I need to re-read this series after completing it to know and understand more about middle Earth. It was quirky, complicated and little bit of a pain in the ass for a beginner in fantasy genre.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy is said to be the genesis of modern fantasy and that all high fantasy or its authors take inspiration from the Lord of the Rings.
To start with the world of Middle Earth, I first read ‘The Hobbit’ which is a prequel to the LOTR main trilogy. I loved it like I mentioned in my detailed review of the same. The Hobbit was initially tough to read since the English in it was not something that I read in my day-to-day books. But after reading several pages I got used to it. The storyline was simple, neat and the prose was at its best.
Turns out ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’ is more tough and was crunched with a lot of world building elements and past stories of the Middle Earth. I guess this book was more about how the ring came to existence and the history of how the gracious world of the old days turned into darker days than about the journey of Frodo a.k.a ‘the Ringbearer’.
The book was about the different halflings and men that exist in the Middle Earth and their stories, their culture, their activities and their food.
I must say that Tolkien has done a tremendous job into the world building. The details of the people, their habits, their habitats and what not. I am not so well versed in high fantasy, I haven’t read much books yet, but I bet my ass that this is one of the best world buildings that I might come across in my life.
There is nothing that I found as ‘cons’ of this book. This is nearly a century old book and story which had undergone multiple revisions and I guess one cannot find something as a problem with this book.
But I could point out and say that there is a lot of details to assimilate, which is, sometimes, a pain in the ass for a beginner in the genre of fantasy. This book needs or I can say deserves a re-read to understand more about Middle Earth and the life in it.
The story was highly immersive. But it took me quite a bit of time to complete it. People usually get bored while reading long novels with rich world-building. I was not bored, but I could say it took me sometime to get used to it and praise it.
Oh, by the way I love the little guy ‘Sam Gamgee’.
Nonetheless, the ending was great and left me in an urge to read the next installment of this series. Before reading the next, I’m going to let Middle Earth brood in the back of my mind while finishing the Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy.
Five out of five.
Syringe of Thoughts 