An appropriately epic conclusion to the book.
I know people complain that the movie’s end lasted far too long but it’s nothing on the book. Frodo and Sam get to Mount Doom by the end of Chapter 3 in Book 6 and there are still six more chapters to go! I think this is brilliant and again while I understand why the Scouring of the Shire was left out of the movies it was one of my favourite bits of the book, here our hobbits got their chance to really shine and show how much they’ve changed.
The Battle of Pelennor Fields is still one of my favourite battles in all of fiction, whether it be book, movie or game. There was no ghost army that miraculously saved the day, no it was the flesh and blood of men (and women) that did it and I always felt the movie cheapened the victory.
I love that lonely march to the Black Gates, only a few thousand to take on the might of Mordor and all the while knowing that they were only a diversion, and even in that they didn’t know if Frodo and Sam were still alive. Sam in my mind is the true hero of this story, forced to go along by Gandalf, hardly ever asked his opinion yet the ring would never have been destroyed without him.
I always read part of the Appendices after this, I still can’t handle the calendar or the language entries but I like reading about histories and the timelines. It’s here we get more of the story of Aragorn and Arwen and find out what happened to the Fellowship after the end of the book, as well as more details on the second and third ages.
This is such a great series and all fans of the written word, whether you’re into Fantasy or not, should it give it a try at least once.
5 stars out of 5
Barry's Bloody Books 