The Lord of the Rings Boxed Set TV tie-in edition

When you wanna read it, you can't without breaking the spine. The pages are glues sooo closely to each other. And after breaking the spine so you can finally read it normally, you can see where the pages ripped and where all the threads are holding the pages together. I got really excited and bought all the books because the new covers look amazing, but oh well, reading it wasn't too much fun as I personally like to keep my books in a good condition and now, after reading it 1 and owning it for what.. 3 days? it looks as if it's been through hell and is already 20 years old.. really disappointed. ...weiterlesen

It’s not easy to rate this book. I LOVE the LotR universe as its portrayed in the films which is why there’s soo much nostalgia already clinging to the story. Nonetheless, I’ll try to review this as fair as possible. Tolkien knows how to paint a picture of the surroundings the characters (and the reader alongside) find themselves in. The scenes were coming alive in my head and I could picture the small village of Bree and the wonderous forrest of Lothlórien so clearly. The fact that these pictures were quite different to the way Peter Jackson invisioned those places makes Tolkiens way of describing even more amazing. Also, I love, love, LOVE the way Tolkien writes characters because he gives them each a very unique 'voice'. It was very refreshing to read of a Frodo who’s not quite so withdrawn and who takes initiative himself every now and then. Gandalf is just as amazing as he was in The Hobbit and even Bilbo felt familiar. Pippin and Mery get to be so much more than the comical relieve and Boromir felt even more human. Even the Orcs were more tangible and seemed more cognisant. Aragorn is the only one whom I’d wished Tolkien had written a bit more like Jackson had made him. Still, I’m in awe at how you can always tell who’s speaking or thinking, as the characters are so well established and developed within the story. The one thing that has me give this book 4/5 stars is the pacing. To me, this should have been a bit tighter - even though I know that writing styles were different all these years ago. But, as I want to be as objective as I can be with this review I have to point that out. Quite a few scenes would have benefitted from a bit more action and a tighter pacing. I’m quite sure we would have learned about the characters just as well as with his approach. The first half, especially, dragged on quite a bit. Ultimately, it’s an AMAZING fantasy story and I can’t wait to read the second and third book in the series! ...weiterlesen