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The Return of the King

Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
Aug 03, 2016danielestes rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Tolkien's final installment of his classic Lord of the Rings trilogy has its moments of greatness, but overall it's too similar to the previous book in that it's too weighed down by the extended narratives of minor characters. The events surrounding Gondor, the Battle of Pelennor Fields and the rise of Aragorn are crucial, but the heart and soul of the story, and of the whole series, is the against-all-odds journey of Frodo and Sam into the heart of Doom. Their tale is what elevates the Lord of the Rings onto the 'Best of Fantasy' pedestal. Without that anchor, it's too easy to get lost in the weeds of everything else. And, my god, I forgot how much story there is between the ring tumbling into the fires of Mordor and Frodo setting off across the sea. If it weren't for that brilliant final chapter, The Grey Havens, Return of the King might well have run out of steam.