The second volume of Tolkien's epic trilogy never even wavers. If anything, it seems steadier and more controlled than "Fellowship of the Ring," as several characters become more central and the plot focus widens to envelop all of Middle Earth. It suffers from a bit of sequelitis in places, but the overall book is just as enthralling as the first.

Aragorn finds that Merry and Pippin have been abducted rather than killed -- for what reason, no one knows. Frodo and Sam have left on their own. So Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli race to find the orcs and retrieve the hobbits, but are stopped by the fierce Riders of Rohan, and then by an old and dear friend: Gandalf, who has been resurrected in the new form of a White wizard. Elsewhere, Merry and Pippin must use all of their wits to escape the orcs, and then find a strange band of allies that no one could have hoped for.

Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam head into Mordor -- with an eerily familiar figure, Gollum, following them. Frodo subjugates Gollum, forcing him to swear on "the precious" that he won't harm him. In return, Gollum promises to guide the two hobbits through Mordor, straight to Mount Doom. But the Ring is weighing more heavily than ever on Frodo, and is starting to reassert its old sway on Gollum...

One of the most noticeable changes in this book is the shift of focus. "Fellowship" was Frodo-centric, since the narration revolved around him, as did all the events and thoughts. But with the breaking of the Fellowship, the narration falls into three categories: Frodo and Sam; Merry and Pippin; Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli. This triple style allows individuals to shine more brightly, when they are called on to do more than hike with Frodo.

Tolkien also presented a wider view of Middle-Earth in general. While the slow slog through Mordor doesn't really tell or show readers much -- aside from what a hellhole Sauron is the middle of -- it's shocking to see the the effects of the orcs, Saruman and Sauron on places such as Gondor and Rohan.

But where Tolkien really outdid himself is Gollum. Gollum returns, in a substantially different state. Oh, he's still addled and addicted to the Ring, but he displays a dual love/loathing for the Ring, a weird affection for Frodo (who, from his point of view, is probably the only person who has been kind to him), and displays a Ring-induced multiple-personality syndrome. Very rarely can bad guys elicit the sort of loathing and pity from the reader that Gollum does.

One noticeable aspect of this book is friendship. When the Fellowship sets out from Rivendell, virtually everyone is a stranger, with the exception of the hobbits. However, in this book we get our view of how much Sam loves Frodo and wants to help him. Sam is fully aware of how much Frodo needs emotional support, and he's quite willing to be a pillar of strength for his friend. We see Gimli and Legolas's affection for Merry and Pippin; and Legolas's willingness to kill Eomer if Eomer hurts Gimli shows how far this Elf and Dwarf have come.

This book is substantially darker than "Fellowship." Frodo is starting to stumble under the weight of the Ring, and other characters die or are seriously hurt. The scene where Pippin's mind is trapped by Sauron is a very disturbing one, as is a violent and saddening scene late in the book. But there is also some wry humor, like Legolas's snippy comments about pipeweed as Gimli and the hobbits smoke up a storm, and Sam's debate with Gollum about whether they should cook the rabbits.

Tolkien's second "Lord of the Rings" novel is a thrilling fantasy adventure, exploring more of his invented world than "Fellowship of the Ring" did. "The Two Towers" starts heading into darker territory, and will leave readers panting for more.

I am not a dedicated "fantasy literature" fan, but I've been a "Lord of the Rings" fan since I was in college (er...back in the late 1970s - OK, I've dated myself). Anyway, I still remember getting to the end of "The Fellowship of the Ring" (a book assigned in a Reading Lit class), and being left hanging as the fellowship was broken. I finished that book one evening, and I couldn't wait to get to the bookstore the next day to pick up a copy of "The Two Towers"...which I then proceeded to devour.

I've read this entire series several times since those heady college days, and the Lord of the Rings (trilogy) remains one of my favorite stories.

What should you know about "The Two Towers" if you are thinking about picking up a copy?

1) Make sure that you buy not only this book, but the other two books in the Lord of the Rings trilogy (The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the RingsThe Return of the King: Being the Third Part of The Lord of the Rings)
2) Each of the books in the trilogy do not stand alone. You need to not only read all three, but you need to read them in order. Tolkien wrote the "Lord of the Rings" as one cohesive story, but because of the length of the story it was published in three volumes. The first two books end abruptly, and the story picks right up in each of the following volumes...so you'll want to have all three handy when you start reading.
3) The writing and imagery is crisp and vivid. The world Tolkien created and the people and other creatures that live there will draw you in.
4) I prefer to read this book in a quiet, somewhat dimly lit room...it adds to the atmosphere.
5) There is no foul language in these books. They are a pleasure to read.
6) These books work well for readers of many ages - I actually read all of these books to my children when they were still in their elementary school years (years before the movies were produced). They remain favorites of some of my children and got them started on their own adventures in reading.

This series is certainly in my top-10 list of books, and depending on the day, almost always falls out near the top of that list.

This is not a book to be missed.

5 stars, no doubt and no mistake!

"The Lord of the Rings" is the sequel to J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy classic, The Hobbit. The Two Towers is the second book (preceeded by The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings and followed by The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of The Lord of the Rings), but it is actually one epic tale.

More adult oriented concepts are included than in The Hobbit, and there are refferences to the pre-history Tolkien was developing and published in various "Middle Earth" books, making this a more challenging read (I always have trouble getting through the first part of The Two Towers).

This is an epic tale, with many story lines running concurrently. This has it all, Monsters, Wizards, Battles, Treason, Love, Self Sacrifice and much more!

Highly recommended!

The Lord of the Rings needs no review by me. It is what it is, a timeless classic. This edition is a very high quality paperback, and a big enough format that the book is easy and enjoyable to read.

NOTE: This review contains major spoilers. So if you haven't read the book or haven't seen the film, then don't read what's below this sentence.

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It's fairly obvious that there are differences between the film and the book. And it's safe to say that there are some (but not all) improvements that were made for the film.

First off, this second volume of Lord of the Rings contains two parts. The Fellowship of the Ring has separated: the first part deals with Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, the return of Gandalf, and the people of Rohan. It also contains Merry and Pippin finding themselves in Fangorn Forest, home of the ancient Ents. These two plots are connected with Isengard in both its rise and fall from grace. Then the second part deals with Frodo, Sam, and the creature Gollum as they journey to the land of Mordor, where Mount Doom and Barad-Dur stand with the shadows. Before I read Two Towers, I knew that this book separated Frodo and Sam's adventures away from the Rohan/Isengard storyline. And having watched the (Extended) film many times, I went ahead and read the book as if I watched the film. For example, I read the chapter "The Black Gate is Closed" as soon as I finished reading "Treebeard" and "The White Rider". It may not be what Tolkien intended, but I enjoyed it this way. I still don't understand why Tolkien didn't have all three main adventures integrated in with each other, instead of segregating Frodo/Sam's adventures away from the journeys of Pippin/Merry & Aragorn/Gimli/Legolas/Rohan. Maybe in the 50's, that way of storytelling never occured to anybody. Oh well.

Anyway, "The Two Towers" is far more exciting than "Fellowship of the Ring". For one thing, you have The people of Rohan. Their bonding with horses fascinates me: they're vikings, but with mammals instead of ships. Then, you have the Dead Marshes, which is probably THE scariest setting in the fantasy genre. You also have the dark and gloomy lair of Shelob: the sequence is so intense that the goosebumps are a must. Now in the film, I found Gollum to be a bit too exaggerated and very annoying at times. But in the book, his schizophrenic personality really works. And finally, it's nice to see a completely different Faramir in the book, though the film version is much better: Denethor wanting the Ring makes for a big motive when you really want to impress your father.

But of course, this book does have its disadvantages. Having Boromir die in the very first chapter seems a bit too improper. The son of Denethor dies and it all turns exciting, but then in the next chapter, all Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli do are run across the river Entwash and in the fields of Rohan. That slows the whole book down, unfortunately. SEcondly, the return of Gandalf wasn't really at all shocking: when you bring back a character that's presumed dead, that's more like a typical Hollywood moment. Maybe it's just me and that I've seen way too much mature films and TV shows.

Then, we have Eowyn. To tell you the truth, I have to thank P. Jackson, F. Walsh, and P. Boyens for making her more of a central supporting character in the film. In the book, she's almost pushed aside (though, in "Return of the King," she gets her chance with what she has to say and do). It's arguable whether Tolkien was a sexist (or even a racist), because there are hardly any female characters about. The Fellowship is consisted of only males. I know that LOTR is a trilogy for males, but the author could've at least make one of the four hobbits female, or maybe Legolas. Luckily, Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series gets a point for giving females a chance at breaking the female cliche found in fantasy.

Theodin as the good and noble king is also a tired old cliche. The character's way too nice; again, the film version improves on this very greatly. Here, he's much praised by his people and he makes all the right decisions and yadda yadda yadda. Makes me want to read George R.R. Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire" series immediately after finishing LOTR.

With all the things that got me down while reading "Towers", I still enjoyed the book nonetheless. There are plenty of action, humor, drama, thrills, chills, and huge spiders. Memorable characters and interesting races make it all the more compelling.

And I have to give credit to Tolkien and his LOTR trilogy, because without LOTR, there wouldn't have been The Wheel of Time, A Song of Ice and Fire, The Farseer Trilogy, etc.

Grade: B