The Lord of the Rings 3-Book Paperback Box Set

"The Lord of the Rings" is usually found in a single volume, or in three volumes: 1) "The Fellowship of the Ring", 2) "The Two Towers", and 3) "The Return of the King". My recommended reading age is 13+ years old, and I recommend reading "The Hobbit" first. When I was 15 years old in high school, I had to read "The Hobbit" for an English class. After reading that book, the teacher then let us borrow "The Lord of the Rings". Before I had started "The Return of the King", I had bought my own set of books. After I had read both books, I actually liked "The Hobbit" better than "The Lord of the Rings" at first - because the "The Hobbit" was brighter: a fun, grand adventure with more humor, whereas "The Lord of the Rings" was darker: a serious, grim life and death struggle for world survival. But by the time I was about 16, the historical significance of "The Lord of the Rings" began to appeal more to me. This is especially true if you read Appendices A and B of "The Lord of the Rings", and also read the "The Silmarillion". You begin to understand the rich history of Tolkien's Middle-Earth/ Beleriand creation. How the "The Silmarillion" brings out the significant events of the First and Second Ages, while the events in "The Lord of the Rings" are the culmination of the Third Age...each Age lasting thousands of years and ending with an immensely significant event. It was 25 years before I read "The Lord of the Rings" again, but Bilbo, Frodo, Sam, Gandalf, Aragorn, Galadriel, Legolas, Gimli, and many more had become household names! I had matured over those years, and my tastes changed. I was no longer a big fantasy/science-fiction reader: instead I was reading military history. I didn't expect to still love "The Lord of the Rings" the way I did as a teenager. I was happily wrong! This is still an exciting book, but I discovered what I really love...it is allegory-type stories. J. R. R. Tolkien himself has said that "The Lord of the Rings" is not allegory, because he hated allegory where he felt the author is dictating to the reader what is in their story...and that any other interpretation is incorrect. Tolkien wanted a reader to apply their own experiences and tastes to influence what they were reading. OK, but in real history one can still get allegory if their own experiences and tastes allow it. How many can learn about World War II and not apply the basic allegorical interpretation that good triumphs over evil? I've heard of, and can understand, several allegorical interpretations of "The Lord of the Rings". Frodo is like Jesus Christ: bearing the greatest of burdens for world salvation while being tempted to stray from his purpose, and the weight of the ring is similar to Christ's cross . The One Ring is like the atomic bomb: the ultimate weapon that corrupts whoever uses it, despite even good intentions, into a power-hungry creature of evil. There's an ecological message with the Ents trying to protect trees; and also the natural beauty of various places throughout Middle-Earth, while evil beings try to destroy it all (including the use of mechanical and polluting progress). I also get out of "The Lord of the Rings" a sense of a military mission: that Frodo & Sam are behind enemy lines on a mission that could end a war, and that Frodo realizes that getting back home or even staying alive doesn't matter - just completion of the mission...that's also sacrifice, perseverance, & camaraderie so prevalent in the military history I've read. There's prejudice with years of animosity between elves and dwarves, and how small, kind gestures can begin to erase all those blighted years...also, how people or races can put aside differences to solve a common problem. There's the recognition of the small, common people (citizen soldiers) that perform the greatest, toughest, and most necessary duty in any war. There's world peace in peril and that something needs to be done before it's too late. There's avoiding the easier way out, and facing one's problems and seeing them through to a conclusion despite severe hardships. I feel that Tolkien saw a little bit of himself in many of the good races of his world. The hobbits are like Tolkien because they love food, company, and talking about family. The ents are like Tolkien because of their unbounded love of trees. Gandalf the wizard is like Tolkien because of his exceptional intelligence and purpose of guiding others along the right path. Some men are like Tolkien because of their inner strength and gallantry, while other men show weakness by succumbing to evil...very realistic. But I believe he saw the beauty and enchantment of the elves in his wife, and why he loved both most dearly: that's why on their gravestone Luthien appears after his wife's name, and Beren appears after his name. The dwarves don't seem to resemble Tolkien, but they are present in much folklore, which is linked to his personal love of medieval languages. "The Lord of the Rings" is a masterpiece in my opinion, and it's size (over 1000 pages in any printed format) is pretty daunting, but give it a shot! It'll be time well spent. And get ready for adventure, terror, excitement, love, treachery, devotion, monumental historic events, unforgettable battles, military strategy, exotic languages & culture, etc. See what you get out of the book! I think most people will enjoy it and/or be moved by it. And who knows, maybe it'll become your favorite book too!

This is a review of the hardcover boxed set of The Lord of the Rings, which includes the three volumes of the original work (ISBNs 978-90395048931-4, 978-0-395-48933-8, 978-0-395-48930-7). I purchased this set to replace an aging/worn paperback set after looking through various editions for one that would combine durability, reading ease, and affordable cost. Several hardcover editions of The Lord of the Rings are too large/heavy for comfortable lap reading (I have read my paperbacks to my son and intend to revisit the books with him again in the future). Others were simply too costly, either due to second-hand pricing in the collector’s market or the up-front cost for purchase. Although I can appreciate the desire of some readers to own high quality illustrated (or leather-bound) sets, I am personally uncomfortable paying triple digit prices for a book that is intended to be read, with all the wear & tear that comes with doing so. And although I greatly admire the Tolkien themed artwork of artists like Alan Lee and Ted Nasmith, I prefer to keep their work outside of the text so as to let the imagination wander. At $65, this set was well priced and met my other criteria. The volumes come snugly packed in a sturdy cardboard box adorned with the artwork from the dust jackets. The books themselves feel solid yet are still lightweight enough to carry on the go. I do not anticipate the outside warping or bending with average use. Pages appear to be bound with glue so this may not be a set to get if you are hoping to pass them along to your great grandchildren, although they should endure through many readings. Dust jacket artwork has illustrations from Alan Lee that are definitely “retro” and distinct enough from the imagery of the films to avoid filling your mind with images of Elijah Wood (the films are a fine adaptation and I have read Saruman’s dialogue in Christopher Lee’s voice ever since). I usually toss dust jackets on hardcover books, but the designs are good enough that I may keep them. The book covers underneath are brown with the title of the volume in gold and an impressed image of Sauron’s eye and the ring. There are no interior illustrations outside of the maps and Tolkien’s sketches of the door at Moria and Balin’s tomb. The pages inside are fairly solid, with only the faintest outline of text on the following page visible. As someone who despises thin paper like you might find in most Bibles, the page thickness in these volumes is greatly appreciated. The text inside is easy to read and of a sufficient size/spacing for most readers (I wear glasses and can read it just fine – much better than with my old paperbacks), although I would look elsewhere if large print is needed. The maps are included as foldouts with red and black ink and are an absolute delight (although a delicate touch is needed to avoid detaching them from the book). My understanding from other reviews is that these volumes are not the most “correct” edition of the text and therefore might have some minor errors or deviations from Tolkien’s preferred spelling. I have not noticed any major issues, but also have not yet thoroughly read through all three volumes. If having the most up-to-date version of the text is important to you, then I would look elsewhere. For “casual” readers who might enjoy reading the books every couple of years but who do not care to engage in the debate over whether Balrogs have wings, these volumes should work just fine. All in all, I am greatly pleased with the quality of these books given the price. This is a solid set that I can see enjoying many read throughs with and will certainly have a better chance of surviving to pass on to my children than my old paperbacks. These editions also match up pretty closely with the HMH hardcover 75th anniversary edition of The Hobbit if you desire a collection of similar height (photos included for comparison - although that is of inferior quality).

Very good trade paperback set. I got the version shown in the picture. This review is about the physical books not the content as we all know LotR is renowned as a classic all time great story. I have always wanted to read LotR and never got around to it so that's why I bought this set. I am 3 weeks into reading them and 415 pages into Fellowship of the Ring at the time of writing this review so almost done with the first of the three books. These are trade paperback size so larger than mass paperback size and the text font size is good, it's very comfortably sized, it is not small. The books' binding is moderately loose. You don't have to fight too much to keep them open though not completely floppy either. The covers are matte and feel nice to hold, though I do have concerns about their longevity. The matte cover on my copy of Fellowship of the Ring is starting to peel slightly at the edges and corners from having handled it for a few weeks. I like all the cover artwork for the 3 books for the most part. Though Fellowship of the Ring as pictured I would have preferred a cozier art choice such as a drawing of the Shire or Rivendell and not a scary ring wraith but that's personal taste. The artwork, font and gold signature of Tolkein are all very well done. The spine of Fellowship is not cracking with use over the past 3 weeks of daily reading. No worries here about the pages falling out. The page thickness is just ok. Not to an extreme degree so but the text does show a bit on the other size under light. I can sometimes get slightly distracted by seeing the text on the other side of the page. But it's not a big concern. There are very little in terms of illustrations, which is too bad, but expected for a budget set. Same goes for no pull out map. There is a map at the back, but it's not fold out. Really would have been nice to have a fold out map along side me while reading as the geography of the world gets referenced constantly. The page numbers don't reset with each of the 3 volumes, it continues from the previous, which is a nice touch. Overall for $26 I'm very happy for the price. My biggest gripe is the cover starting to peel but for $26 hard to take off a star just for that. I think if you just want to read the books this is a no brainer over the smaller mass paperback set on Amazon which costs about as much since you will get a bigger book with bigger font size. Though that set includes the Hobbit and this does not. You should definitely read the Hobbit first before reading LotR as there's a lot of references to it and story continuations from it. So if you get this and haven't read the Hobbit you'll have to purchase the Hobbit separately.

One may be tempeted to question the purpose of reading these books in light of the fact that Peter Jackson has just recently graced the world with his towering exploration of them in visual format. The answer to those who would so question is what I have always said, even before the films were made. This book is, I believe, unsurpassed by any other work in human history aside from the Bible. It is impossible to really do the work credit with any sort of brevity, however, for the sake of the reader's patience I will comment on what I believe to be the most important points. Firstly, if it is of any interest to anyone, in a world full of writers who become immensely popular despite very poor writing, here is a genius. Tolkien's masterpiece is written in somewhat antiquated language, which tends to add to it's mistique and prowess rather than to distract the reader. With a mixture of glowing description, intelligently crafted dialogue, and a combination of genres from narrative, to poetry, to prophecy, The Lord of the Rings will not leave you bored if you are intelligent enough to appreciate the style. When I first read the book I found the descriptions to be somewhat tedious, cutting off the story as they did (I was 15), however, having now read the books four times I have an appetite for good writing, not just an urge to find out what happens next. The dialogue can be rather long as well, as in the chapter, "The Council of Elrond," where upwards of 20 characters speak, the majority of whom you have heard little or nothing about. However, I have come to enjoy that chapter much more as I have grown older because of its hinting at a much greater world than the one we are exposed to. Secondly, the tale is captivating. It is a story of increasing intensity as the reader progresses and he is drawn in so easily and so fully that he may come out of it half believing that this quest actually happened. You feel Sam's joy and being sent with Frodo; you feel the Hobbit's terror at the Barrow Downs; your hurts are healed with the Fellowship at Lothlorien; you are captivated by the mustering of the Rohirrim; you are petrified by Shelob; you are laughing at Merry and Pippin the whole way. The genius of Tolkien creates a complete empathy on the part of the reader for the characters. I would be interested to know how many other people are actually in tears at any point in the reading of this book. I am at several, I will admit. Lastly, and I believe, most importantly, it is necessary to uncover some of the timeless thematic elements of this masterpiece. Books like, Finding God in the Lord of the Rings, have failed to do this book justice in their exploration of such themes, unfortunately. I do not wish to comment on all such themes b/c to do so would take far too long. However, I will make bold to say that I believe the overarching theme of the book to be self-sacrifice. Ultimately, self-sacrifice amounts to love, as far as I can see it, b/c it is a giving of one's self in the interest of others w/o expecting any good for one's self to come out of it. Just think, Frodo had no hope of ever making it back from Mordor, but it didn't matter. He had a task to complete for the saving of the rest of the world. Sam, Merry and Pippin went with Frodo, having no idea what they were going into, and not caring. It did not matter to them; all that mattered was that they could give of themselves to him. And finally, when Aragorn, Gandalf and Prince Imrahil marched with their armies to the black gates and had no hope whatsoever of victory, it was only with the hope that they might provide a lengthy enough distraction to enable two small Hobbits to make it to the Cracks of Doom without being discovered by the Enemy. I wish to comment on one other point before being finished b/c I believe that to those of the Christian Faith it should be encouraging. When Sam and Frodo are going with Gollum through Ithilien they come to the Cross-Roads and there is a statue of a king seated, however his head has been thrown down and there is a big ugly eye, the symbol of Sauron, where his head should be. As they walk there is suddenly a beam of light where the sun manages to search through the darkness, that blazes out upon the head of the king which is lying by the road. A vine of flowers has grown around his head and Sam says, "Look! The King has got a crown again." Such hope have we as well. I would make a passing remark about this edition. Though the size may make it somewhat difficult to read it lays open nicely so reading it in bed is quite nice if one likes to lay on one's stomach to read. The illustrations are very true to Tolkien's own vision as can be seen in, "Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator."

What makes a book a masterpiece? I don’t believe the criteria for this can even be measured. Our perception of art is and always will be subjective. If a book reaches a wider audience, there will always be those who love it and those who absolutely hate it. Still, some books prove their worth with their undiminishing popularity among people who are born after the artist’s death. From this point of view, I think it’s rather safe to say that “The Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien is a true masterpiece. For me, loving this book was a surprise. I am not a fan of epic fantasy. I have my favourites in this genre, but I certainly don’t binge-read such stories. I am a true bookworm through and through. Books have been my sanctuary, my escape, my salvation, and a dozen other life-changing and life-defining things since I was a teen. During three decades of reading, I’ve read so many books, including “world classics must-reads”, that if I haven’t read some book, there is a serious reason behind why I haven’t. With “The Lord of the Rings”, this reason is that I simply didn’t feel compelled enough to read it. I did read “The Hobbit”, but eyeing its three-volume monstrosity of a sequel, I realised it’s not what I want to spend my time on. Well, what can I say… Thirty years later, I “swallowed” the trilogy in about a month – and it took me so long only because I was reading it during a very busy time and could dedicate to it only short moments before bedtime. I don’t see any practical use in retelling the plot of the book read by millions. So, I’ll just share some thoughts and impressions I was left with after I finished reading. The real hero of the global battle against Sauron is… Sam Gamgee. What an incredible strength of spirit! Even the seemingly infinite power of the Ring couldn’t break his will. Yes, Frodo was the Ring Bearer, but if not for Sam, he wouldn’t have even brought the formidable thing to the Cracks of Doom. Although I found some other parts of the journey fascinating, the most exhausting and gut-wrenching leg of it is my favourite. When two hobbits were crawling up Mount Doom, forced to leave more and more behind – Sam’s beloved kitchen gear and remnants of hope that they can succeed – my lips felt parched and my heart hollow. I guess, for many it might not be the most exciting part of the book, but for me, reading it felt like I’ve made that impossible climb myself. I won’t pretend that I wouldn’t like to see more pages dedicated to female characters. Not only strong women. As much as I admire the Amazonian-style, fierce, and “step-away-I’ll-do it myself” type of heroines, I do enjoy reading about mothers who take care of their children (and not by slaying everyone who enters the house), about wives who stay behind when their husbands go to war (or the office) and have an equivalent of “the secret life of pets” (no offence meant, since I am that wife myself). But I strongly believe that every book has a right to be whatever its author created it to be. It’s impossible – and unreadable and unwatchable, to be honest – to fit in everything in every single book or a movie or a tv series. There exist different families, different work teams, and versatile environments in any aspect of our lives. In my opinion, such things shouldn’t serve as the sole reason to judge a book by. “The Lord of the Rings” is a story about so many things. The things that are easily applicable to real life and modern times. It is a story about the power of persistence. You might lose your strength for a while when the burden becomes too heavy. You can even lose faith in success at times. But if you continue moving forward, no matter how you feel or what you think, if you put one foot in front of the other and repeat this action without contemplating whether you’ll be able to do it until the end, you have a chance to throw that ring into the burning abyss and see a new, magnificent dawn.

As I said in my Goodreads review, it's a "timeless classic", so there are very few things I can add to what has been said over the years, how great this book is. Professor Tolkien was a brilliant writer. But there is--so he insists--no allegory in LOTR, only "applicability" which--he also insists--resides with the freedom of the reader, whereas allegory rests with the dominion of the author. If Tolkien is being candid about his own motives, if there were any besides just wanting to tell an epic story, then LOTR is a non-allegorical, "s**** and giggles" type book that the reader should enjoy without having to look any further than his very Anglo-Saxon 1940s-style English to find some sort of meaning within. But we shouldn't be that cavalier about it: the author does leave some themes in the narrative. Such as, his love of nature and his hatred of its destruction by industrialization and development; the horrors of war and the toll it leaves on the mind and body; the corruption of power, even in the hands of those with good intentions and mercy to begin with; the courage that can be found in even the smallest of beings; and many more interpretations which may come to mind. I do not want to go on too much detail since we could be here forever discussing this book if indeed I did. As far as the merits of this exact three-volume paperback copy: I can add that this is a great edition of this classic. It's easier to split the thing up into three lightweight volumes if you want to carry it from one room to the next. It's much easier than lugging around my one-volume deluxe copy. And as for trade paperbacks they seem pretty sturdy. (And therefore, much more likely to hold up than the cheap "mass market" paperbacks of LOTR.) The print is easy to read and pleasing to the eye. Unlike the aforementioned small cheap paperbacks, it includes a map of the Shire, and you can actually read the family trees, maps of Middle Earth, and other diagrams in the appendix (at the end of Vol III, "The Return of the King") without resorting to a tunneling electron microscope. I believe, and hope, that Tolkien's books will never go out of print.

I cannot begin to imagine doing justice to the first fantasy epic, The Lord of the Rings — but I want to write a review on these books I just bought, so here we go 😊. The Lord of the Rings is a fantastical story forged over a lifetime by a master craftsman. A polyglot with a gardener's approach to writing. An orator of Beowulf, and commander of the English language, Oxford’s own J.R.R. Tolkien. I purchased a paperback copy of The Fellowship of the Ring back in middle school in 1984. I was already big into science fiction and obsessed with all Greek, Egyptian, and Norse myths. Reading it formally exposed me to the literary side of the fantasy genre, with all its distinct magical possibilities, monsters, and endless adventures., I was hooked. I read it over the summer and finished the series early next year. The impact that The Lord of the Rings left on my younger self remains deep. My knowledge of Tolkien’s world then was but a bubbling pool that slowly filled amidst the vast gulf that is Middle-earth. Full of its powerful wizards, mythical heroes, and epic battles. Add in a dark lord and an evil magic ring, and Tolkien weaves the quintessential (ahem, Campbell’s) hero’s journey tale. The books were my escape when the world seemed as gloomy as Mordor. This will be the 4th time I have read the series, and the 5th time reading The Fellowship. As for the Lord of the Rings books I just purchased, not bad for $60. It comes with a sturdy slip case that is nicely illustrated. Each book is clothed in glossy dust jackets, and various fold-out maps of Middle-earth are on the back. Be careful unfolding the maps. They are delicate, and a bit of adhesive keeps the folds together. I learned this the hard way, as I tore a corner of the map trying to undo the folds. The fonts are kind of small, and the paper is a bit thin. You can see the print from the other side, but it’s not too bad. The books are on the lighter side, so they’re great for travel. All-in-all, good quality hardcovers that are fine for reading. Ideal for entry-level LoTR collection on a budget.

These are very nice books for the price you’re paying. They are soft back, but they don’t feel cheap, and I love the cover illustration! These are perfect for people who don’t want a pricey set, and want the volume split into separate books for portability. There weren’t any illustrations besides a few maps, but that didn’t bother me since I wasn’t specifically in search of an illustrated set. For a nicer quality, better binding, and illustrated set, a deluxe edition would be wanted. But overall, I’m very satisfied with these! :D

The product is in fantastic condidtion, good size of a font ;) very beautiful covers

Excelentes ediciones para leer una de las mejores obras de fantasía en la historia.

Kindleアプリも使いやすいし、1400円でLoTR全巻購入出来るんだから、結構得だと思います。

Wunderschön gearbeitet, auch im Detail absolut fantastisch - ein tolles und extrem hochwertiges Produkt. Die Bücher sind fein gebunden, ohne jeden Makel, alles passt wunderbar auch mit der Box. Die Illustrationen sind fantastisch und Druck und Papier vom Allerfeinsten. Wer das Non-Plus-Ultra der Buchmacherkunst sucht der ist hier genau richtig. Preis-Leistung stimmte hier bei 160 Euro.

The book came even before the time stated by Amazon ( to be expected from amazon for sure), the book is original no doubt, great and amazing new cover