The Lord of the Rings consists of three books. The Fellowship of the Ring, the Two Towers, and the Return of the King.
Going deep into the lore of the story would take a book of itself, but let it be suffice to say that it all began when the ancient
evil's most powerful lieutenant in the physical universe,
Sauron is defeated, his reign is thought to have perished.
Yet
Sauron in his infinite ambition to preserve and expand his power, had crafted himself a ring that would maintain his essence, and make sure that he would not vanish from the world if he were defeated.
His plan succeeds ultimately. The last Alliance of Humans, Elves and
Dwarves that was assembled to defeat him crumble over the centuries, and his vengeful spirit stirs within the
ashlands of his former home,
Mordor. Through a series of events, the ring that still contained his powerful essence was lost and reaches the hands of a hobbit,
Frodo Baggins.
The first book begins with the forming of the Fellowship of the Ring. A band of nine adventurers. Frodo and his three hobbit friends, Sam, Pippin and Merry, along with the humans Boromir, Aragorn, Gimli the dwarf, Legolas the elf, and Gandalf the Wizard. Their mission is set to head to Mordor, and cast the ring intot he volcano known as Mount Doom, in order to utterly banish Sauron for eternity.
The second book, labeled the "Two Towers" follows the corruption of the White Hand, the circle of wizards that Gandalf was a part of. In the tower of Orthanc, the corrupted wizard, Saruman, forges an Alliance with Sauron, who's symbol of might is the tower of Barad-dur within Mordor. The unholy Alliance strengthens as they both build armies to lay siege to the various inhabitants of the vastness of Middle Earth. Many climactic battles occur such as Helm's Deep, the siege of Minas Tirith, and the grandest of them all, Pelennor Fields. All of them ended with the defeat of evil, though the cost was often quite heavy, with many razed villages, destroyed towns, and numerous castualties.
The "Return of the King" fulfills the prophecy of the returning Dunedain King. The Heir of Isildur, who was the man that was responsible for the first defeat of Sauron thousands of years ago. Aragorn, one of the members of the fellowship, reveals his identity. Despite his fears that he too would fall to the temption that his forefathers had fallen to due to the influence of the ring.
As battle rages on however, the fellowship breaks, save for Frodo and Sam who press on to Mordor. After the victory at Pelennor, the remaining armies of Middle Earth march to the Black Gate, hoping to win time and distract Sauron from finding the very ring under his nose as a battered Sam and Frodo finally reach the summit. Despite the struggles of the insane creature known as Gollum, the ring is destroyed. Peace descends upon middle earth as the raging blackness of Barad-dur crumbles before the sunlight.
Despite my poor attempts at summarizing a great book, I would recommend it with my eyes closed if you search for a fantasy setting. JRR Tolkien was not listed as the father of Fantasy fiction for nothing. Even the movies did injustice to the length of the story. The book will easily suck you in , despite some slow parts. I watched the movie before the book, and I still was anticipating many things, I was not disappointed.
