Turning Page Books

A wonderful ending to an amazing trilogy.

Read my full review here.

Sometimes I find that the final book in a series can be sort of disappointing. That is not the case for this book. Tolkien has managed, once again, to create such an intricate story. There was a lot of foreshadowing though, again, some of the foreshadowing of happy or sad events became a little bit obvious. The descriptions and personification was, as usual, very lovely.

The characters are, unsurprisingly, my favourite aspect of this book. The character arc of each of them is so amazing to read. Each has grown and become more than they ever expected (more than others expected, too). Sam is really my favourite character. Of course, I really like Merry, Pippin, and Frodo. But Sam had to make so many choices and even when he would wrestle with his doubts, he still did what he thought was right. He never gave up, even when Frodo gave in to the power of the Ring and its ever-pressing darkness. Also, Sam is so witty! He often uses his intelligence to mock or refute his enemies. It might not have been intended as humorous, but that’s how I saw it (especially when Sam mocks Gollum). Another character which I enjoyed reading is Eowyn. I wish she had gotten more space on the page though Tolkien spent more time with her here than in the previous books. Eowyn shows herself to be equal to men - actually, better than them since she is the only one brave enough to stand up to the leader of the Nazgul. I wish that she was recognized by more characters as a wonderful, strong character. She wishes to be more than the label that society would choose for her. I could go on and on about this so I’ll just stop here.

Some minor issues with the novel are, again, very repetitive adjectives. Sometimes they would even be repeated on the same page only a paragraph or two apart. I found this to be quite off-putting. Also, in the last chapter or so, Tolkien begins to frequently use dates. I’m not quite sure why he does this since he hasn’t done this in the previous books.

Overall, this book was a good ending to a well-written and enjoyable series.