I really like the touch of ambiguity and dread it adds to the story. We hear a lot about them, see the extent of their power, but it’s rare that characters actually encounter them, which is the only real direct experience the reader gets with them. These storylines come together with the goal of confronting the forces of the wizard Saruman, so that the kingdoms of Men are not direly caught fighting a war on two fronts.Īn approach of Tolkien’s that I find I like quite a bit is how sparsely his villains actually appear. Instead, the narrative backtracks to tell what happened from an alternative point of view. It was really refreshing to have the journey broken up that way, especially since previously the blank spaces in the plot would be filled in by a character recounting their experiences. This helped to flesh out the other characters, since it is difficult to share focus in the moment with a party of nine, as well as kept things interesting by establishing numerous goals for the respective groups.īook Three was divided between the trio of Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli pursuing a group of orcs and Merry and Pippin who have been captured by said orcs. With the Fellowship having broken perspective was also divided between numerous parties, rather than anchored to Frodo. Funnily, it still amounted to a lot of walking (only faster), but there was an urgency to the writing that kept it going smoothly. The beginning picks up right where the previous book ended, so the reader is pretty much thrown into action from the get-go. This volume did in fact bring in a nice change of pace to the story. Without further ado, this is my review of The Two Towers, being the second part of my review of The Lord of the Rings. As a small indicator of how that hope turned out: I finished this volume a lot faster. All the same, I was hopeful that the follow-up would gain much needed forward momentum. Before I started I was mentally exhausted from The Fellowship of the Ring’s meandering nature, despite my enjoyment of many parts of it. Tolkien continues, having reached another milestone by concluding the second volume The Two Towers. My reading journey toward completing a singular edition of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R.

Now they continue their journey alone down the great River Anduin – alone, that is, save for the mysterious creeping figure that follows wherever they go. While Frodo and Sam made their escape the rest of the company were attacked by Orcs. They have lost the wizard, Gandalf, in the battle with an evil spirit in the Mines of Moria and at the Falls of Rauros, Boromir, seduced by the power of the Ring, tried to seize it by force. Frodo and the Companions of the Ring have been beset by danger during their quest to prevent the Ruling Ring from falling into the hands of the Dark Lord by destroying it in the Cracks of Doom.

The two towers by jrr tolkien