My Review
My Rating: 5/5
The Fellowship of the Ring Book Review – Spoiler Free
I have been slowly rereading The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien over the last few months and I’ve loved every moment of it. I read these fantasy books years ago, and I used to watch the films over and over again, so this is a series that has shaped my life.
The Fellowship of the Ring is a fantastic introduction to The Lord of the Rings. We begin the story in the Shire with Frodo and Bilbo Baggins. I love the Shire. It’s depicted in such a way that you can’t help but wish that you could live there!
It’s full of cheery hobbits who are eating, drinking, singing, growing crops, or smoking. It’s a relaxing life and makes for a wonderful few chapters.
If you read this book without knowing anything about the series then you might think that the ending of The Fellowship of the Rings doesn’t feel quite right – there isn’t an overarching plot as such.
That’s because you need to read the whole trilogy – or better yet, the full The Lord of the Rings book – as that is how the story is designed to be consumed. I’m not a fan of the structure of the individual books, but that doesn’t mean The Fellowship of the Ring is bad in any way!
The first part can feel a little slow, but as soon as Frodo, Pippin, Merry, and Sam leave the Shire, the story really does take off. The main threat of this book is the Nazgûl, and they are terrifying! They are chasing the ring and have the name “Baggins” to search with.
History, lore, and language in The Fellowship of the Rings are incredible. Songs and poems are often told, depicting grand adventures or love stories – tales that have been told over decades. The amount of worldbuilding that J. R. R. Tolkien managed to slip into dialogue and descriptions without having huge exposition dumps is frustratingly incredible.
If you don’t fall in love with the story, then you’ll fall in love with the characters or the world or its history or the complexity of names and language. There is so much to appreciate in this book that I don’t think I could ever reread it enough in my lifetime to soak in every last detail.
(Possible) SPOILER SECTION – No spoilers for this review – I might come back to it in the future, or possibly start writing some discussion posts on the plots, books and characters of the series.
Book Reviews for J. R. R. Tolkien’s Legendarium
The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings #2)
The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings #3)
