The Return of the King

The Lord of The Rings has been on my radar for many years. It’s definitely one of the greatest fantasy classics, if not the greatest, so as a fan of the genre I wanted to get around to reading it at some point and get enchanted by the magic of Middle-Earth, like millions of other readers throughout the decades. Now, at the end of this journey, after turning over the last page of "The Return of the King" I can confidently say that my expectations were exceeded and I loved every page of this fantastic trilogy.

Tolkien had a great gift of crafting a world full of detailed mythology, great wonders and noble characters going into a battle not only against the forces of evil in general, but also emotions like dread, hopelessness or betrayal. That is to say, despite all the incredible magic, the characters feel real. The hobbits, the men, the elves, the wizards – even if they have a great deal of history behind them, even if they know the ancient words, even if they hold powerful artifacts, they are ultimately driven by their selflessness, aspirations, despair or greed.

I also admire how every journey undertaken in the book holds its ground if terms of travelled distance, time and supplies consumed by the adventurers. It’s really immersive and adds weight to the obstacles characters stumble upon on the way to their destination. It’s not about just moving from point A to point B, but solving troubles along the way, changing paths, avoid being spotted, encountering fascinating inhabitants of the land – all of this playing out in a way that makes you feel like a part of the company, sharing their problems and their path.

I think these aspects are what makes The Lord of The Rings such a beloved series, which I too, will hold close to my heart.

Lastly, I’m really glad that Tolkien took time to give us some sort of closure at the end of The Return of The King. Many fantasy books end shortly after the concluding events, with some short epilogue at best, but here we got to see what the Fellowship of the Ring was up to after fighting against Sauron, we got “The Scouring of the Shire”, “Grey Havens” and reading those final chapters really made me at peace, for which I’m grateful.

"The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien brings the "The Lord of the Rings" to a ringing conclusion. At the end of the journey, one cannot help but be impressed by the level of detail and imagination that went into this beloved work of literature. While for the most part "The Return of the King" is a satisfying conclusion the story, the experience is lessened by a disjointed and often confusingly crafted narrative structure of the whole novel.

"The Return of the King" follows the battle between the forces of the West led by Gandalf and those of the Dark Lord Sauron. What is so wonderful about this volume is that each of the Hobbits is able to come fully into his own - Frodo completes his quest, Sam shows courage and bravery in Mordor, Merry becomes a squire to the King of Rohan, and Pippin enters into the service of the Steward of Gondor. Following each of these characters we are allowed to see them play integral parts in the story, which I think is one of Tolkien's main points - the Hobbits are the essential players for the fate of the world.

It is in this volume where much of the complex mythos that Tolkien has constructed comes into play. Here we see the passing of the Third Age and the departure of the Elves from Middle-earth and the transition to the Fourth Age and the Age of Men. This gives the author the opportunity to pose interesting thoughts about the passage of time and history.

While I have done my best to focus this review on the third volume of the novel, it is impossible to consider the last part without looking at the whole work that came before it. The novel as whole is truly brilliant in its creativity and imagination. And after reading nearly 800+ pages one becomes heavily invested in the story and wants to see it through to its conclusion.

But in my opinion "The Return of the King" is the weakest volume of the novel because of what is my biggest criticism of "The Lord of the Rings" - a disjointed narrative structure. There are some wonderful passages and images in "Return" (I found myself noting quotations in this volume more than the other two). But, whether an intentional creative choice or not, the novel for all of its brilliance is hindered by Tolkien's style of story telling. I give the whole novel four stars but this volume three stars for its narrative flaws. Even with those flaws, however, volume three was captivating and immensely enjoyable!