OK, first of all, "The Return of the King" is not a stand-alone book. It is the third book in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. And, since that is the case, you should not read it until you have first completed "The Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Two Towers." These books were written as one seamless story by JRR Tolkien, but the manuscript was deemed to long to publish in one volume, so it was originally released as three separate books...and they read that way. The first book ends abruptly, and the second one begins the same way...through the end of "The Return of the King." While I'm sure they could be released in one volume, tradition as seen them continuing to be released as three separate books.

Another thing you should know about "The Return of the King" is that this book is noted to be about 550pp long, but the story ends efore you reash page 400. The remaining pages in this volume contain appendices that will be of interst to the more devoted Tolkien fan. Those appendices include the family history and lineages of several of the main characters in the story, some background of Aragorn and Arwen, and similar selections of background material.

This is a satisfying conclusion to the longer tale.

The main story of the trilogy sees growing darkness and treachery reaching out of Mordor and into the free and happy lands of western Middle Earth followed by the first blows in the battle for control of Middle earth, and finally, the resoluton of the confrontation between good and evil, light and darkness.

Some readers may complain that the end is somewhat anticlimactic after the events of the main battle and resolution of the story, but I prefer to view the conclusion of the book as the calm after a storm: a time when people begin to realize the significance of events that have passed and start to adjust to their new reality.

I have read "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy at least a dozen times, more often in my youth than in recent years, but every time I embark on this literary journey I know that I will be swept away into Middle Earth -- a land that on the one hand presents honor, boldness, faith, and truth, and on the other hand falls to fear, lies, deceit, and evil.

This is a classic tale of adventure, battle, romance (a bit), and the significance that even the smallest participant can make.

A fine book for readers of ALL ages.

5 stars! Thank you Tolkien! Thank you for the adventure!

"The Lord of the Rings" is the sequel to J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy classic, The Hobbit. The Return of the King is third, and final book (preceeded by The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings and The Two Towers: Being the Second 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.

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!

I am a seventh grader, who has watched all the movies and read most of the books by J.R.R. Tolkien. This book is the last chapter in the trilogies that is recognized world-wide. The book is entertaining because it has lots of imagery, excitement and foreshadowing, which made it much more exciting then the movie. It had many messages and underlying meanings that added depth and intelligence to the reading, which kept me more involved in the story then the movie. I would rate the book a 4.5 out of 5 stars because the ending was a cliff hanger. I was disappointed that the conclusion did not finalize the series, since this was the last book of the series.

This book took place in the Third Age of Middle Earth. Being that it is the third book in the series it starts at the point of Frodo continuing his journey to Mordor. He is still trying to take the One Ring to where it was created in order to stop the antagonist Sauron from regaining his physical form and conquering all of Middle Earth. The first chapter starts with Merry riding with Gandalf on the back of Shadowfax who was charging towards Minas Tirith for the purpose of meeting the Steward of the city. Why is this important? This is important because they needed to notify him that his son was killed after getting hit with seven arrows.

There were many main characters, but Frodo, Sam, Gollum, and Sauron in my mind, were some of the most significant characters. Frodo and Sam were protagonists in the story, because they were trying to save the good on Middle Earth. Frodo's responsibility was to carry the One Ring to Mt. Doom in order to toss it in the lava where it was created so that it could be destroyed which would mean that he saved the Middle Earth. By doing this, it would cause Sauron to be weakened beyond recovery. Sauron, who was the main antagonist, was trying to rule the Middle Earth. Sam chose to follow Frodo and assist him in accomplishing this task. Gollum was a trickster; he was another antagonist who wanted the One Ring in order to satisfy greed. Gollum was the navigator around the lands of the east. Gollum was controlled by the One Ring, which made him strangle his best friend, because the One Ring wanted to be found and taken to Sauron. The One Ring took Gollum and twisted him into an evil rotten character with two personalities. He would talk to himself, by looking at his reflection in water. Some people would say that Aragorn and Gandalf would be considered the main characters because they led the attack on the Black Gate of Mordor to distract the Eye of Sauron from spotting Frodo and Sam who were making their way to Mt. Doom. Also, Merry and Pippin followers of Denethor steward of Minas Tirith and Theoden lord of the Mark were key characters because their journey helped to move the story through the different episodes of the book. I also see the One Ring as a character in its own right, it can control others, has much power, and there was a poem written about it in the book that stated, "One Ring to rule them all. One Ring to take them into the darkness and bind them." As you can see there are lots of characters that play very important parts to help the story lines in the book.

Many conflicts during the plot of the book took place. Some were more significant then others, but all played an important role in moving the story towards the climate. The Battle of the Black Gate of Mordor caught my attention as a reader because it established a distraction as Aragorn and Gandalf tried to distract the Eye of Sauron from spotting Frodo and Sam who were making their way to Mt. Doom. At the same time in the book, Frodo and Sam were having adventures as they scurried toward destroying the One Ring. Another conflict was when the forces of Mordor attacked Minas Tirith, they came by land and sea. These antagonists were made up of Orks and trolls from Minas Morgal, and Corsairs of Umbar. They came to over throw the city of Minas Tirith, but found it too difficult to do so, as the soldiers of Minas Tirith were well prepared for the attack. Aragorn and Gandalf were at this battle and this meant that they were unable to support Frodo and Sam in their current position. The next major conflict was between Eyomer, who was a female warrior and the Witch King. This duel was important because if the Witch King, who was the leader of the Nazgûl, was destroyed so would his nine other followers. The Witch King was trying to kill Gandalf and Aragorn which would have made it easy for Sauron to spot Frodo and Sam. Fortunately, Eyomer was able to kill the Witch King by stabbing him in the face even though he has boasted about winning when he said, "No man can defeat me." The most important continuing conflict throughout the book was the temptation that Frodo and Gollum shared, because they both wanted control of The One Ring. The One Ring had power over both of the weak minded men; they wanted to keep the ring under their possession. Even though Frodo knew in his heart he had to prevail over this power and throw it into the lava. The ring's power was more then either could overcome. The two men battled each other trying to gain control of the ring, Gollum bit off Frodo's finger and the ring fell into the lava. Gollum jumped into the lava after it and melted. Then the land of Mordor began to crumble under their feet and Frodo realized that he had accomplished his long time mission of destroying Sauron by the melting of The One Ring.

The book as compared to the movie described more details of the characters' journeys and episodes. The one thing I really liked were the lines of dialogue because of the type of words the characters used. Overall, I liked the book a lot and I would recommend it to everyone who likes fantasy.

Sage Bittner

NOTE: This review contains major spoilers. So if you haven't read the book (or haven't seen the movie) yet, then don't read what I've written below.

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I've just finished "The Return of the King" (and the entire LOTR trilogy) just two days ago. It was an outstanding conclusion to the epic fantasy. Although there were some things that bothered me a bit, I still found myself satisfied with the third installment.

First let me say what I DID like about this book.

Tolkien has created so much fantastic details with characters and settings. From Minas Tirith to Barad-dur, from dwarves to orcs, he's basically the Emperor of Fantasy. Indeed, modern fantasy writers such as Terry Brooks, Robin Hobb, and the late Robert Jordan (RIP) have been inspired by LOTR. Works like "The Wheel of Time" and the "Sword of Shannara" series contain clear evidence of the Tolkienesque influence. I still prefer "Wheel of Time" over LOTR, but I do admire LOTR for its fantastic detail, and Tolkien's writing style.

Frodo sure has changed. In "Fellowship" he's just an average guy in Hobbiton who just happens to have a famous (or should I say "infamous") uncle named Bilbo. When he continues his quest in "Towers" and "Return", he completely changes in personality. The Ring becomes a heavy burden, and it tries to consumes him when he comes closer to Mount Doom. What makes the story deeper is that Frodo tries hard to keep the Ring away from his closest friend Samwise Gamgee. He doesn't want Sam to be consumed by this thing as well, and that's pure friendship right there if you ask me.

The Battle of Gondor is probably the most exciting thing that happens in the entire trilogy. So much happens in the chapters "The Siege of Gondor," "The Ride of the Rohirrim," and "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields". You have Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, Merry, Pippin, the Riders of Rohan, the soldiers of Gondor, the orcs of Mordor, the Southrons and Easterlings with their gigantic Ouliphants, and the Army of the Dead all in one battle. It doesn't get any better than that.

The chapter with Eowyn and Faramir called "The Steward and the King" is especially touching. Both have gone through so much that they deserve each other. And it's a shame that this is mentioned in just one minute in the (Extended) film. Five more minutes could've helped.

All right, now here's what I DIDN'T like about this book.

That's it?! Only Theodin and Denethor (as major characters) die in the entire war? The death of a good and noble king is such a f**kin' cliche in the world of fantasy. Couldn't Tolkien kill of several more characters to make us more emotional about this trilogy?

I also had a problem with the Southrons and the Easterlings. Was Tolkien racist? Because obviously the Easterlings and Southrons are reminiscent to Middle Easterns, Asian Indians, and Chinese; and they're enemies of Gondor. These people have experienced a huge loss in the Battle of Gondor as much as the orcs from Mordor. I can't help but get pissed off. All of the races in the North (Eriador, Rhovanian, Rohan, Gondor) are basically all White, while the races in the East and South (Mordor, South Gondor) are all Eastern. I can see the racial diversity when it comes to elves and dwarves and men, but why leave out the Asians? But of course, it was only the 50's, and fantasy nowadays have far more racially diverse characters. So another point is taken away from LOTR.

And finally, The Scouring of the Shire. I think I agree with Peter Jackson that this is a bit to anti-climactic in both the book and the film (and thank God that they never filmed it). Okay, so the Shire is being destroyed by Saruman and his wild men, and yes, this is a pretty exciting chapter, but is it necessary? Yes and no. Yes for the fact that our four Hobbits have matured and are now ready to face their enemies. No for the fact that we've just read through a major battle in Gondor and near the Black Gate of Mordor, and we've just experienced the climax to the entire trilogy. It gets quite tiring when the second to last chapter is being read.


With all ups and downs, The Lord of the Rings is still indeed a classic that must be read. And even though I'm not a big fan of Tolkien's/Jackson's work, I gotta give credit to the men for making me wanting to be a novelist.

Grade: B

Maybe I'm just a sucker for great conclusions, but this is my favorite of the trilogy (and not because it's over). I feel this is the most epic of the bunch, and Tolkien's passionate writing blew me away.

This is the book where everything comes together in the light of day, when I found myself cheering the hardest and caring the most. This is the book we want, with tragedy, happiness, and romance.