
'The Fellowship of the Ring' is the first book in 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. The story follows Frodo, a hobbit, as he embarks on a perilous journey to destroy the Ring of Power in the barren wasteland of Mordor. Along the way, a fellowship is formed to aid him in this dangerous quest, facing epic battles, evil forces, and the ultimate test of friendship and courage. The book is known for its intricate world-building, detailed narrative, and themes of good vs evil, duty, perseverance, and doing what is right. Despite a slow start, the book picks up pace as the action unfolds, captivating readers with its rich storytelling and complex characters.
'The Fellowship of the Ring' is a classic masterpiece of fantasy literature that introduces readers to the vast and enchanting world of Middle Earth. Tolkien's writing style, characterized by detailed descriptions and deep world-building, immerses the reader in a tale of adventure, friendship, and dedication to the greater good. The book sets the standard for all fantasy stories, painting a vivid picture of a world where courage and loyalty are tested against the forces of darkness, making it a timeless and captivating read for fans of the genre.
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From The Publisher:
The opening novel of The Lord of the Rings-the greatest fantasy epic of all time-which continues in The Two Towers and The Return of the King.
Nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read
The dark, fearsome Ringwraiths are searching for a Hobbit. Frodo Baggins knows that they are seeking him and the Ring he bears-the Ring of Power that will enable evil Sauron to destroy all that is good in Middle-earth. Now it is up to Frodo and his faithful servant, Sam, with a small band of companions, to carry the Ring to the one place it can be destroyed: Mount Doom, in the very center of Sauron's realm.
Ratings (1184)
Incredible (368) | |
Loved It (426) | |
Liked It (220) | |
It Was OK (105) | |
Did Not Like (54) | |
Hated It (11) |
Reader Stats (1676):
Read It (1211) | |
Currently Reading (13) | |
Want To Read (229) | |
Did Not Finish (50) | |
Not Interested (173) |
20 comment(s)
Less ramblings on hobbits
Iconic
The Fellowship of the Ring is not only incredibly adventurous, but also quite witty and hilarious! This book was an absolute thrill to read and is fantasy, adventure, suspense, and humor all wrapped into one awesome story! Each character had their own unique backstory and how they were important to the present story and why that would affect the future. This book was incredibly well thought out and planned. There is a variety of fantasy based characters that come together and also have their own conflicts together to resolve the best they possibly can. This story is much like a spool of thread in the sense that it keeps unwinding and there's always something new to learn, something new to explore, and old lore coming back to haunt everyone in a big way. The battle between good verses evil rages on and keeps up a good pace throughout. There is intense detail, immaculate settings, and wonderful character growth as time moves forward.
The fellowship of the ring is continued story of "The Hobbit". And the ring that Bilbo had stolen/mistakenly taken from Gollum is the "Hero".
Bilbo retires, Frodo takes over with his set of friends and of course Gandalf. And story continues how they are going to overcome the dark power that is growing and also of the ring.
Tolkein's style of writing is very descriptive. As if he likes a particular situation, he will explain it on and on and on. And if u like that then u can go for his books, else its utterly a waste of time.
I hated this book
Am I a fake fantasy fan?
Reading this book so many years after the first time (back when I was far too young to have even a chance of enjoying it), I thought I'd grown enough as a reader to like it at the very least. It seems that hypothesis was incorrect, however, since finishing this book took me a whopping FIVE MONTHS. Shocked and appalled, gasps throughout the audience.
I swear, if I spiral into an identity crisis because of this book (too late), I'll become the most obnoxious sci-fi reader and pretend I've never heard of fantasy.
My issues are these: Tolkien is what polite circles call loquacious, and others call excessive. If he was going to spend paragraphs detailing the geographical location of the party (whose path we already know), then WHY did he include MAPS in the FIRST PLACE?!?!
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FURTHERMORE: What on earth (or middle-earth) was the pacing of this thing?? I feel like nothing happened, then a brief glimmer of something happened, then nothing again. Why should I keep reading if no characters are compelling enough to drag me through this non-plot?!
On a positive note, I did experience moments of genuine engagement and interest in this story (you're a real one, Gandalf), but they were so few and far between they couldn't possibly make up for all the times I was bored.
I wholeheartedly acknowledge the impact and importance Tolkien's work in LOTR had on the genre I love, but it's still disappointing to read something so well beloved and feel like the odd one out because it felt like a chore.
A phenomenal adventure worthy of its lofty status.
Upon finishing this book I was reminded of being a 7th grader, sitting in a movie theater as the credits rolled on my first (of three) viewings. A dad and a kid around my age were in the row in front of us and I remember laughing as the kid exclaimed, “it’s over!? well they’re definitely going to have to make a sequel”.
It’s interesting to see how the second book picks up in the same scene that Fellowship ends with. The two scenes are so intermingled that the movie version includes the full sequence in the first movie.
I wonder if these three books would be one book if they were released today. At 1,178 pages, the total length of all three LoTR books is shorter than single entries in Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive.
Tolkien’s world building is unparalleled, even by the aforementioned Brandon Sanderson (who I highly admire for his own mastery of words and worlds). The fact that the original manuscript for this series has over 9,200 is absolutely mind-boggling. Stranger still is the Forward to Fellowship which reports that Tolkien himself didn’t think there would be any commercial interest in this work due to the linguistic and historical intricacies.
I’m rambling at this point. The book was great and I can’t wait to dig into the rest of the series.
This is lovely, and not at all what I was expecting. I knew the bare bones of the story going in, and thought the book would be generally dark and serious. As it turns out, though, it's surprisingly light-hearted: not only is there a perhaps excessive amount of singing and poetry, but the characters seem quite joyful, even when things are grim. (Tom Bombadil in particular is a wonderful character.) The prose, too, isn't terribly dense, but almost romantically pastoral.
What a nice change from the few modern fantasy books I've read, with their focus on gritty politics and morally ambiguous characters. Not that Tolkein's characters are one-note, but there is a definite sense of good vs. evil that I think is lacking in most modern literature. Even at the end, when Frodo notes that
Boromir
has become corrupted, it's framed as just that: a corruption. There may be sympathy for and an understanding of him as a character, but there's no ambiguity in Tolkein's judgement of his choices. Maybe the allegory/themes seem a bit heavy-handed to modern readers, but I'm really enjoying that aspect: it makes it feel even more like an adult fairy tale.
Now on to my complaints: At times, this is really slow. I tried to read this twice in middle or high school and gave up because I thought it dragged, and while my literary palate has come a long way since then, I'll admit that there were times I had to force myself to keep reading. (Though, I think reading this immediately after Watership Down, which was also a leisurely read, helped get me in the right frame of mind.) Also, as someone who is bad with names, some parts were difficult to follow--especially when places and people have multiple names in multiple languages. That said, I don't think I missed anything terribly important. Finally, this is not Tolkein's fault, but I've seen this movie (though not the others, thankfully), and while I don't entirely remember it, I'm familiar enough with the plot beats that it takes away some of the anticipation and makes it drag a bit.
On to Part 2!
The Lord of the Rings is not The Hobbit. If you have tried The Hobbit and didn't love it, you're probably not going to like The Lord of the Rings. The Hobbit is the epitome of the perfect fantasy tale. The kind you want to sit around a campfire and hear told with dramatic exaggeration. It has a dragon and dwarves, a wizard and one lone hobbit who turns out to be the bravest of them all.
But The Lord of the Rings is
not The Hobbit. The Lord of the Rings is The Hobbit's meticulous, older and more serious brother who is going to sit you down and tell you an
epic tale of adventure that spans four ages with maps, appendices and side trips delving into the history of many people and a world of places. If you don't like the base elements of The Hobbit, you're going to hate Lord of the Rings because The Lord of the Rings is just a long drawn out, denser version.
J.R.R. Tolkien has not just written
a story. He's written an entire world of stories. He pretty much spent a lifetime writing and bringing to life Middle Earth and it's freaking incredible.
Is it perfect? No. But any criticisms don't detract from the highly imaginative work this is - or from my enjoyment of it.
5 stars. It's a classic.
The first volume, The Fellowship of the Ring is fantastic. There's lots of adventure and danger and friendships. The hobbits travel to Rivendell, picking up Aragorn on the way. At Rivendell a council is held and The Fellowship of the Ring is formed - a company of nine representing the races of the land. The hobbits; Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, the Rider; Aragorn, the Wizard; Gandalf, the Men; Boromir, the Dwarves; Gimli and the Elves; Legolas. Then the Company sets out on their adventure to destroy the ring. I love this book - it's fast paced and intense and had me riveted. I did find the depth confusing at times - there's so many characters and names and backstories and footnotes and references and it can be very intimidating and overwhelming. But I also love the depth because all the background is what makes it such a classic.
Merry, Pippin, Fatty Bolger and Sam are freaking hilarious. I love that Frodo thinks he's going on this dangerous mission with only Sam to accompany him. A dangerous mission no one knows or suspects him to be undertaking. And then he turns up at Crickhollow and the gang confront him and are like we know you're going away.
Frodo: The time has come. I must tell you. I'm leaving.
Gang: Gee really, we never would've have guessed with you going to all your old haunts and muttering things like 'will I never see this again?' But guess what you're not going to escape that easily!
Frodo: If you know I must leave then don't hinder me.
Gang: Yeah we won't - we're coming too!
Frodo: But you don't understand it's dangerous. I have a thing.
Gang: Oh you mean the ring? The ring that makes you invisible? Yeah that's not a secret to us. Bilbo outed than one, long before you.
Frodo: The ring? You know about the ring?
Gang: Duh.
Merry: I kept it secret but with all your plotting our conspiracy had to be shared so I told the gang.
Gang: And then we spied on you and Gandalf with you none the wiser til our chief conspirator got caught.
Frodo: Chief conspirator?
Gang: Yeah Sam is awesome. He learnt everything.
Frodo: Sam? Sam!?
Sam: Well Gandalf said you're not s'pose to go alone so here we are.
Frodo: But I can't trust you!
Gang: Don't be ridiculous.
‘It all depends on what you want,’ put in Merry. ‘You can trust us to stick to you through thick and thin – to the bitter end. And you can trust us to keep any secret of yours – closer than you keep it yourself. But you cannot trust us to let you face trouble alone, and go off without a word. We are your friends, Frodo.
Tolkien, J. R. R.. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King (p. 105). HarperCollins Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Frodo: Well crap. Guess you're coming with.
I like Tom Bombadil. He's so cheerful. I like that he helps out the hobbits and sends them in the right direction. At Bree, we meet Aragorn/Strider/Ranger. I've always loved the poem to go with his name.
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.
Tolkien, J. R. R.. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King (p. 170). HarperCollins Publishers. Kindle Edition.
It was interesting to find that Bilbo actually wrote the poem. I liked the hobbits visiting Rivendell and meeting Bilbo again.
I adore Sam. I love all the hobbits - Frodo, Merry and Pippin are amazing (and Fatty Bolger is amusing) - but I adore Sam. He is a true and steadfast friend and a very brave hobbit. I love the end of the first volume after Boromir attacks and Frodo decides to leave by himself. Sam is hilarious when he chases after Frodo. Sam runs to the boats thinking that's how he'll leave and sees a boat gliding along with no one in it and ignoring the fact he can't swim - totally jumps for it, misses and almost drowns until Frodo decides to fish him out. He's terrified but so loyal and I love it. Plus I love his comments to himself - his remarks about forgetting the rope had me chuckling.
great world building
About the Author:
J.R.R. Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892 in South Africa. Tolkien was educated and taught Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University. Tolkien's other works include The Hobbit and The Simarillion, which are both available on audio from Random House.
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