Customer Reviews
Of Good and Evil - By: Gary Selikow, 17 Jun 2008 
The Two Towers is the second bookin The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy.
It begins with the death & burial of Boromir & then to the journey of Aragorn , Legolas & Gimli to rescue Pippin & Merry from the Orc captors.When we read about Pippin & Merry's captivity , we for the first timein LOTR , witness the repugnant , cruel & totally without anything redeeming way of being of the Orcs.
We also meet the Ents , shepherds of the trees & the tall & fair blonde horse riders - the Rohirrim.Thus we meet Treebeard & once more for a while two of our heroes Pippin & Merry get to spend some timein one of the few havens of Middle Earth ,temporarily safe from the enveloping darkness of the Dark Lord , the Enemy , Sauron & his forces . In this book Gandalf reappears having been miraculously resurrected as Gandalf the White . More powerful than before he breaks the spell of Saruman's emissary Grima Wormtongue over the King of Rohan , Theoden . The epic Battle of Helms Deep takes place while the Ents totally destroy Saruman's evil realm of Isengard before Gandalf himself destroys Saruman's power .
In The Two Towers new characters such as Boromir's brother Faramir , the warrior of Rohan Eomer & his beautiful sister Eowyn appear . Such themes as the Palantir are introduced & the Hobbits meet up with the degenerate Gollum who for a while acts as their guide before predictably betraying them to the giant spiderlike demon Shelob.
more than before through Merry & Pippin , Frodo & Sam we witness the amazing quality of the Hobbits . The novel takes the saga to a dramatic climaxin Mordor & the stage is set for the final conflict between Mordor & The West.Aside from the action & events we need to take time to appreciate the beauty & scope of Middle Earth.
LOTR has an important messagein that it rejects moral relativism & exhorts us to always choose good over evil , so important when we are faced with the challenges of terrorism & those who would destroy freedom ...
The story continues - By: E. A Solinas, 06 Mar 2006 The second volume of Tolkien's epic trilogy never even wavers. If anything, it seems steadier & more controlled than "Fellowship of the Ring," as several characters become more central & the plot focus widens to envelop all of Middle Earth. It suffers from a bit of sequelitisin places, but the overall book is just as enthralling as the first.
Aragorn finds that Merry & Pippin have been abducted rather than killed -- for what reason, no one knows. Frodo & Sam have left on their own. So Aragorn, Legolas & Gimli race to find the orcs & retrieve the hobbits, but are stopped by the fierce Riders of Rohan, & then by an old & dear friend: Gandalf, who has been resurrectedin the new form of a White wizard. Elsewhere, Merry & Pippin must use all of their wits to escape the orcs, & then find a strange band of allies that no one could have hoped for.
Meanwhile, Frodo & Sam head into Mordor -- with an eerily familiar figure, Gollum, following them. Frodo subjugates Gollum, forcing him to swear on "the precious" that he won't harm him. In return, Gollum promises to guide the two hobbits through Mordor, straight to Mount Doom. But the Ring is weighing more heavily than ever on Frodo, & is starting to reassert its old sway on Gollum...
One of the most noticeable changesin this book is the shift of focus. "Fellowship" was Frodo-centric, since the narration revolved around him, as did all the events & thoughts. But with the breaking of the Fellowship, the narration falls into three categories: Frodo & Sam; Merry & Pippin; Aragorn, Legolas & Gimli. This triple style allows individuals to shine more brightly, when they are called on to do more than hike with Frodo.
Tolkien also presented a wider view of Middle-Earthin general. While the slow slog through Mordor doesn't really tell or show readers much -- aside from what a hellhole Sauron is the middle of -- it's shocking to see the the effects of the orcs, Saruman & Sauron on places such as Gondor & Rohan.
But where Tolkien really outdid himself is Gollum. Gollum returns,in a substantially different state. Oh, he's still addled & addicted to the Ring, but he displays a dual love/loathing for the Ring, a weird affection for Frodo (who, from his point of view, is probably the only person who has been kind to him), & displays a Ring-induced multiple-personality syndrome. Very rarely can bad guys elicit the sort of loathing & pity from the reader that Gollum does.
One noticeable aspect of this book is friendship. When the Fellowship sets out from Rivendell, virtually everyone is a stranger, with the exception of the hobbits. However,in this book we get our view of how much Sam loves Frodo & wants to help him. Sam is fully aware of how much Frodo needs emotional support, & he's quite willing to be a pillar of strength for his friend. We see Gimli & Legolas's affection for Merry & Pippin; & Legolas's willingness to kill Eomer if Eomer hurts Gimli shows how far this Elf & Dwarf have come.
This book is substantially darker than "Fellowship." Frodo is starting to stumble under the weight of the Ring, & other characters die or are seriously hurt. The scene where Pippin's mind is trapped by Sauron is a very disturbing one, as is a violent & saddening scene latein the book. But there is also some wry humor, like Legolas's snippy comments about pipeweed as Gimli & the hobbits smoke up a storm, & Sam's debate with Gollum about whether they should cook the rabbits.
Tolkien's second "Lord of the Rings" novel is a thrilling fantasy adventure, exploring more of his invented world than "Fellowship of the Ring" did. "The Two Towers" starts heading into darker territory, & will leave readers panting for more.
Towering success - By: E. A Solinas, 24 Jul 2005 The second volume of Tolkien's epic trilogy never even wavers. If anything, it seems steadier & more controlled than "Fellowship of the Ring," as several characters become more central & the plot focus widens to envelop all of Middle Earth. It suffers from a bit of sequelitisin places, but the overall book is just as enthralling as the first.
Aragorn finds that Merry & Pippin have been abducted rather than killed -- for what reason, no one knows. Frodo & Sam have left on their own. So Aragorn, Legolas & Gimli race to find the orcs & retrieve the hobbits, but are stopped by the fierce Riders of Rohan, & then by an old & dear friend: Gandalf, who has been resurrectedin the new form of a White wizard. Elsewhere, Merry & Pippin must use all of their wits to escape the orcs, & then find a strange band of allies that no one could have hoped for.
Meanwhile, Frodo & Sam head into Mordor -- with an eerily familiar figure, Gollum, following them. Frodo subjugates Gollum, forcing him to swear on "the precious" that he won't harm him. In return, Gollum promises to guide the two hobbits through Mordor, straight to Mount Doom. But the Ring is weighing more heavily than ever on Frodo, & is starting to reassert its old sway on Gollum...
One of the most noticeable changesin this book is the shift of focus. "Fellowship" was Frodo-centric, since the narration revolved around him, as did all the events & thoughts. But with the breaking of the Fellowship, the narration falls into three categories: Frodo & Sam; Merry & Pippin; Aragorn, Legolas & Gimli. This triple style allows individuals to shine more brightly, when they are called on to do more than hike with Frodo.
Tolkien also presented a wider view of Middle-Earthin general. While the slow slog through Mordor doesn't really tell or show readers much -- aside from what a hellhole Sauron is the middle of -- it's shocking to see the the effects of the orcs, Saruman & Sauron on places such as Gondor & Rohan.
Changes can be seenin Frodo evenin this book, & which become more pronouncedin the third book of the trilogy, "Return of the King." He becomes sadder & more introspective, & the Ring's growing hold on him can be glimpsed at times. Aragorn is also changing. He is no longer merely the rugged outcast Ranger, but displays the hints of a future great king, if he can only get to his throne.
Merry & Pippin also change: these two innocent young hobbits have to suddenly Sam is more promimentin this book, as Frodo's friend & personal pillar of strength.
But where Tolkien really outdid himself is Gollum. Gollum returns,in a substantially different state. Oh, he's still addled & addicted to the Ring, but he displays a dual love/loathing for the Ring, a weird affection for Frodo (who, from his point of view, is probably the only person who has been kind to him), & displays a Ring-induced multiple-personality syndrome. Very rarely can bad guys elicit the sort of loathing & pity from the reader that Gollum does.
One noticeable aspect of this book is friendship. When the Fellowship sets out from Rivendell, virtually everyone is a stranger, with the exception of the hobbits. However,in this book we get our view of how much Sam loves Frodo & wants to help him. Sam is fully aware of how much Frodo needs emotional support, & he's quite willing to be a pillar of strength for his friend. We see Gimli & Legolas's affection for Merry & Pippin; & Legolas's willingness to kill Eomer if Eomer hurts Gimli shows how far this Elf & Dwarf have come.
This book is substantially darker than "Fellowship." Frodo is starting to stumble under the weight of the Ring, & other characters die or are seriously hurt. The scene where Pippin's mind is trapped by Sauron is a very disturbing one, as is a violent & saddening scene latein the book. But there is also some wry humor: Gandalf's joke as he hears Saruman throttling Grima Wormtongue, Legolas's snippy comments about pipeweed as Gimli & the hobbits smoke up a storm, & Sam's debate with Gollum about whether they should cook the rabbits.
Tolkien's second "Lord of the Rings" novel is a thrilling fantasy adventure, exploring more of his invented world than "Fellowship of the Ring" did. "The Two Towers" starts heading into darker territory, & will leave readers panting for more.
Lord of the rings! - By: , 16 Nov 2004 To me, this book is one of the greatest works of literature ever written. Its structured, detailed chapters fill the reader with suspense, encouraging them to read on & on... If you are wanting brilliant fantasy, then this will certainly meet your needs. Without a doubt, it is written by one of the greatest authours of all time!
Some (mild) reservations - By: , 14 Jan 2004 
I agree with some of the reservations out there.
It is great to pick up the story of the Fellowship where we left it but the book suffers from one big problem, which is its structure. The divisionin two separate stories (Merry/Pippin/Legolas/Gimli/Aragorn on the one hand, then Frodo/Sam on the other hand)is quite tedious & sometimes the sense of purpose of the first story is not that clear. Don't get me wrong, there are some cracking bits of litteraturein this book: Helm's Deep, the Saruman/Gandalf confrontation, the characterisation & schizophrenia of Gollum, the eventsin Shelob's lair, all this is fascinating...but the story does not move as quickly as it should. This is still a book of epic proportion. Another quick note. Being French & lucky enough to be fluentin Shakespeare's language, the original bookin English is million miles better than the very heavy French translation that I got to read when I was a teenager. Wait to be good enoughin English to read LOTR!
