The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1) in J.R.R. Tolkien

Oct 17, 2011 Michelle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites, audiobooks

2021
No doubt that The Lord of the Rings is a masterpiece.

It was interesting to reread this after so many years; I'm more critical and picky now, and I can see why some people wouldn't like this. It's very long, meanders quite a bit, and it's definitely not a character-driven story (funny that back in 2012 I found the characters so interesting).
But Tolkien is a master in world-building, and LOTR is one of the most inventive and extensive stories out there!

2012
Just great. The writing was beauti ...more

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May 24, 2011 Chelsie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites_fiction, myearlyyears, classics, fantasy, adventure, elves-dwarves, tolkien, films-tv, epicfantasy, own_hardcover

This isn't a proper review--as it probably goes without saying from my 5-star rating that I consider this one of the greatest stories of all time--rather I've left a few comments on why and how I read it for the third time.

I decided that this year I'll delve into Tolkien's world as much as possible before any possible tarnish sets in from the new Amazon TV series, which, in my opinion, looks abominable and is a dishonor and an affront to the legacy of Tolkien and to what he dedicated the majorit This isn't a proper review--as it probably goes without saying from my 5-star rating that I consider this one of the greatest stories of all time--rather I've left a few comments on why and how I read it for the third time.

I decided that this year I'll delve into Tolkien's world as much as possible before any possible tarnish sets in from the new Amazon TV series, which, in my opinion, looks abominable and is a dishonor and an affront to the legacy of Tolkien and to what he dedicated the majority of his life's work. Having already experienced the abysmal way in which Amazon is handling The Wheel of Time TV adaptation, I have very low expectations for The Rings of Power release in September, and I can't say for sure that I'll even watch it beyond a couple episodes, as it went for me with The Wheel of Time.

For my third read-through of the first book in The Lord of the Rings, I followed my husband's advice and listened to the free audiobook by Phil Dragash. I'm not normally a fan of audiobooks, but I found that Phil does voices very well (especially Gandalf's and Sam's), and he's added music and sound effects from the films and official audiobook, along with some new effects. Apart from a few mispronunciations of basic words, like 'uncouth' and 'bough' (which made me chuckle), his love of Middle Earth is apparent in how fervently he reads the story. Many may not realize that he is not actually British, rather an American putting on a British accent, which he does surprisingly skillfully, though some with adept ears, especially Brits and maybe some Americans who live in Britain like I do, can hear the nuances at times that may reveal his non-native accent. His reading of the story is overall fantastic (and many say better than Andy Serkis's), and I highly recommend it. I'm looking forward to listening to his version of the next two books.

[Side Note: I've also played the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online for over 10 years, and I recommend it as well for those who want more of Tolkien's world. It is a bit dated by now but is still beautiful in its own right, and it's a thoroughly fleshed-out version of Middle Earth that, in my opinion, honors Tolkien's work faithfully even when taking creative liberties with its own stories within Middle Earth. And even though it's an MMO, the entire game world, beyond instanced dungeons, is easily played solo or with a partner while exploring and seeing all the places and characters come to life that you imagined in the books. If you want more faithful visual representation of Middle Earth beyond the films, LOTRO is a great place to get lost for hours, days, even years, as I have!] ...more

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Jun 07, 2012 Allison rated it it was amazing

Well the quest to find the purpose of Legolas has begun. I decided to read with a goal in mind. Many of us thought the character of Legolas was designed merely with the foresight of letting Orlando Bloom play him in a film. I've been trying to disprove this. While reading Fellowship, I discovered many things Legolas actually does, though only two had to be done exclusively by the elf. 1- He pulled Gimli out of the Chamber of Mazarbul as the orcs came rushing through the doors. Everyone else was ...more

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May 16, 2013 Yafet Kubrom rated it really liked it

It was not a smart to read the book after already watching the movie but it was worth it. I though the book was better than the movie as it goes into details and explains many things that are not in the movie. Tolkien is just the best...

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