"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read" ~Groucho Marx

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Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. NY: First Ballantine, 1965. 527 pages. (Fantasy)

There are many characters in this book like the other books made by JRR Tolkien. One of the main characters is Frodo, the Ring Bearer. He was given the ring by Bilbo and is appointed the job of bringing the ring to the fiery depths of Mount Doom in the land of Mordor. The Nine Black Riders also share a big part in this story as wraiths of the ring. Once mortal men, they were given nine rings of power by the dark lord Sauron. Blinded by their greed and lust for power, they fell into darkness and are now his most deadly servants. Aragorn, a ranger of the North, is also one of the most important characters of the story. He is the son of Arathorn and heir to Isilidur and is the true king of Gondor. The journey takes place in the battle-hardened lands of Middle Earth where Frodo has to journey to Mordor and throw the ring into the fire. The characters set out in a Fellowship of nine to complete the quest. Join Gandalf the Grey; Aragorn; Legolas; Gimili son of Gloin; Boromir Captain of Gondor; Frodo the ring bearer; Sam Wise Gamgee, Frodo’s gardener; Peregrin Took; and Meridoc Brandybuck on their journey to Mordor. An interesting event is the Battle on Weathertop where Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, and Aragorn are surrounded in the ruins by five of the the Nine Black Riders. Frodo puts on the ring to try to escape, but sees the wraith’s true form. The captain of the nine draws his Morgul blade, a poisoned blade, and stabs Frodo with it. The scene that had the greatest impact on me is when Gandalf battles with a Balrog on the bridge of Khazad-Dum where a Balrog of Morgoth battles Gandalf. Gandalf is all alone fighting this demon from the deepest pits of Moria. I liked the book a lot because of the intense scenes and the mythical characters. I would recommend this book to everyone who likes fantasy.


Reviewed by: BigLipBubba52