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J.R.R. Tolkien: The Return of the King - Lord of the Rings Book 3

 I finally finished The Lord of the Rings trilogy! I listened to this one as an audiobook as well, and loved Andy Serkis as the narrator for this novel.

The Return of the King finishes the story of the One Ring. Frodo and Sam continue their perilous journey to Mordor. Gollum leads them into the lair of Shelob, the ancient, giant spider. There, Sam narrowly escapes, while Frodo is pierced by her venom. Thinking him dead, Sam vows to continue Frodo's mission on his own. He takes some of Frodo's belongings, including the Ring. He watches as Frodo is taken further into Mordor by Orcs who proclaim that he isn't dead. Sam rescues Frodo, and they proceed on through Mordor. They reach the volcano, where the ring is destroyed. Meanwhile, their other friends are defending Middle Earth from the onslaught of Mordor. Minas Tirith is attacked, and Gandalf works to protect it. He is joined by Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli with the army from Rohan. Once the Ring is destroyed and Mordor conquered, Aragorn is crowned king. Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin return to the Shire only to find that it too has been invaded by agents of Isengard. Can they save the Shire and return to their normal lives?

I will confess that I did not read the Appendices at the end of the book. I will come back to them someday.

I loved this book and the conclusion to the trilogy. I've always loved this story about the heroics of ordinary people, but reading the books over the past year has really been incredible. I love Peter Jackson's films, but I loved the books more.

In all, this was well worth my time to read, and Return of the King was a fitting ending to the whole story.

Teens and up is an appropriate audeince for this just from the complexity of the writing and the violence of the story.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


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