The Lord of the Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien

       Hands down, The Lord of the Rings is my favorite fictional book series ever. So here's a detailed review of the story of a magical ring. (my review of Tolkien's The Hobbit here)

One Ring to rule them all...

Three rings for the Elven-kings under the sky

Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone

Nine for mortal men doomed to die

One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne

In Mordor where the shadows lie

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them

One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie...

Books - Plot summaries: 

The Fellowship of the Ring: Centuries ago in the land of Mordor, the Dark Lord Sauron secretly forged a Ring of Power -- One Ring to rule them all. But the Ring escaped him, and for many years Sauron was unable to carry out his plan to use it to conquer the world of Middle-earth. The Ring passed through many hands, until at last it fell into the hands of Frodo Baggins, a hobbit of the Shire. Now Frodo's job is to destroy this Ring by casting it into the fires of Mount Doom in Mordor, where the Ring was first created. Frodo must travel across Middle-Earth as part of The Fellowship (the group assigned to take the Ring to Mordor) pursued by the sinister Black Riders and hideous Orcs.

The Two Towers: Separated from the rest of the Fellowship by a battle with Orcs, Frodo and his friend Sam must continue on to Mordor alone. Guided only by the Ring-twisted, Ring-seeking creature Gollum, they traverse dangerous paths. Meanwhile, a few members of the Fellowship journey to gain the help of the country of Rohan. And there's another dangerous wizard around, who must be conquered before he slays the giant tree-creatures the Ents and unleashes vast armies of Orcs. Will Frodo and Sam reach Mordor safely to destroy the Ring? Can the rest of the fellowship hold off the Dark Lords in the two towers?

The Return of the King: Middle-Earth has been plunged into war. The country of Rohan arises to destroy the Dark Lord, but the Orcs are marching on the country of Gondor, which has long been left without a king. Battles rage on the Pelennor Fields as the Orcs fight to capture the noble city of Minas Tirith. Meanwhile Frodo and Sam travel through Mordor, growing weaker and weaker in the dark land. Will Frodo have the strength to complete his quest? And will the world of Middle-Earth ever be the same again?

Books - Discussions: These books aren't as easy to read as Tolkien's The Hobbit. The writing is less lighthearted, and occasionally more difficult to follow. I personally consider these my favorite fictional books, nonetheless, but I'd recommend it for age 11-up. (I didn't get much out of trying Fellowship of the Ring at age 9.) 
        Well-developed characters abound in Tolkien's works. Gandalf the Grey is the quick-tempered, wise old wizard that he was in The Hobbit, and you get to know him a little better in this series. Frodo Baggins, like his uncle Bilbo, is reluctant to leave the Shire, but he has more adventurous leanings, and likes poetry and ancient tales more than Bilbo did. Frodo's hobbit companions provide much of the humor. Samwise Gamgee (Sam), Frodo's longtime friend and loyal companion is a sturdy, down-to-earth hobbit who secretly longs to see Elves. Meriadoc Brandybuck (Merry) is a mostly sensible hobbit with astonishing perception. Peregrin Took (Pippin) is the one who generally gets his friends in trouble, eliciting the title "Fool of a Took!" from Gandalf, who finds it difficult to put up with Pippin's carefree ways. All the hobbits are sturdy, loyal folk who are determined to see the quest through, although they don't always enjoy it. Gandalf and the four hobbits are the first five of the group of nine collected to destroy the Ring.
 Gandalf introduces another companion to Frodo: Strider, a wandering Ranger also known as

Aragorn. Strider is tall and dark and mysterious, and the hobbits are suspicious of him at first. But Aragorn protects the hobbits loyally, guiding them by safe paths and delivering them from trouble whenever he can. 
   Legolas and Gimli, an Elf and a Dwarf, form another pair of members who are part of the Fellowship of the Ring. Legolas Greenleaf, a skilled fighter, hails from the forest of Mirkwood, and he and the ax-wielding Dwarf Gimli greatly dislike each other. Elves and Dwarves simply don't take to each other in general, and Legolas's father Thranduil treated Gimli's father Gloin disgracefully years ago. (This incident is detailed in The Hobbit.) Legolas longs to travel to the Sea, as do many of the Elves. Gimli longs to visit the vast underground caverns of the Mines of Moria. Legolas and Gimli must work together despite their differences
   The last member of the Fellowship is Boromir, a mighty and courageous leader from the land of Gondor. He personally believes that the Ring should be used to help Gondor escape from the approaching Orcs, but agrees to help the Fellowship in their quest as a representative from Gondor. Boromir is the eldest of two brothers, and favored by his bitter father Denethor, the Steward of Gondor. Boromir's younger brother Faramir is introduced in The Two Towers, as a gentler, humbler man who seeks knowledge above might.
   There's also the people of Rohan; Eomer, the brave nephew of the king, who seeks fiercely to free Rohan from Orc raids. There's Theoden, the King of Rohan, rendered weak and helpless by the poisonous words of the sly Wormtongue. There's Eowyn, Eomer's sister,  the lovely and cold princess who longs to wield a sword in the defense of her people. 
   Another key character is Gollum. Once Smeagol, a person in race similar to a hobbit, he is now a ravenous, desperate, dark-loving creature known as Gollum for the gurgling sound he makes deep in his throat. Gollum wants the Ring more than anything else, for he killed someone for it, and it has twisted and bent him and overtaken him. When Gollum loses the Ring, he immediately sets out to find it, and spends his days traveling at night (because the light of the Sun is painful to him) to secure the Ring for himself once more. "My precious," he calls it, and longs after it hungrily. And yet Gollum is a pitiable creature, a burdened wretch, in need of mercy. Many parallels can be drawn between Christianity and Tolkien's story, and Gollum is a perfect example of us as sinners, seeking after earthly things to satisfy us when what we desperately need is God's grace. Sam hates Gollum, but Frodo eventually comes to understand him and even to trust the miserable creature.
    The Ring itself is a danger. Always it seeks to return to Sauron, its creator. It instills passion in the heart of whoever dares to carry it, an obsessive desire to protect it and to keep it. It has the power to turn friend against friend and simply bearing it may be the greatest danger Frodo must face.
  Battles rage in Middle-Earth, from an underground fight with a fiery creature known as the

 Balrog to evading deadly cloaked Black Riders. And over it all, the Eye of Sauron watches from the tower of Barad-dur, as he gathers his strength in the dark land of Mordor. Will the Fellowship have the strength to together defeat this evil force?

Overall: The Lord of the Rings is a powerful tale of a fight against darkness. I highly recommend this series.

Movies - Discussions: I really enjoy the movie versions of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. The general plotline is the same, although many characters and events are changed or simply skipped. Tom Bombadil, a jolly wood-dweller, and his wife the river-maid Goldberry from Fellowship of the Ring are completely skipped. Perhaps that's not the greatest loss, but I liked that scene from the book and was sorry it wasn't in the movie. Many of the scenes in the Shire happen quickly and you don't get to know the hobbits living there as well as you do in the book. The Gaffer, Ted Sandyman, Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, and Farmer Maggot are the ones I most regret not really getting to see. 
   Also, the timeline's a little adjusted. Everything happens a little faster. Frodo leaves on his quest quite a bit earlier, and under different circumstances. I had read the books before I saw the movies, and this confused me a little. 
   And some of the characters have been changed a little. Aragorn is a little grimmer and moodier, and seems almost resentful about his position of leadership. Arwen, the quietly beautiful Elf-maiden whom Aragorn is to marry takes the place of the Elf Glorfindel in bringing Frodo to Rivendell. Faramir becomes a resentful, moody man, who is very suspicious of Frodo and Sam and wants the Ring for himself. 
 Despite all this, I love the movies, and very much enjoy watching them. The Black Riders look appropriately dark and sinister. Saruman the wizard is played to perfection. Merry and Pippin are a hilarious pair of mischief-makers. Sam is loyal to the end. 

Overall: I consider the movies some of my favorites, and I do recommend them.

All quotes from different parts of The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. All drawings by me.

Have you read/watched The Lord of the Rings? If so, what do you think?