The Two Towers

J.R.R. Tolkien

A thing is about to happen which has not happened since the Elder Days: the Ents are going to wake up and find that they are strong.

We cared little for what lay beyond the borders of our land. Songs we have that tell of these things, but we are forgetting them, teaching them only to children, as a careless custom. And now the songs have come down among us out of strange places, and walk visible under the Sun.

The Two Towers is book two in the Lord of the Rings series, which is on Time’s 100 Best YA list. So far, The Two Towers is my favorite book in the series.

What happens?

The big difference in The Two Towers and The Fellowship of the Ring is the split perspectives. The book follows the groups the characters have split into after the orc attack at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring. If you frequent my blog you know I am not a fan of multiple perspective books, but I enjoyed it with The Two Towers.

Everyone faces new challenges and the darkness spreading over the land gains momentum. I will attempt to expand upon this without giving away too many spoilers, continue at your own risk.

Pippin and Merry are captured by orcs and carried off to be taken in for questioning. They escape and find interesting company amongst the trees, known as Ents. Their time with Treebeard and his tales is my favorite part of the series so far. Trees that walk the earth and all of their lore was the next level of whimsy I didn’t know I needed in my life. Pippin and Merry share information about their adventures, their stories enrage Treebeard. He decides that the darkness will not continue to infect the land and he wakes as many of Ents as possible, leading a march on Saruman’s fortress in Isengard. Epic, I know.

Legolas, Aragorn, and Gimli must decide how to press on without the rest of their crew. They decide to find Pippin and Merry but get caught up in a whole other pot of drama cooked up by the same evil. Gandalf returns and joins them as they ride into “man’s land”. It starts to become obvious darkness is spreading all over Middle Earth and soon everyone will be affected. We were warned of this from the Elves in The Fellowship of the Ring if Frodo cannot destroy the ring all will be lost. EEEEK so much pressure on a hobbit, the world is literally resting on his shoulders.

Their paths do cross for a short time before the story shifts to Frodo and Sam.

While Frodo and Sam are marching toward Mordor, Gollum lurks nearby, the same slimy ring-obsessed hobbit creature from The Hobbit. Helpful or harmful, Gollum is a creepy dude. I have grown to like Gollum as a character because he reflects just one of the many ways the ring can alter (take control) of your life. Frodo is starting to bear the weight of the ring as they get “closer” to completing their task.

The Two Towers, as expected, shows how Middle Earth is changing. Frodo is baring the weight of the ring, as the crew pushes on to fight evil. So much is happening in this book, I cannot dive in fully without spoiling everything. After reading The Two Towers, I highly recommend you check out Lord of the Rings. I cannot wait to finish Return of the King and then binge all of the movies with a new appreciation.

If you are not a fan of fantasy or high fantasy you probably won’t enjoy this series, but if you are open to trying the genre I say go for it.

Have you read The Two Towers? Have you read anything similar?