
before and after this story, complete with maps, charts, and
alphabets) is a stunning testament to the author's vision.