Review: The Return of the King

The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My heart is full.

This series is just so epic, and here at the end of things that never stops being true. It's the final push, where everyone's limits are tested, and frail hope has to be enough to spur them on.

The final installment begins in the city of Minas Tirith, which is rather fitting since it is to this city the titular king returns. Minas Tirth is practically next door to the (figurative and literal) heat of Mordor so they're preparing for a bad time. But Rohan is sending reinforcements, and all the while they have the fool's hope that Frodo's quest will succeed, although his position is a little precarious after the events of the previous book.

Once again, we spend a lot of time marvelling over the detailed world Tolkien has created. It is often said that he created the story to fit the world, and that is quite apparent in the pride he takes in detailing the world so thoroughly. Mountain ranges, scrublands, cities, rivers, lakes ... even the plains and pits of Mordor itself. Everything is given a name and a visual, and it really transports you to this land. No detail of this world has gone unconsidered.

There's also the magnitude of the quest, and how much heroism is required from the whole cast of characters. Everyone gets their moment to choose whether to be brave and it drives the story. The inner turmoils and second guessing, people doubting themselves yet fighting all the same. I love it all so much. There are so many moments that made my heart soar.

It's a divided book again - books five and six (plus appendices) - with the continuation of Frodo's quest not beginning until the sixth book. This might be a tough extension of a cliffhanger for some, but the action of book five is such that it's easy to blaze through and hardly an inadequate offering. The action is plentiful with heroic thoughts and deeds throughout. It also sets up the importance of Frodo's quest as it comes to its final leg, and you can really feel that urgency as we get closer and closer to Orodruin - aka Mount Doom.

It also takes the time to finish the story properly - addressing where each character ends up, and what their future might hold, and exploring the grey areas even further with fleeing villains who have not yet ceased causing trouble. That's something I really love about this series - sure, the quest itself is fairly black-and-white, good-vs-evil stuff, but the details of the story and its characters give such depth, and nothing can be assumed.

This is an epic saga with characters who will stay with you long after you finish reading. The themes are the sort that will endure, and the story itself will continue making an impact on readers who take the time to understand it thoroughly. There is certainly a lot of material - as can be assumed by the presence of its appendices, which accounts for another 150 or so pages of this edition - but if you relish it and appreciate it for the world it represents, it truly enriches your experience of the story.

Now, for my own pleasure, allow me to detail the things I loved the most:
(view spoiler)[
-Faramir and Eowyn. Those two ... guh. My heart. I can't handle how much love I have for their union. And when Faramir asks her, 'do you not love me?' *cries* SO. BEAUTIFUL.
-Aragorn is finally the badass he's been transforming into, but he still answers to Strider. He's become this epic, powerful, lordly king, and they all bow to him, and poor Sam is like, 'who? Strider?' and Aragorn just like chuckles and takes it and this is why we love him.
-Eowyn being a total badass. Clearly I am enamoured by badasses. Eowyn finally gets her moment of glory and it's in defending her king and it totally makes my heart melt. Them being so close on the battlefield and Theoden not realising it though ... god, what a tear jerker.
-Eomer and Gimli picking between Galadriel and Arwen. I mean, I was thrown a little when it said something like, 'Eomer was amazed by how beautiful the women were,' - it was unexpected in a noble dude I've loved so fiercely, and I was ready to scoff and be like, 'pfft. MEN.' but then it was explained as the elven ladies and it made more sense. I forgive you, Eomer. They are both beautiful, you are correct.
-The relationship dynamics between Pippin, Faramir, Beregond and his son, Bergil. Beregond is an underrated hero, and his dedication to Faramir is precious and warms my heart. Then the way he accepts Pippin and considers him a friend so easily is just really sweet. Then he sends him to go hang out with his son, and the son tries to give Pippin crap, and Pippin is like, 'oh ho ho, you cheeky rascal! Can't get one over me!' and thus their friendship is solidified. And between them all is Faramir, who is to be admired and respected and loved and, YES I LOVE HIM.
-Speaking of friendships, Legolas and Gimli are a bromance for the ages.
-Prince Imrahil is a character I definitely didn't remember but he's so cool-headed, and I liked that he seemed to be sort of a calming presence. He just gets things done that need to be done; steps up when he has to but then steps back when he's no longer needed.
-Speaking of forgotten characters, Ghan-buri-ghan makes me laugh. He's great.
-The fact that Tolkien has even considered where the orcs of Mordor actually get their food etc. THE MAN IS THE KING OF WORLD-BUILDING.
-Sam being described as a fearsome elf lord, and how much pride it gives him. You are a warrior, my lad, and you go ahead and own it.
-Frodo promising Gollum that if he touches him, he'll end up in the fires of Mt Doom himself. Ah, Gollum. You really shoulda listened, buddy.
-Actually that ending, though, because it just ties together everything that Gandalf said, and that whole notion that Bilbo's one act of pity could echo so thoroughly across the ages. It's such a powerful message of compassion.
-Frodo and Sam finally being reunited with everyone in the Fields of Cormallen, after having nearly died to save the world, only to have Pippin be like, 'look, Frodo, me and Merry are serving our kings right now so you're gonna have to wait.' Ah, bless you, proud Pippin.
-Also Merry and Pippin pledging their services to their respective rulers. It really shows that they have become their own people, and I think it really strengthens their part then in the Scouring of the Shire. The pride they have in being in the service of these great lords gives them a courage and strength they didn't realise they had. Warms the heart.
-Cirdan the Shipwright himself coming to collect them. Dang, that dude must be hella old by now.

GOD THERE ARE JUST SO MANY MOMENTS TO LOVE. (hide spoiler)]

I love this series. I'm so glad I decided to re-read it. It's brought so much joy into my life.

Here ends my review for the conclusion of one of the greatest fantasy series of all time. Please read on for my review of the appendices.

Review for The Fellowship of the Ring HERE
Review for The Two Towers HERE

***

When I first started reading Appendix A, my first thought was, 'why have I never read this straight through before?' and then I got to Appendix C and was like, 'ohhh THIS is why.'

Here's the breakdown:
Appendix A: Annals of the Kings and Rulers
Appendix B:The Tale of Years
Appendix C: Family Trees
Appendix D:Shire Calendar
Appendix E:Writing and Spelling
Appendix F:The Languages and Peoples of the Third Age

It's basically all supplementary info for the trilogy, but the first two are really all you need.

*Please note: spoiler tags have been used to hide events that occurred in ROTK, but that's it. If you don't want spoilers for the appendices or any random Middle-Earth history this is your warning.

Appendix A: Annals of the Kings and Rulers (5 stars)
This one is actually a lot of fun, and has some great stories. It talks about the history a little more, and we get the story of how Aragorn and Arwen meet. We learn a bit more about how the races connected, about the relationship between Rohan and Gondor, and what Denethor was like before (view spoiler)[he turned into a proper psychopath he was driven mad by Sauron (hide spoiler)] the events depicted in this book. There are so many things about legends of old that are totally glossed over like it's no big deal, but I would definitely read an entire novel on it. For example, this one guy, Eldacar, is overthrown by Castamir, who turns out to be a grade A jerk. He captures Eldacar's son and has him put to death. Eldacar bides his time - which turns out to be a short ten years - then gathers this massive army from all over (because people love him and hate Castamir) and they go into battle and Eldacar slays Castamir himself as revenge for his son. This is such a BADASS story and it's told in less than a page. This is why I had so much fun with Appendix A. There are so many great tales of warriors, and they're all generally the ancestors of our hero friends from LOTR.

There are a lot of place names which gets really confusing, so I found it helpful to continually refer to the maps at the back. There's also a lot of names that come in and out of stories and it's impossible to remember them all. It's tempting to skim some of the long lists of names, but they're handy to refer to when the name crops up in a story a few pages later.

Appendix B: The Tale of Years (5 stars)
This is great because it's a more chronological approach to a lot of the stories we've just learned, as well as a lengthy timeline for the entire LOTR trilogy. It helps to highlight the important events that occurred prior to LOTR, and gives a greater understanding of what was going on all at the same time.

Appendix C: Family Trees (N/A)
The (hobbit) family trees were just a bit of fun. It details the ancestory of our four hero hobbits and their subsequent unions. I basically skimmed anything that didn't directly relate to Bilbo, Frodo, Sam, Merry or Pippin, but one could have a lot of fun following the tree back and trying to work out the direct relationships they had to one another. (view spoiler)[My favourite part of the trees, though, was seeing who married whom, and their kids, and the kids' names. For example, Sam and Rosie had 13 children! That is a lot of kids! And a lot are familiar names. Also, I LOVE the fact that Pippin named his son Faramir, and then Faramir marries Sam's daughter Goldilocks. THAT IS TOO FREAKING CUTE. (hide spoiler)] Really, the fun part of the tree is just checking where our friends ended up.

Appendix D: Shire Calendar (2 stars)
OH GOD. The calendars were so dreary. I mean, it's a little bit fascinating with the variations of the names and days and years etc but there was so much detail here that I just did not care about. This is purely Tolkien getting wrapped up in the world he created. He did so much work to make sure his fantasy rules corresponded with real world science, which I appreciate so much but WOW, I don't think I needed to read about it.

Appendix E: Writing and Spelling (3 stars)
Same kinda deal with above - there's so much detail that I probably didn't need. But at the same time it was fun trying to understand the languages a bit more, and it really helps with pronunciation. It's fascinating, but it's a hard slog.

Appendix F: The Languages and Peoples of the Third Age (4 stars)
This one is a little easier to bear, because while it is still giving a lot of information that is hard to follow, it's often accompanied by the movement of peoples, so it gives us more story. It was a bit more fun, having the context relevant to the information.

FINAL VERDICT
The appendices aren't necessary to understanding LOTR, but it gives a lot of fun information about the world, so it's more like 'additional reading' without you having to go find the sources. Although some is a little hard to follow, it's truly fascinating, and I'd highly recommend reading at least the first two. But make sure you've read the trilogy first because the appendices assume that you have.

View all my reviews