The Return of the King

When I first tried to read “Lord of the Rings” I was only a kid, perhaps twelve years old, and I got very bored during the first half of volume two, so I didn’t read any further and forgot about it for a while. Looking back now, I was maybe a little bit too young back then. So now, forty years later, being someone who just can’t stand having only read half of a famous book, I’m back again at it; but I must say, it is still quite boring at times. Even though it’s considered “High Fantasy”, there’s still a lot of Sword & Sorcery in it (which I usually don’t like very much), there are endless descriptions of walking through landscapes and of military operations, and there is, to my taste at least, still too much glorification of heroism. I will definitely finish it this time, but it is straining and less fun than I thought. Still, what’s impressing to it, and that’s what I think made it so famous, is Tolkien’s love for details in imagining middle earth, his verbose world building; his storytelling however I find rather lengthy and mediocre. (Disclaimer: Written by a non-native speaker without any use of AI – may contain mistakes and awkward formulations)

When I first tried to read “Lord of the Rings” I was only a kid, perhaps twelve years old, and I got very bored during the first half of volume two, so I didn’t read any further and forgot about it for a while. Looking back now, I was maybe a little bit too young back then. So now, forty years later, being someone who just can’t stand having only read half of a famous book, I’m back again at it; but I must say, it is still quite boring at times. Even though it’s considered “High Fantasy”, there’s still a lot of Sword & Sorcery in it (which I usually don’t like very much), there are endless descriptions of walking through landscapes and of military operations, and there is, to my taste at least, still too much glorification of heroism. I will definitely finish it this time, but it is straining and less fun than I thought. Still, what’s impressing to it, and that’s what I think made it so famous, is Tolkien’s love for details in imagining middle earth, his verbose world building; his storytelling however I find rather lengthy and mediocre. (Disclaimer: Written by a non-native speaker without any use of AI – may contain mistakes and awkward formulations)

The Lord of The Rings has been on my radar for many years. It’s definitely one of the greatest fantasy classics, if not the greatest, so as a fan of the genre I wanted to get around to reading it at some point and get enchanted by the magic of Middle-Earth, like millions of other readers throughout the decades. Now, at the end of this journey, after turning over the last page of "The Return of the King" I can confidently say that my expectations were exceeded and I loved every page of this fantastic trilogy.

Tolkien had a great gift of crafting a world full of detailed mythology, great wonders and noble characters going into a battle not only against the forces of evil in general, but also emotions like dread, hopelessness or betrayal. That is to say, despite all the incredible magic, the characters feel real. The hobbits, the men, the elves, the wizards – even if they have a great deal of history behind them, even if they know the ancient words, even if they hold powerful artifacts, they are ultimately driven by their selflessness, aspirations, despair or greed.

I also admire how every journey undertaken in the book holds its ground if terms of travelled distance, time and supplies consumed by the adventurers. It’s really immersive and adds weight to the obstacles characters stumble upon on the way to their destination. It’s not about just moving from point A to point B, but solving troubles along the way, changing paths, avoid being spotted, encountering fascinating inhabitants of the land – all of this playing out in a way that makes you feel like a part of the company, sharing their problems and their path.

I think these aspects are what makes The Lord of The Rings such a beloved series, which I too, will hold close to my heart.

Lastly, I’m really glad that Tolkien took time to give us some sort of closure at the end of The Return of The King. Many fantasy books end shortly after the concluding events, with some short epilogue at best, but here we got to see what the Fellowship of the Ring was up to after fighting against Sauron, we got “The Scouring of the Shire”, “Grey Havens” and reading those final chapters really made me at peace, for which I’m grateful.