I'll admit, every time I've read LOTR, I've gotten bogged down in the Two Towers and the beginning of Return of the King. I had a point where I put down Return of the King for several years before I gHlted myself into picking it back up and finishing it. (I'd gotten stuck toward the beginning where Gandalf and Pippin are still making their way to Gondor). If you want some good pop action, I recommend Robert Howard's Conan stories. Phenomenal. No one writes action like Robert Howard... except, of course, Howard Lamb.
The Silmarillion elves are much better than LOTR elves, and also explain the LOTR elves. Tolkien worried people wouldn’t be interested in the Silmarillion because it wasn’t “Gamgified”, i.e. no hobbits. My trick for reading TTT (granted I was young) was to read the second part first. I followed Frodo and Sam before I ventured into what Legolas’ elf eyes could see.
Not sure I am going to make it to the Silmarillion. Maybe if I love TTT and ROTK I'll try it but based on my experience with Fellowship, I'm thinking Tolkien might be right. I need hobbits to survive elves.
I'll admit, every time I've read LOTR, I've gotten bogged down in the Two Towers and the beginning of Return of the King. I had a point where I put down Return of the King for several years before I gHlted myself into picking it back up and finishing it. (I'd gotten stuck toward the beginning where Gandalf and Pippin are still making their way to Gondor).
If you want some good pop action, I recommend Robert Howard's Conan stories. Phenomenal. No one writes action like Robert Howard... except, of course, Howard Lamb.
This is great to know because even though I am road-tripping next week, I doubt I can handle 40 hours of LOTRs straight.
@@katharinecampbell2524 Try Dune. Tolkien hated it. You'll love it. 🤣
The Silmarillion elves are much better than LOTR elves, and also explain the LOTR elves. Tolkien worried people wouldn’t be interested in the Silmarillion because it wasn’t “Gamgified”, i.e. no hobbits. My trick for reading TTT (granted I was young) was to read the second part first. I followed Frodo and Sam before I ventured into what Legolas’ elf eyes could see.
Not sure I am going to make it to the Silmarillion. Maybe if I love TTT and ROTK I'll try it but based on my experience with Fellowship, I'm thinking Tolkien might be right. I need hobbits to survive elves.