Customer Reviews: Read 364 more reviews...
 The series continues September 29, 2008
I recently reviewed Recorded Books Incorporated's unabridged rendition of Fellowship of the Ring. I return now to review the second installment of the trilogy, The Two Towers. The Two Towers pics up right where Fellowship left off. Frodo and Sam have left to find a way into Mordor, while Merri and Pippin have gone in search of them. Aragorn, drawn away from his search for Frodo by the urgent call of Boromir's horn, finds the man mortally wounded in a clearing, surrounded by the bodies of many Orcs. With his last breath, Boromir confesses his attempt to take the ring from Frodo and warns that Pippin and Merri have been captured by the Orcs. After a simple ceremony in which the body of Boromir is laid to rest in one of the three Elven-made boats in which they travelled and sent down the river to the falls of Rauros, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimley resolve to hunt down the Orcs and rescue the captive Hobbits.
Thus begins the second installment of Lord of the Rings. As before Rob Englis delivers a top notch performance. He continues his trend of actually singing the songs in his good tenor rather than just reciting them as other narrators have done. He portrays each new character very well as far as I'm concerned, which makes for a great listen. From the opening lines to the end, this book should keep you under its spell, even if you've read it many times before.
 Magical September 27, 2008
Tolkien's creativity soars in this second installment as he introduces monsters galore, both good and evil. The adventure is as tangible as always, and we still continue to cheer for our heroes in this classic tale of good vs. evil in a magical land that is as real as anything on a nowaday map.
Characters return and characters die, we meet new ones and our blown away by their realism and depth.
Plus, this book is just a lot of fun.
One of the best editions of an amazing book. August 4, 2008
This book is amazing. The story is wonder and it draws you in. It takes you to a whole other world and allows you to live in it as an observer of amazing and epic events.
This is edition is one of the best editions. The maps in the back are excellent and it's quality is superior to a lot of other books that I have seen. It has a glossed cover and the ink is dark. Even at the price of $12 this book is WELL worth the money.
The Story of the Tricksy Little Hobbitses Continues... March 10, 2008
With this book, the second installment in "The Lord of the Rings" (a single extremely long novel, not a trilogy), things start to fall into place. The Fellowship of the Ring was great, but it felt like it was basically build-up for bigger things to come. Well, by the time "The Two Towers" starts, the ball is rolling, and fast.
I was weary about the decision to split the book into two halves, one half dealing with Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Merry, and Pippin, and the other half dealing with Frodo, Sam, and Gollum, because I thought it might have been a wiser decision to mix it up a bit; have one chapter deal with Aragorn and company, the next with Frodo and company, and so on. However, the way it is set up is probably for the better. Each half read very well, advancing this classic story in big ways.
Again, as I mentioned in my review for "Fellowship," Tolkien's work isn't for the impatient reader. His beefy sentences demand that you comb through them, soaking in the language and appreciating the intensely thought-out sub-creation of Tolkien's Middle-earth. Thing is, that kind of writing isn't for everyone. I've read pompous reviewers insulting those who don't appreciate Tolkien's style, but the "get on with the story, Tolkien" complaints are not without merit. I thoroughly enjoyed "The Two Towers" and consider the overall arc of The Lord of the Rings to be a classic and timeless story, but the style of writing can, at times, grate against one's patience.
So I'll end my review for this book by including something I said in my review for "Fellowship," which very much applies here: "Pour a cup of tea. Heck, sit it on a tea cozy. Turn off your phone, and absorb the writing. Visualize the mountains, rivers, all of the scenery. Feel what is happening, don't just read it. True, there is a lot of back story that could have been taken out, but it wasn't. So deal, and read it--most of it, if not all, is interesting."
PS: The character arc of Gollum (and his dialogue!) alone is worth reading this book. We loves it, my precious!
10/10 Classic.
Keeps the plot going March 2, 2008
I didn't enjoy this as much as the first part of the trilogy, but it was still pretty good. Strangely divided, though. The events of this book take place simultaneously in two locations, and rather than skipping back and forth, Tolkien for some reason tells all of what happens in one place, then jumps to the other parallel story, occasionally giving chronological markers -- while such and such was happening in the great battle to the north, yada yada. Still, a good, and obviously crucial part of a great overall story.
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