Lord Of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien

The most Interesting book that I read this year was Lord Of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien. In this book, Tolkien sets the story in a medieval world known as Middle-Earth which is filled with a vast amount of mythical creatures some more dangerous than others.  The story surrounds a particularly peaceful race known as the Hobbits. They are notorious for their short stature and politeness. They live in a village called the Shire which is protected by natural barriers so they are isolated from the events of the rest of Middle-Earth. The main character in this story is a young hobbit named Frodo Baggins. He is one of the richer hobbit families in the Shire and therefore is more respected. One day a friend of his named Gandalf (old wizard) comes to the Shire and they find a dark secret about Frodo’s uncle and one of his valued possessions. It is an old ring which Frodo’s uncle found on one of his many adventures. As Gandalf and Frodo learn about the rings dark and dreadful history, they must find a way to destroy it which they will find rather difficult.  As the two companions journey across Middle-Earth, they encounter many interesting characters and must overcome perilous trials.

  After reading this book, I thought it was an interesting fantasy novel which captures an entire other world. I would recommend this book to anybody who has a long attention span and admires medieval fantasy novels as well as action and thriller novels. The one problem that I saw in this book was that characters would occasionally ramble on about certain aspects of the journey at times that I did not find interesting. Other than that flaw, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was an entertaining read as well as interesting. ~ Eric C. (per. 3)

  The Fellowship of the Ring, Being the First Part of the Lord of the Rings, is not for those with a short, medium, or even long attention span. It is for those few who have an iron will and an attention span that will outlast time and space. But for those who are still awake after the Thirty page prologue, it is an amazing book. J.R.R. Tolkien has created an amazing world, full of well developed characters and immersive settings. Even though he can sometimes go off on two page tangents about the fate of a horse, he mostly sticks to the plot, but even then, it takes a while to work through. A very important piece of advice to readers is not to be deterred by the beginning of the book. It seems slow, pointless, and in general a big waste of time. But this could not be further from the truth. this is where a majority of character development for the Hobbits is done. And seeing how the whole series is dedicated to the adventures of these Hobbits, it is paramount that we learn as much about them as we can. After the first few chapters, the action begins to slowly, but surely, build. As the danger of the situations increases, so too does the tension, mainly because we have spent so much time with them. learning about what they keep in their attics, how they interact with each other, and how they interact with the world around them. they are the epitome of well developed characters, and when they are in danger, the reader feels real distress (partly because after reading about them for Two-Hundred pages, it would be rather dissatisfying for them to be killed by a random squid).
    The main characters, Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Gandalf, Gimli, Legolas, Aragorn, and Boromir, will not be discussed in great detail in this review, mainly because readers will get enough of them from reading The Fellowship of the Ring themselves. but an important thing to note is that all of these characters are very distinct, and any Lord of the Rings fan (which is most people who survive the first book) would be able to correctly pin a character to his quote, even with no context. This is what makes Tolkien's writing stand out above all others: the vividness in which he does everything. Developing characters, describing landscape, or discussing how to deal with the One Ring (for six solid pages). While it does take an ardent fan to finish the book, those who do will cherish it forever. The only complaint that can be made about Fellowship, and the whole series, is that there are only about five women in over six books. But other than that, it is a perfect book for anyone interested in the fantasy genera. ~Kyle S. (per. 3)