The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

The Lord of the Rings

The Return of the
King

By J.R.R Tolkien

The Lord of the Rings was written by J.R.R Tolken. The book
was first published on October 20, 1955 by George
Allen and Unwin. The book is a fantasy novel that also covers action and
romance. The book is the third part of the series which is about the dark lord
Sauron mounding his forces to take over Middle-Earth.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

The book is set throughout Gondor, Rohan and Mordor.  The Author is narrating the story and tries
to follow Frodo the most he can but does stay at some points. There isn’t a
main protagonist in the book but there is a main six characters, they are
Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Aragon, Legolas, Gimli, and Gandalf. The book starts
with Gandalf and Pippin arriving at Minas Tirith in the kingdom of Gondor,
delivering the news to Denethor, the Lord and Steward of Gondor. The news is
that a devastating attack on his city by the dark lord Sauron is imminent.
Pippin then enters the service of the Steward as repayment of a debt he owes to
Boromir, Denethor’s dead son and preferred heir. Now clad in the uniform of the
tower guard, Pippin watches the fortunes of war unfold, while Denethor descends
into madness as the forces Mordor proceed ever closer to Gondor's crucial city
of Minas Tirith. Faramir, Boromir's younger brother, returns from his campaign
with the very little amount of man power. He is soon ordered to ride out and
continue the hopeless defense of Osgiliath (Gondor’s 2nd city)
against a horde of orcs. Osgiliath is soon overrun and where Faramir is gravely
wounded is carried back to Denethor. With losing many of people and his only
remaining son, Denethor orders a funeral pyre built that is to claim both him
and his dying son. Minas Tirith stands encircled and besieged by the armies of
Mordor. The orcs descend upon Minas Tirith and come very close to overrunning
the city before the rohirrim come also Aragon, Legolas and Gimli with an army
of the dead. They then help the people of Gondor to win the battle. Two days
after Gondor’s win against the orcs they march for the Black Gate.

 The book then takes an unexpected turn when
Sam takes the ring from Frodo, so it wouldn’t give him such a weight to carry.
Sam and Frodo navigate the barren wasteland of Mordor and are captured by a
company of Orcs but escape and are forced to disguise themselves in Orcish
armour. Gandalf's plan to distract Sauron from the Ring is successful. Mordor
is almost empty as all the remaining Orcs have marched to defend the land
against the assault of the army led by Gandalf and Aragorn. Frodo and Sam,
after a weary and dangerous journey, finally reach their final destination of
the Crack of Doom. As Frodo is about to throw the Ring into Mount Doom, he succumbs
to the Ring's power and refuses to let it go. Gollum, who had been following
the pair, attacks Frodo and bites off his finger, along with the Ring. Gollum
gloats over getting the ring back, but loses his balance and falls into the
lava below, taking the Ring with him. The Ring is destroyed, freeing
Middle-earth from Sauron's power. Frodo and Sam are rescued by the Great
Eagles, who carry them from Mount Doom. Upon Sauron's defeat, his armies at the
Gate flee. Sauron finally appears as a gigantic shadow trying to reach out for
the armies of men, but is now powerless and is blown away by a wind. The men
under Sauron's command that surrender are forgiven and allowed to return to
their lands in peace.

Aragorn is
crowned King of Gondor outside the walls of Minas Tirith in a celebration
during which all four Hobbits are greatly honored for their contribution to the
War of the Ring. A healed Faramir is appointed Prince of Ithilien and Steward
of Gondor, and Aragorn marries Arwen, daughter of Elrond of Rivendell. After a
series of goodbyes, the Hobbits return home to find the Shire in ruins, its
inhabitants oppressed by Lotho Sackville who is in reality controlled by a
shadowy figure called "Sharkey". Sharkey has taken complete control
of the Shire using corrupt Men, and begins felling trees in a gratuitous
program of industrialization. Merry, Pippin, Frodo and Sam make plans to set
things right once more. They lead an uprising of Hobbits and are victorious at
the Battle of by water which effectively frees the Shire. At the very doorstep
of Bag End, they meet Sharkey, who is revealed to be the evil wizard Saruman,
and his servant Gríma. Obstinate in defeat, Saruman abuses Gríma, who responds
by slitting his master's throat. Gríma is himself slain by hobbit archers as he
attempts to escape. Over time the Shire is healed. The many trees that
Saruman's men cut down are replanted; buildings are rebuilt and peace is
restored. Sam marries Rosie Cotton, with whom he had dreamed about for some
time. Merry and Pippin lead Buckland and Tuckborough to greater achievements.
Frodo, however, cannot escape the pain of his wounds, having been stabbed by
the Witch-king and poisoned by Shelob. Eventually he departs for the Undying
Lands in the West, with Gandalf, Bilbo Baggins, and many Elves, ending the
Third Age.

I believe
that the Author achieved what he set out to do when writing this book. The way
he wrote this book was effective, very competent and intelligent way of
writing. The strengths of the book are the grammar and the creativity of the
author. There are no weaknesses of this text that is why I think it is one of
the best classics of all time. My overall response to the book is that there
was never a dull moment when reading this book and I was intrigued of what was
going to happen next all the time. I would definitely recommend this book to
others as it is so interesting and captivating. 

Lord of the
Rings the Return of the King is a book about power, friendship and good versus
evil. The book is for people who are interested in fantasy and want a book that
is intelligently written. All up a very good book 10/10.