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While Merry and Pippin still blend together and Aragorn’s complexities are still mostly conversation, there’s hope for these others as the trilogy continues.Īs with book one, the bits and pieces I find particularly interesting seem so short. Characters who felt flat in the first book have fleshed out a little bit – Legolas’s love for Fangorn Forest gives him some depth, for one. It leaves a lot for The Return of the King to cover.Įven without any real feel of progress, this book is enjoyable enough. At the beginning of The Two Towers, there’s no real direction, and at the end of The Two Towers, the groups have made commitments, but haven’t made it very far down the road. There’s a lot of dialogue where there should be action. meet up with Merry and Pippin, we are told about a past battle rather than experiencing it ourselves. A lot of time in the beginning was spent speaking of the dead. There was a small battle that took out a minor character, but there were whole scenes that added nothing to the plot. My biggest complaint with The Two Towers is that even though it seemed to be moving swiftly, nothing happened. Without likable characters, the drudgery of this type of writing would repel the average reader, leaving The Lord of the Rings to be a piece for deep fan speculation.

Tolkien does a very good job balancing his characters, and it’s so important in a long-winded epic fantasy. I’ll be honest – if Frodo went off on his own and didn’t have Sam there with him, I’d likely be bored to tears for the most important storyline in the trilogy. I’m fortunate in that I love Merry and Pippin’s adventure with the Ents, and I enjoy Sam and Smeagol, and the feats of Aragorn and Co. Tolkien’s writing is very dense, and for myself, I have to focus extra hard to make sure I’m actually paying attention to the story and not just letting the words slip through my brain unabsorbed.ĭepending on whether you like all the characters or just some of them, The Two Towers may be an extra chore. With the fellowship separated, the pacing of the story really picks up, and I found my attention was less apt to wander. While as a whole I think The Fellowship of the Ring is a more successful novel in that it feels like things are actually getting done, I do find The Two Towers more enjoyable. And as for Frodo and Sam? The two Hobbits are following the perilous journey to Mordor to destroy the One Ring. Gimli, Legolas, and Aragorn connect with an old friend. Merry and Pippin have teamed with the Ents. The fellowship have now gone their separate ways and are having battles and adventures of their own.

Where The Fellowship of the Ring dragged on for an age (thanks, Council of Elrond!), The Two Towers swiftly picks up its pace. Meanwhile, at Helm’s Deep and Isengard, the first great battles of the War of the Ring take shape. Frodo and Sam must continue alone towards Mount Doom, where the One Ring must be destroyed. The Fellowship has been forced to split up. Length: 322 pages or 16 hours, 40 minutes

Genres: Classics, Epic Fantasy, Fantasy, Fiction Published by Houghton Mifflin on November 11, 1954