The Fellowship of the Ring

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. One of the greatest books written and also a great film (because it's made in NZ)!!.

Everyone already knows what the plot is so there's no point in me elaborating. I'm just going to say that it is worth reading the book, even if you have already watched the movie (indeed, I didn't know that it was actually a book until Year 9 - ha). There are some major events in the book that do not occur in the film, such as "The Old Forest" (oooh) and some extra chapters at the start of the book which explain heaps of things such as the way hobbits live, and the situation at present and what was happening while Tolkien was writing the book etc (aaah). This may be a pull factor for some people to read but it kind of turns into a boring history lesson at the beginning.

One major thing I hated with the book was the fact that there were all these weird place names and people who you don't even know (but I think you're expected to know from reading the prequels or something), but in the school library we have a book called "The Guide to Middle-Earth" or something, which is sort of like a dictionary of the terms in all three books, which is handy to have while your reading.
Another thing I personally hated, was all the descriptions. There were heaps and heaps of descriptions of places which annoyed me because I wanted the story to go on, and they were extremely hard to visualise. Watching the movie before reading the book is an advantage here because then you know what some of the places are supposed to look like.

Those are just two cons about the book that I can think of right now, otherwise its fine. It's kind of hard to read, but take it slow and it won't be a problem.

I may as well fuse the second and third books into this review as well because it follows the same pattern. It's hard to understand what's happening sometimes (which is where watching the movie comes in handy), and the long descriptions and totally random, never-heard-before place names make more appearances.

BUT!!!!! The story doesn't finish once Frodo destroys the Ring (you all know he did so no spoiling occurred). The story continues about them going back to Minas Tirith and going back home and certain events happen during that time so make sure you read the third book at least because there's still some stuff to know if you've only watched the movies.

So overall, it's a great book that just has a few minor hitches (which may only apply to some people like meself), otherwise it's a fine read - but you probably won't bother because you've seen the movie, I know.

6.8/10 from me across all three books