I waited too long to read this
5 stars
Tolkien is a master of modern fantasy for good reason! I always enjoyed the movies but never got around to reading the source material until this year. If you love the world of Middle-Earth, pick this up for more beautiful world-building. Learn about the Wild Men of the Woods, the healing herbs of Gondor, the conclave of ents, the geography of Mordor, the Scouring of the Shire, and more! Also the appendices are a lot of fun. The list of kings of Arnor and Gondor gets a little tiring, but the Lay of Aragorn and Arwen is a beautiful story showing the start of their legendary love.
I can confirm that Legolas has no dialogue to Frodo Baggins, though he is noted as joining the conversation with the Hobbits in Ithilien after the destruction of the One Ring. He presumably says something to Frodo there.
This book also fails to …
Tolkien is a master of modern fantasy for good reason! I always enjoyed the movies but never got around to reading the source material until this year. If you love the world of Middle-Earth, pick this up for more beautiful world-building. Learn about the Wild Men of the Woods, the healing herbs of Gondor, the conclave of ents, the geography of Mordor, the Scouring of the Shire, and more! Also the appendices are a lot of fun. The list of kings of Arnor and Gondor gets a little tiring, but the Lay of Aragorn and Arwen is a beautiful story showing the start of their legendary love.
I can confirm that Legolas has no dialogue to Frodo Baggins, though he is noted as joining the conversation with the Hobbits in Ithilien after the destruction of the One Ring. He presumably says something to Frodo there.
This book also fails to pass the Bechdel test, but there is more dialogue from women here than in the movies. A healer from Gondor has several paragraphs where she tells her (unnamed) relative all about King Elessar, and how magnificent he was in healing the stricken Eowyn and Merry.
