the Lord of the Rings: book five

This book (yes I know that link is for the whole trilogy condensed into one book whereas this post is only going to talk about the first half of the Return of the King, but deal with it mate) is the fifth instalment of J. R. R. Tolkien's classic (virtually myth-status) fantastical trilogy. I have a lot to say about this trilogy, but I'm reading it all in one go, so I'm saving my reflections and my recommendations until the final post, and here will simply outline in brief the specific plot of this instalment. Spoilers, obviously.

   Gandalf arrives with Pippin at Minas Tirith, the capital of Gondor, where they try to warn the steward Denethor (as Gondor hasn't had a king for ages) of impending dangers. Meanwhile, the Rohirrim (as in the cavalry of Rohan) are mustering for war, including Merry and Theoden's badass niece Eowyn; but Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli have gone off on a side-quest to try to persuade a bunch of ghosts to fight alongside them, which the ghosts agree to because SURPRISE yep you guessed it Aragorn is the rightful King of Gondor and therefore the only person who can command the ghosts' loyalty. Back in Gondor things are bad; orcs and their allies are pouring out of Mordor and laying siege to the defences - fortunately the Rohirrim arrive in time to make a big difference to the climactic battle on the fields surrounding Minas Tirith, and when the defeat of the good guys hangs in the balance, Aragorn turns up with his army of ghosts, who win the day. Faramir and Eowyn (the latter of whom, with Merry's help, had in fact killed the leader of Sauron's wraiths) have both been wounded, and Denethor (assuming Faramir [his son] to be dead and knowing that Boromir [his other son] is actually dead too) tries to burn Faramir on a funeral pyre - fortunately Pippin intervenes, saving the life of the steward-in-waiting. Aragorn uses his skills as a healer to bring Eowyn and Faramir back to full health, and then an intense debate ensues about what to do next about Mordor - where it is finally decided that the remainders of Gondor's and Rohan's armies will ride right up to Mordor's gates, to draw out all the orcs within so that Frodo & Sam have a clear run to the volcano where they must destroy the ring. Unsurprisingly this turns out to be quite a big battle.

   But that's where this penultimate instalment ends...

the Lord of the Rings: book four

This book (yes I know that link is for the whole trilogy condensed into one book whereas this post is only going to talk about the second half of the Two Towers, but deal with it mate) is the fourth instalment of J. R. R. Tolkien's classic (virtually myth-status) fantastical trilogy. I have a lot to say about this trilogy, but I'm reading it all in one go, so I'm saving my reflections and my recommendations until the final post, and here will simply outline in brief the specific plot of this instalment. Spoilers, obviously.

   Herein, rather than following the men and wizards and whatnot, we follow Frodo and Sam's journey toward Mordor - which gets off to a rocky start when Gollum (an ex-hobbit who had the ring for about five-hundred years before Bilbo found/stole it off him) sneaks up on them: despite his probable treachery, the hobbits decide that they need Gollum to show them the way, as he's been to Mordor before, unlike them. They take a shortcut across marshes full of ghosts, and sooner-than-you'd-expect reach the gates of Mordor - which are incredibly heavily-guarded, so they plan to find another way in. However along their route they are captured by Gondorian captain Faramir - who is quite suspicious of them, especially Gollum, whom he nearly orders to be killed. However the hobbits manage to make a good impression on Faramir and he releases them, with a warning to trust neither Gollum nor the route he's taking them. It turns out Gollum has been leading them to an incredibly precarious stair cut into the side of the mountains that surround Mordor, and at the top of this stair is a tunnel that is home to Shelob (an evil giant spider basically). Sam had become separated from Frodo & Gollum during the climb, and without anyone to look after him Frodo is incapacitated by Shelob - which is exactly what Gollum wanted, so he could take the ring back once the hobbit had been eaten. However Sam shows up in the nick of time, and with a combination of sheer ballsiness and the magical phial that Galadriel gave to Frodo, he manages to fight Shelob away from his friend and master. Unfortunately, Sam assumes that Frodo is dead - he is merely paralysed by Shelob's venom - and hesitates a bit too long, giving orcs from the nearby tower of Cirith Ungol the chance to stumble across Frodo's body. Naturally, they take him as a prisoner back to the tower, leaving Sam in quite a bind. Thank goodness he had the foresight to take the ring off Frodo just before the orcs turned up.

   That's it for book four...

the Lord of the Rings: book three

This book (yes I know that link is for the whole trilogy condensed into one book whereas this post is only going to talk about the first half of the Two Towers, but deal with it mate) is the third instalment of J. R. R. Tolkien's classic (virtually myth-status) fantastical trilogy. I have a lot to say about this trilogy, but I'm reading it all in one go, so I'm saving my reflections and my recommendations until the final post, and here will simply outline in brief the specific plot of this instalment. Spoilers, obviously.

   It's a mess, guys. Boromir has been killed by orcs, trying to defend Merry and Pippin, who themselves have been taken captive by aforementioned orcs, and with Frodo & Sam gone off on their own it falls to Aragorn to figure out what to do with the remainder of the fellowship. Along with Legolas and Gimli, he decides to pursue the orcs to rescue the hobbits. They soon run into men of Rohan, the horse-based civilisation, who are also pursuing the orcs. The men of Rohan in fact meet and battle and defeat the orcs holding Merry & Pippin prisoner - and the hobbits escape into the forest where they meet an ent (sentient tree basically) called Treebeard (sigh, yes, top marks to Tolkien for this character name despite the fact that ents have a language all of their own). Aragorn, Legolas & Gimli find the ruin from this battle and follow the tracks into the forest, where SURPRISE they meet a resurrected new-and-improved Gandalf - who tells them that much is afoot. The four of them travel to the capital of Rohan to talk with King Theoden, who is under a spell from the evil wizard Saruman: fortunately Gandalf is able to break the spell and they talk some sense into Theoden about all the orcs running amok. The men of Rohan muster at a keep called Helm's Deep, where there is a massive battle against Saruman's orcs (okay I know they're called uruk-hai technically but I'm trying to keep this summary as accessible to non-LOTR-fans as I can), which the forces of good manage to win. Afterward they travel to Isengard, where Saruman lives, and discover that Merry & Pippin are already there - not to mention the fact that it's flooded and ruined, because the hobbits managed to convince the ents to destroy it. Saruman tries to sway the good guys with his magical voice but fails. Pippin finds a magical seeing-ball (called a Palantir) in the wreckage and is intrigued by it - he looks into it (against Gandalf's warnings) and has a brief moment of connection with Sauron, who was on the other end.

   And that's where book three leaves off...

the Lord of the Rings: book two

This book (yes I know that link is for the whole trilogy condensed into one book whereas this post is only going to talk about the second half of the Fellowship of the Ring, but deal with it mate) is the second instalment of J. R. R. Tolkien's classic (virtually myth-status) fantastical trilogy. I have a lot to say about this trilogy, but I'm reading it all in one go, so I'm saving my reflections and my recommendations until the final post, and here will simply outline in brief the specific plot of this instalment. Spoilers, obviously.

   So soon enough Frodo with his elf-guardian arrive at Rivendell, and the master there, another elf named Elrond, is able to save him from his dagger-wound. Sam, Merry, Pippin and Aragorn soon arrive, and the five of them meet up with Gandalf, who has been waiting for them. We then meet a bunch of new people, including Gondorian military leader Boromir, another elf named Legolas, and a dwarf called Gimli; then Elrond calls a council, in which all characters already named and present attend, so that representatives of all the Free Peoples of Middle-Earth can decide what to do about the ring. It is decided that it must be destroyed - only the catch is it can only be destroyed by being cast into the volcano where it was forged, in Mordor - Sauron's dark realm. Frodo, almost by default, is chosen as the ring-bearer; and the other three hobbits, as well as Gandalf, Aragorn, Boromir, Legolas and Gimli all join his party - which is termed the fellowship of the ring. They set off on their journey towards Mordor, or at least in that general direction. Crossing the mountains proves problematic so they take a shortcut through the dwarven kingdom of Moria, where they discover that goblins have taken over and killed pretty much all the dwarves. Then a balrog (a kind of fiery demon type thing) shows up and everyone just about manages to escape - only after Gandalf sacrifices himself to defeat it. Escaping from Moria the remaining fellowship make their way to the elven realm of Lothlorien, where Frodo tries to offer the ring to elf-leader-lady Galadriel - who is tempted, but refuses to take it. After leaving Lothlorien laden with individual gifts from Galadriel, the fellowship realise that they are being pursued by orcs, and in the confusion Boromir tries to take the ring from Frodo (who manages to get away, and takes a boat to continue his journey alone but for Sam).

   And that's where book two leaves off...

the Lord of the Rings: book one

This book (yes I know that link is for the whole trilogy condensed into one book whereas this post is only going to talk about the first half of the Fellowship of the Ring, but deal with it mate) is the first instalment of J. R. R. Tolkien's classic (virtually myth-status) fantastical trilogy. I have a lot to say about this trilogy, but I'm reading it all in one go, so I'm saving my reflections and my recommendations until the final post, and here will simply outline in brief the specific plot of this instalment. Spoilers, obviously.

   So there's a hobbit called Frodo, whose uncle Bilbo found a magic ring fifty years previously. After the party for Bilbo's eleventy-first birthday (don't @ me it's literally what hobbits call 111 as a number) the wizard Gandalf persuades Bilbo to leave the ring to Frodo along with everything else before he [i.e. Bilbo] wanders off into a retirement (not that he ever had a job I don't think) of meandering around the world talking to elves and whatnot. Gandalf then goes off and does a lot of research about magic rings, as the Dark Lord Sauron crafted a ring of great and nefarious power many ages ago, and this ring has been lost to time; seventeen years after Bilbo's party, Gandalf returns to the Shire (where the hobbits live) and confirms that Frodo's ring is indeed this lost evil artefact. Gandalf tells Frodo to head to the elven town Rivendell for further consideration of what to do with the ring. So soon after Frodo sets off with his gardener Sam; they run into their friends Merry and Pippin, and the four of them proceed on their journey. After they all nearly get eaten or drowned by a mean tree, they are rescued by a mysterious man called Tom Bombadil, who is utterly brilliant and totally pointless and 100% just an author-insert so Tolkien could rove around Middle-Earth as a borderline-omnipotent forest-dweller. Bombadil rescues them again (this time from ghosts) and sends them on their way, until they eventually reach the village of Bree - where they realise they are being pursued by wraiths, agents of Sauron himself. They meet a ranger called Strider who leads them on, and while camping on a hill called Weathertop the wraiths attack and their leader stabs Frodo with a magical dagger. Aragorn (as in Strider - you didn't think Strider was his real name did you? idiots) fights off the wraiths and a friendly elf shows up to ride Frodo to Rivendell before he succumbs to his wound.

   And that's where the first instalment ends...