ethanmoore

Aragorn and the rest win at the battle for Minas Tirith but pay a high price with the death of King Theoden.  With still more enemies closing in from Mordor Aragorn leads a last ditch effort to the Morannon so as to distract Sauron so that Frodo and Sam may pass unnoticed to Mount Doom.  With much difficulty and a heavy burden Frodo and Sam destroy the Ring and are saved by the eagles.  Now that Sauron is defeated Aragorn weds Arwen , and Faramir weds Eowyn.  When Frodo and Sam finally make it back to the Shire Saruman has taken control of the Shire and must be ousted at the cost of 19 hobbits.

After "The Two Towers", which was told almost entirely from the view of Frodo and Sam, "The Return of the King" begins with catching the reader up on what has happened meanwhile with the rest of the Fellowship.  Gandalf and Peregrin travel to Minas Tirith which is about to be besieged by a great host of orcs and eastern men.  Aragorn parts ways with Theoden on their way to Gondor so he may summon an army of the dead.  Aragorn has forced Sauron's hand by wresting control of the Palantir from him.

The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien is a continuation of The Fellowship of the Ring.  Some events in both books occur simultaneously because this book explains Frodo and Sam's path after they leave the company to venture into Mordor.  The pair captures the creature Gollum and compel him to guide them into Mordor through ways unknown to others.  This book is mainly composed of the daily struggles of their journey.  The first half of the story is told through Frodo's eyes and the last half is told through the view of Sam.  Most of the conflict in this book is internal in place of external like the last book.  Frodo deals with the ever growing burden of the ring which becomes heavier the closer he comes to Mount Doom.  Sam struggles with his inherent distrust of Gollum and Frodo's apparent unwavering trust for Gollum.  Sam has nicknamed him Slinker and Stinker because of Gollum's dual personalities created by the Ring.  One external conflict they all deal with is their changing environment and lack of food and water. The book ends with Sam having to save his master after Gollum betrays them.

In the final chapters of the book, Frodo and company travel down the Anduin river in boats given them by the elves.  Frodo discovers they are being followed by Gollum and must set up careful watches to avoid being throttled during the night.  After many days floating the river they come to the point where they must decide their course.  Frodo knows he cannot continue on with his company but Sam insists on going with him.  I liked this book which started slow but eventually became very action packed.

A lot has happened in the last 200 pages or so, chiefly among these events a main character dying.  Frodo has made it to Rivendell, where a secret convention was held which resulted in creating "The Fellowship of the Ring," which is how this book got its name. The company sets out and must take the dangerous road through the mines of Moria which is where the tragedy occurs.  Where I last stopped reading Frodo and company were in the realm of the tree elves and the Galadriel one of the three elves that carried a lesser ring of power.  Here they rested and recovered from the loss of their good friend and now are preparing to leave the elves to continue on their journey.

To pick up where I left off, Frodo has now left the Shire with his companions Sam Gamgee, Merry, and Pippin.  On their journey out of the Shire they discover Frodo is being pursued by ominous black riders with ill intent.  Frodo takes them on a shortcut through an ancient forest on the borders of the Shire.  The trees come alive and attack Merry and Pippin while Sam and Frodo are unable to do anything to help them.  Suddenly Tom Bombadil comes to their rescue and dispels the willow that held captive the Hobbits.  The story has started to get exciting compared to its very slow beginning.  I encourage readers not to give up on this book until they have at least read through the first hundred pages of this amazing story.

The story starts off nice and picks up some 60 years after The Hobbit ended.  The main character shifts from Bilbo Baggins to Frodo Baggins, Bilbo's adopted heir.  Bilbo holds his eleventy-first birthday party at which he mysteriously vanishes.  He does this by using the ring he found in the last book.  Bilbo plans to leave the Shire and give everything to Frodo.  He originally intended to give the ring to Frodo but he cannot bring himself to do it until his friend Gandalf helps him.  After Bilbo has left Gandalf explains to Frodo the inheritance he has been given and warns him about the ring, "Keep it hidden, and keep it safe."  Currently twelve years have passed in which Gandalf has discovered the true identity of the ring, it is the "One Ring."  Gandalf must leave on important business yet to be revealed but tells Frodo to quietly leave the Shire with Sam Gamgee to Rivendell.