Review: The Two Towers

The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have to say, this one drags a little more than Fellowship, but it's still a heck of a ride.

It's split clean down the middle: Book 3 deals with Aragorn and friends as they journey in pursuit of the orcs, encountering many new friends along the way, while Book 4 continues Frodo's journey towards the Cracks of Doom.

What I love most about this installment is all the new characters. Finally we learn a little more of Rohan and Gondor and the people that inhabit those lands. Eomer is one of my favourites because of his loyalty, and Faramir is such a wonderful, humble contrast to his proud brother.

The story begins to darken, as the perils become greater and the evils of Orthanc and of Mordor spread further. There's a gloom that hangs over the story now, and we begin to feel the true weight of Frodo's quest. All the same, it has its light moments here and there, and there is the promise of unseen strength as Aragorn begins to come into his own. We finally start to see him taking command of his destiny, yet always he puts his friends first. I love that. I love that, even though the Fellowship is broken, there is still this thread that binds them across the distances.

Tolkien takes a lot of time to describe everything, and this is painfully evident throughout book 4. Book 3 at least has a variety of new characters, places, plots and battles to keep things interesting and unpredictable, whereas poor old Frodo and Sam are wandering from one desolate place to the next. I've just about had my fill of Middle Earth's landscapes and flora, I'm sorry to say. Again, it is the new characters they interact with throughout their journey that keep things interesting. (None make me happier than Faramir, who is kind, noble, and appears way too briefly for my liking.)

There are plenty of heroic moments and I feel that the themes of the story are stronger now, with the battle of good vs evil becoming more vital as time passes. There are some great moments where characters debate their courage, their purpose, their decisions, and even the nature of the enemy. We get to go a little deeper, yet we never feel that we're on the wrong side. Good MUST prevail.

The character development is crucial and it's really wonderful to see how the members of the Fellowship begin to function outside of the quest.

It does tend to get a little sidetracked with describing every single detail of the surroundings, and this becomes particularly painful towards the end of the novel, but the host of new characters and the promise of epic things to come makes this still a worthy, tense, exciting read. I'm definitely still absorbing more than I did on my first two reads almost 20 years ago, and I still find my breath catching in places, fearing and cheering for these beloved characters.

A worthy continuation, and you know it's only going to get better from here.

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