Fellowship vs. Two Towers

[StriderX]

I just finished reading the Fellowship of the Ring, and it was awesome, it is the best book Ive ever read. I was wondering if the Two Towers is as good, or if it is better? What do you guys think?

[Legolam]

Personally, TTT is my favourite book in the whole world, with FOTR a close second!

Enjoy! :D

[StriderX]

Thanks, Im gonna go start reading it right now.

[Kit Baggins]

TTT is definately the best one ;) .

~Kit :p

[legendz28]

I'm not sure which is which cause I read all 3 books at once. But I didn't think FOTR was all that great besides the fact that it introduced the characters. I think TTT and TROTK were good because there was more action in them.

[Beleg Strongbow]

Originally posted by legendz28
I'm not sure which is which cause I read all 3 books at once. But I didn't think FOTR was all that great besides the fact that it introduced the characters. I think TTT and TROTK were good because there was more action in them.




My favourite would have to be Fotr cause of da Fellowship staying together and the places and info you get. The two towers is my 3rd favourite cause of the parts with gollum i find that part just a little boring. The Rotk is great ending with extreme detail. All making the bestbook ever written. The Silmarilion (from tolkien) is a great peice of writing too.

[Elenciryaquen]

Yes, TTT is as good as FotR. But personally I also liked FotR a bit better than the other 2 ... I don't know why, I think because I could feel the story building and building and building so to speak.

[cortezthekiller]

I think as a whole I like the Fellowship better. But interestingly enough, I think that Book III (In other words the first of the two "books" which make up Two Towers) is the best of all six "books". The chapters surrounding and including "Helms Deep" are my favorite in LOTR. Unfortunately, the second book of Two Towers I feel is the weakest of the six "books". Just my opinion :)

[Woo]

My favourite would have to be the return of the king!
Why? im not going to tell u u're just gonna have to get there and once ure there u will understand.
however TFOTR is the best book because of the sheer suspense it holds! which slowly unleashs through the TFOTR & TTT and explodes in TROTK!!

[SarumansTreason]

"The Choices of Master Samwise" is my favourite chapter... but I really don't have a favourite book. If I did, I would say book one of the FoTR. It's so scary!

[Rian]

I like the TT the most also!

[belliza]

Originally posted by cortezthekiller
I think as a whole I like the Fellowship better. But interestingly enough, I think that Book III (In other words the first of the two "books" which make up Two Towers) is the best of all six "books". The chapters surrounding and including "Helms Deep" are my favorite in LOTR. Unfortunately, the second book of Two Towers I feel is the weakest of the six "books". Just my opinion :)

I disagree - I really like Book IV and all the stuff with Gollum, I like it on an equal footing with Book III. Its good at that point to get back to the ring and the journey of Frodo and Sam. Thats just my opinion as well of course!

[Rosie Cotton]

I like FOTR a little more then I do TTT, I think it's more fast paced. But ROTK is my favorite out of the three.

[DreamingDragon]

I loved Fellowship...only took me four days to read the bloody thing. Two Towers on the other hand.....it took me almost 6 weeks and toward the middle I felt like I was going to have an aneurysm..... to me it was terribly slow, but I've heard others found it quite informative. But to understand what happens in Return of the King..you HAVE to plow thru Two Towers

[Bucky]

I don't get it.

I may be in the minority here, but, it's all ONE story.

[Luthien]

Yes, I have read it so fast that I can't remember what happens in each part. I don't see any differences. :(

[cortezthekiller]

QUOTE]Originally posted by Bucky
I don't get it.

I may be in the minority here, but, it's all ONE story. [/QUOTE]


Yes, and it's also offered in three books(FOTR, TTT, ROK), which are further broken down into 6 books which are further broken down into chapters. The person who started the thread had just finished the first book, and wanted to know what to expect from the second. I think we can all agree that the STORY is great, or else we wouldn't be here.

Anyway, the person asked for opinions on whether the second book was as good as the first, and he was given opinions. I agree it is ONE story, and I don't think you're in the minority. If I caught the first half of a movie on TV, and asked you if the second half was as good as the first, would you tell me..."It's all one story."?

[Legolam]

I agree that it is one story.

However, you can sense Tolkien's style changing as he wrote the books. I find FOTR very lighthearted in places with more emphasis on character than big set pieces that are changing the course of ME history. ROTK on the other hand is quite a dark book with hugely important battles and moments of despair (who didn't feel their heart sink when the Voice of Sauron came out clutching Frodo's stuff?). TTT is an intermediate between these two extremes, with humour and sadness, so that is why I like it the best.

It's a bit artificial to break it so cleanly into 3 (or 6) books, but they do roughly correspond to the changes in tone in my humble opinion.

Does that make sense? :confused:

[Lantarion]

The LotR is one story. The FotR, TT and RotK are all parts of the story. The books (2/part) are bits of the books. :)
So if you are asking which of the books I like most, I would have a hard time answering that because I have always read the LotR either as a whole or as three parts. I think the best *part* is TT, but I can't really say why.. Hm, odd..
Legolam, so you think that the RotK is sad?? I think it is the contrary, at least for the most part. The last four or five chapters are devoted to cheerful and gleeful moments; and although the destruction of the Ring and its immediate aftermath is quite touching, at least the Frodo+Sam- situation, I think the RotK is quite 'happy', overall. (Let's not forget the Scouring of the Shire!)

Welcome to the forum, DreamingDragon! :) Have a blast.

[Anarchist]

In my opinion, the best is TTT. But that's because I like Sam most of all characters and in TTT he really shows his heroism. I believe that reading one of the books really makes you reading the rest. I mean after finishing TTT who doesn't want to see what will happen next with Sam and Frodo?

[DreamingDragon]

Bucky....in response to your question....yes. It IS all one story, and (speaking as a writer who is currently working on several stories) I believe that it may not have been Tolkien's intention to divide the entire work into three parts. Having read all three installments, and paying attention to detail in Two Towers as opposed to the other two, I think maybe Tolkien's ORIGINAL intention was to have only two individual publishings (perhaps incorporating TWO TOWERS into the last part of FELLOWSHIP and the first part of RETURN OF THE KING) but perhaps an editor made the choice for the "trilogy" idea. I also can understand the scope of this particular literary work and, speaking from personal experience, some stories are simply too big to be condensed. But yes...it is all one story. And a smashing good one at that.

[Talierin]

Heh, we had a huge discussion about whether it was a trilogy or one book a couple of months ago in this section. I for one am of the one book mindset.

[DreamingDragon]

Talierin....

I agree with you (if I understand your comment). I would have preferred the whole "trilogy" to be one massive novel. I like multiple chapter, multiple storyline novels. I enjoy the length, as well as the continuity of the thing. Breaking things into sections makes it harder to keep track of events, comments,etc. But I am of the opinion that I (and others like me) are in the vast minority. However, sometimes an editor (and author) have to think of the majority of readers that would find a 1500 + page work tedious, so they find the best (???) breaking point and split it up. Also.....now that a great number of readers are 14 and under, it helps to have smaller novels that make up a whole (although, Fellowship is 400+ pages....that's not exactly small, but I digress).

In any event....I hope I understood you comment.

[Talierin]

Aye, you did. Tolkien wanted it to be one book, but the publishers insisted on it being three.

[Mormegil]

I also agree that it is one story because the three books, FOTR, TTT and ROTK, do not stand on their own. You have to read them in that order for things to make sense.

Anyway, back to the topic of this thread.
I prefer FOTR to TTT because it has so many locations. eg. The Shire, Bree, Rivendell, Moria, Lothlorien. Its a book about a journey.
TTT on the otherhand is a book about Friendship and war. We get to see the friendships of Frodo & Sam, Merry & Pippin, and also the friendship of Aragorn, Gimli & Legolas. Which, although good, is not as interesting to me.
I also prefer FOTR because of the diversity of races involved. Elves, Hobbits, Men, Dwarfs, Wizards, Orcs, Balrog, Cave Troll. And of course Tom Bombadil.

[Grond]

The Two Towers is the best of the lot because of two little words................... Helm's Deep!!!!!

I get excited just thinking about it again. I also love the Uruk-hai and the stirring of the Ents and the casting of Saruman from the Order and Frodo's taming of Smeagol and Shelob..... oops..... did I give away too much???:o

[DreamingDragon]

Not to digress any more.....if I had to pick a favorite, I'd say Return of the King. To me, Two Towers is tedious in the first half because it's mostly people wandering around being lost and cold and hungry. To me, it doesn't start to pick up until Merry and Pippin discover TreeBeard and the Ents.:o

[Grond]

Originally posted by DreamingDragon
Not to digress any more.....if I had to pick a favorite, I'd say Return of the King. To me, Two Towers is tedious in the first half because it's mostly people wandering around being lost and cold and hungry. To me, it doesn't start to pick up until Merry and Pippin discover TreeBeard and the Ents.:o Ahhhhh c'mon DreamingDragon, Treebeard appears on page 64. That isn't so far into the book. And you didn't like Helm's deep and the orc tally game between Legolas and Gimli? That was my favorite part. :(

[DreamingDragon]

Grond......
Naw.....I didn't find TT truly interesting until the Ents got a cheesed off and flooded Isengard, and of course when Gandalf showed up..and so on and so forth.........I found all the walking and being hungry tedious. :p If I enjoyed that kind of thing, I'd be a bigger fan of Survivor!!:D But I said, it IS important to read in order ot understand certain events in Return of the King.

[GladrielElf1985]

The Two Towers is definately the best book. I know a lot of my friends said they found it boring, but I have to say that I didnt think it was at all boring. The parts with the Riders of Rohan and Theoden King are the best! And who can forget the Battle of Helms Deep! Take my word, if you liked the Fellowship, you're in for a pleasant suprise in The two towers!

[Terabithia]

Two topics for the price of one post! What a bargain!


One book v. three books .... I would think the issue to be rather academic among those who have actually read the entire story. It is quite clear that Tolkien wrote one saga, with a set goal established in the beginning, and a resolution concerning that goal at the end. How it breaks down into physical form doesn't matter much to me. I certainly didn't read the first "book" and think, well that was interesting but glad I'm finished...hope the little guy makes it!

I suppose it does matter in one regard because a person could just pick up TTT or ROTK and start from there, but hopefully there is enough of a popular sense that it is a complete tale which can not be understood unless it is taken in its entirety. If someone who does such an out-of-order reading can't pick up that he or she needs to start again, then, well.....Eh, I'm not going to worry about it.

I for one am quite glad it comes in three separate volumes because individually they fit much better in my bag. :D


As to the original question: I have only read the books once, last summer. I'm on FOTR again now. There is absolutely no question that I enjoyed TTT more than the other two books. I posted somewhere else that I found FOTR quite boring at times, due to the difficulty of tracking language and geography (and I am awful at geography and sense of direction...thank God for those maps!) FOTR did not allow me to relax and enjoy an exciting story. Not that I didn't enjoy it, but it made me work like heck for it and it took a while to ramp up to an exciting bits. I wasn't expecting that.

TTT just flowed for me, perhaps since I had become accustomed to the language and just gave up on figuring out how far we were from everybody else. ;) Just kidding. Kinda. There is more action, and that was very nice. What I really loved about TTT was the Hobbits, especially the unfolding tale of Merry and Pippin. I soaked that stuff up like a sponge. Underdog me loving that growth before my very eyes. I thought the switch back to Sam and Frodo would slow me down, but it didn't.

I roared into ROTK, and was fine for a while, but I got stuck again, like I had reading FOTR. In some regard, parts of ROTK are my favorite parts of the story, so the call for a favorite book was close. I enjoyed TTT as an adventure, it moved quickly, my heart raced, I was cheering and excited and ready to go! Eventually ROTK made me slow down, and while my heart raced it was for different reasons. I enjoyed ROTK as a parable, if that is the right word. The final trek up to Mount Doom is an entity in and of itself.


I've seen the movie now, and FOTR is moving so much better on the second read than the first. I am very interested to see what "book" I enjoy the most this the second time around.

Anyone have their favorite change upon further readings?

[Snaga]

I definitely think JRRT's narration changes quite a lot across the 3 books.

I love 'em all so its hard to say.

I love TT because of Merry and Pippin's bits. I love the Uruk-Hai chapter! Book 4 used not to be a favourite of mine, but I love it now. Its one of my favourites now. Which is to say its definitely in my top 6!!!

[pointy-eared]

strider, me lad, i am not imposing my opinion, since a lot of people think that the two towers are less rich or dense and intelligent than the first one, but it is true that the two towers are all about acts, actions, adventure, war and 'tour de force' -the second movie is going to be bloody bloody (and people criticising the first one by saying it was too violent...pfff)
Split into two tales, or even three (the one with Aragorn, Legolas & Gimli going to war by the side of the Riders of Rohan; the one with Pippin and Merry escaping from the uruk-kais and meeting other old names of middle-earth and...a new gandalf; and the one with sam and frodo going on east to mordor with the help (:confused:) of some miserable gollum).There are many new characters, and if i could advise you to read one or two chapters of each one of the books by turn to follow the chronology and know that while frodo and sam are fighting ghosts in the dead marshes, aragorn is meeting Eomer and Eowyn in a great castle -he is seen more and more like some new-coming king-, and pippin and merry are drinking some strange elixir that make them grow up more to a dwarf-five feet than their initial hobbit-four feet. (sorry for this rough chronology) And sorry to give away to many clues and scenes...:eek:
but believe me, ,the two towers is a worthy sequel, and things takes a darker turn, fate is seen by everyone and the reader as a gloomy dead end, not a continuous line...LOTR is definitely not a light tale of faeries and common myths, it is life, dirty and dark...with some great moments and the lovable faramir, brother of boromir...we learn more about the latter and that's enriching for the building of some greatness in the ancestors and the pain that such a world of honour and beauty should disappear. run frodo!! Run!!

[ssgrif]

Cant really add much here but say TTT is the best book for me. I also read the three books back to back and they have mostly all merged together, but the best bits I've retained are from TTT. Ents, Gollum, Helms Deep, and the banter between Gimli and Legolas are great.

FOTR was great for all the work put into laying the foundations of the storyline, and ROTK for the huge finale, both come joint second for me.

[pointy-eared]

yeah, and having forgotten to be more specific: here are my best moments in TTT;
- aragorn's new dimension seen through the eyes of many, the fact that he starts to accept his inheritaance and his real name -elessar- and the responsabilities and overwhleming dimensions that it brings along.
- otherwise i still have those images of a sky growing darker and darker, and the stifling air while sam and frodo (and gollum of course) are walking close to the Morannon and Cirith Ungol, and the growing and unbearable pain frodo feels...the descriptions are so good that when i was reading it, i kinda felt the same, oppressed and exhausted.
- finally their trip to faramir's place, the hidden cavern in ithilien. faramir's character equalled marvellously aragorn's, and he carries so much prestance and charisma...even as a novel's character...

oh and sorry for my bad english, being french and urged by time i cannot write perfect english...:p

thanks for including me in your sphere