The Fellowship of the Ring (LotR #1)

Title: The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings #1)

Author: J.R.R. Tolkien

Year: 1954

Synopsis: In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as his elderly cousin Bilbo entrusts the Ring to his care. Frodo must leave his home and make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.

STEPH SAID

Rating:

Review:

This book is a piece of art; the landscapes and visuals presented by the author are magnificent, vibrant, vivid and breathtaking. The delicacy with which he painted such detailed portraits left me in awe. I felt like I was in Middle Earth journeying with the Fellowship.

I also admire the hard work Tolkien put into developing such a story. Every race and people have a complete, detailed history. Everything fits perfectly; there are no loose ends or incongruencies in a story that spawns thousands of years. The actual plot of this book is also perfectly constructed. Whatever hapened had to happened, there was no other way. People can't say "if this person had done that, then things would have been different" because Tolkien thought about those possibilities and explored them, and explained in the book why it had to be a certain way.

The Fellowship of the Ring is mostly an introduction to the story of The Lord of the Rings (it being the first volume of a continuous story). The story of The Ring and the reasons for its compulsory destruction were presented. The members of The Fellowship were chosen and from that moment on ties began to form and alligaces began to develop. The bigger part of this book consisted in journeys, most of them on foot. Another big part is about the traps and stops the enemies of the Fellowship planted to either stop, delay or thwart their journeys.

However, to me the story of The Ring and Sauron's rise to power weren't clearly explained. I couldn't understand how a ring could bring such malice and could give someone such power. Just because it is a Ring of Power? What power; from where? I found it unbelievable. If it was just a Ring of Power it could be used for good. I was as skeptic as Boromir. Thus, at first, I wasn't engaged with the story. It wasn't until I watched the 2001 movie adaptation that I understood. In this adaptation it's said that Sauron poured his soul and malice into The Ring. When I heard that I felt like I'd just had an epiphany; I understood the power of the ring, why it was a necessity to destroy it and why people would even die in the process.

I know this book is actually a sequel to The Hobbit. Hence, after I finish reading The Hobbit I will read The Lord of the Rings again and will update this review if necessary.