THE RETURN OF THE KING - The Lord of the Rings (3)

I brought the TV-tie-up book series by buying separate books rather than buying the whole set of 1599 or so.Welcome for the tip.-- @inthebookwoods2 ✌️

The condition of the book is so good.

This is the good stuff at a very reasonable price, buy these Alan Lee Hardcovers separately instead of buying the overpriced Box Set.

I will remember this till my last breathe...Hat's off to JRR TOLKIEN...

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Beautiful book, received it in good condition and fast delivery, although the size of book is good, the font size is a bit small but otherwise overall it's very nice.And no words can describe the genius of Tolkien's writing.

Would have been a great book if the print could be a little bigger.

Good to have Collins Classics edition of this trilogy. This edition of 2001 has cover illustrations by John Howe and is a paperback edition.

I shall start by saying I am not a fan of LOTR or Tolkien generally, but a rereading of this book after having read it last in 1989 did give me something more than the first one.I got given the Nobel as a present when I was about 11in 1977. I finally read it end to end on about the fifth attempt during recovery from ‘flu’ in 1989 and at the time wondered why I bothered. I saw Kindle were giving the books away and decided to try them again this Autumn.I am still not a fan. I loathe the tedious poetry, a form of imitation of poem ‘Beowulf’ that Lewis Carroll lampoons in ‘The Hunting of the Jabberwocky’. I detest the conceit of made-up languages and systems of spelling. I find it arrogant at least that poems are in places rendered in the ‘original’ languages and then ‘translated’ into English. I know this is what attracts some readers; I just find it wasteful if my time! I really hate the archaisms and trite ‘medievalesque’ language used when ANY character other than a hobbit or ‘Orc’ is speaking. To my mind it seems laughable -and not in a good way! (The Orcs, incidentally all seem to be Cockneys!)Finally I am very surprised nobody in this day and age seems to have picked up on the seeming racism implicit in the writings. All the heroes are described as having ‘fair’ complexions’ and blonde hair is favoured. Orcs and villains all are described as dark and with ‘slit eyes’.Having said that, the books are actually quite addictive and I did mostly find them ‘page turning’. Read them and their influence on later writers won’t be lost on anyone with a smattering of reading modern so called classics.Overall though I still think these books are massively over-rated.

Beautiful books, received quickley.Very disappointed to see scuffing removing some of the colour on the edges and corners leaving white on view. I returned it to Amazon, thinking it was due to the lack of packaging when shipped, but having seen them in person at a store, I can see that it is a common issue with all of the books.

The content is perfect, Andy Serkis us a great narrator - but, leaving the discs in plain paper sleeves is a ridiculous. Years ago I bought The Hobbit/Lord Of The Rings audio CD's, each CD was in a printed cover, chapters separated by inserts, but this, CD's in a bit of paper, it's not good enough

The Return of the King is the conclusion to Tolkiens epic saga, The Lord of the Rings. Widely considered as a classic, this trilogy begins in the rolling fields of the shire and takes us through a journey of enormous proportions till at last we reach our destination in Mordor. The character development as we go through this saga is second to none as we watch our heroes Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and Boromir all do great deeds,to enable the fellowship to complete it's quest.In this version of the book, it has a wonderful cover design which draws on the story itself and beautifully depicts the white tree of Gondor. As this is part of a set, it also has a sleeve design which when placed together with the other books in this set forms one of the most prominent images from the three books, the white tree of Gondor. A well crafted cover, with maps featuring inside the sleeves, I would recommend this version of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King to any one who wishes to own their own version of this masterpiece.

"Return of the King" is the worthy climax to J.R.R. Tolkien's epic saga, the fantasy that created the genre as we know it today. Now, as the blockbuster movie adaptation is over, many readers are checking out the dramatic story that ends Tolkien's masterpiece and life's work.The story opens where "Two Towers" left off. Gandalf has ridden to the city of Gondor with Pippin (partly to keep him out of trouble), where the forces of Mordor are attacking. There is upheaval in the city itself, as the steward of Gondor is going nuts. Merry pledges his service to King Theoden of Rohan, not knowing what is ahead for the king and his relatives. And Aragorn is seeking out allies to fight Sauron on a military scale, even if they can't defeat him unless the Ring is destroyed. His search will take him to tribes of forest-dwellers, to Gondor -- and even to summon an army of the dead.In Mordor, the unconscious Frodo has been captured by Sauron's orcs, and taken to the fortress of Cirith Ungol. Sam is desperate to free his friend, but knows that he can't take on an army, and that Frodo would want him to finish the quest. Sam manages to free Frodo from captivity, but they must still brave more dangers before they can come to Mount Doom, the only place where the Ring can be destroyed. As they travel Sam sees Frodo slipping further and further into the Ring's grasp. Will Frodo be able to destroy the Ring?Usually, the climax of an epic adventure is a disappointment. "Return of the King" succeeds in almost every way, wrapping up each individual storyline, one by one. The ending has a feeling of finality; this is one story that could never have a sequel; Tolkien shows that in a war like this, there is no true "happy ending." Even if the good guys win, there will still be scarring, and death, and haunting memories of what once happened. And even if a person survives, he will never be the same.This is the grimmest of the three books in this trilogy. Frodo and Sam are stuck in the vividly horrific Mordor, while the city of Minas Tirith is on the verge of completely crumbling. Tolkien does a phenomenal job of exploring the madness, despair, rage and sorrow that accompany a war, and the way it can affect even the idyllic Shire. And he doesn't forget the slow period of healing that follows -- for people, for civilizations, and even for nature.Though a section of the book near the end descends into near-biblical prose, which changes post-Gondor, Tolkien does not waver in his ability to evoke emotion. One of the most touching scenes in the book is when Sam finds Frodo naked, unconscious and being beaten by an orc. Others include Merry's farewell to Theoden, Eowyn's slaying of the Witch-King, and of course the bittersweet final scene.Speaking of Frodo, this trilogy's hero is almost unrecognizable in parts of this book. The bright, naive young hobbit of the first book has been worn down to a pale shadow of himself. As he grows increasingly attached to the Ring, we even see him doing what seems unimaginable: threatening Sam with a dagger. Sam has come a long way from the shy young hobbit who couldn't say a word around the High Elves -- now he's attacking orcs and carrying Frodo to Mount Doom.And the supporting characters are not neglected either, with the younger hobbits being exposed to the horrors of war, Aragorn breaking fully into his role as the future king of Gondor, and passionate war-maiden Eowyn affecting the war as nobody else could. Some much-loved characters are lost, and others will be permanently changed.The story doesn't really end on the last page; for more background, especially on Aragorn and Arwen, readers should also read the appendices at the end of the book. Another good addition is "The End of the Third Age," in which the unpublished epilogue of this book can be found. Though this is probably not canonical, it nicely concludes the story and is a heartwarming look at what happens in the years following "Return of the King."It's difficult, once the story has finished, to accept that one has to say goodbye to Middle-Earth and its enchanting inhabitants. But as Gandalf says, "I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil."