Between 12 and about 24, I read the entire quad every summer. Religiously. I always dreaded coming to The Two Towers; it felt like such a slog, and I don’t think jumping between parallel story lines was Tolkien’s forté. Return of the King got better as everyone (well, except the Ring Bearer) started gathering together again and there were fewer threads.
I’ve always found it really jarring when a book, tv series or a movie jumps around between several storylines. Pulling that off seems to be really hard.
It can be done, in novels at least, and there are some authors who not only do it well, but it’s just their style. Neal Asher is particularly good at this; I just think it wasn’t JRRT’s strength as writer.
My least favorite book of the three.
Between 12 and about 24, I read the entire quad every summer. Religiously. I always dreaded coming to The Two Towers; it felt like such a slog, and I don’t think jumping between parallel story lines was Tolkien’s forté. Return of the King got better as everyone (well, except the Ring Bearer) started gathering together again and there were fewer threads.
IMHO.
I’ve always found it really jarring when a book, tv series or a movie jumps around between several storylines. Pulling that off seems to be really hard.
It can be done, in novels at least, and there are some authors who not only do it well, but it’s just their style. Neal Asher is particularly good at this; I just think it wasn’t JRRT’s strength as writer.