Quite tragically, this was a rare instance of a series for which I watched the film adaptations before reading the novels. How much I would give to reverse that order. I can understand now why Lord of the Rings is such a classic and why Tolkien is so revered. Tolkien’s prose struck me; it was descriptive, smooth, and could so aptly convey the mood of the setting. Further, the depth of his Middle-Earth was incredible. Whenever I read, there was a feeling of a vast world and history, so detailed that even the lines of a couple hobbits were fleshed out. That’s without even starting on the lines of Men. Compared with the films, I really appreciated the realistic sense of size reading gave, as every part of the travels were explained. It was great fun travelling through the Barrows, by Weathertop, through the Bruinen, down the Roaros, across the plains of Rohan, and over the Emyn Nuil. It was far too easy to get lost in the diversity of Middle-Earth and place myself in those beautiful lands. Events were also less dramatized in the books, which I liked. For example, the ambush in the mines of Moria weren’t due to Pippin (or Merry?).

Overall, very classic. What a tale of adventure, mysterious lands, heroism, lore, and legend.