The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien

Frodo Baggins is the infamous hobbit adventurer, Bilbo Baggins', adopted nephew. Upon inheriting the ring that Bilbo had found on his journey with the dwarves that allows him to turn invisible, the grey wizard Gandalf realizes the ring is the missing corrupted ring of the dark lord Sauron and advises Frodo to leave the Shire and find a way to destroy it. Whilst travelling middle earth he and his companions must face the dangers of both the looming dark lord and the middle earth wilderness.

 

The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien sets up the beginning of a dense yet rich-in-storytelling trilogy of The Lord of The Rings. However, while I find it to be a great adventure story in terms of lore and worldbuilding, the book can drag and feel slow in some aspects. This can be seen with Frodo meeting Tom Bombadil, a 50-60 page chapter on a character that appears for 1/10th of the book and never mentioned afterwards. While Fellowship is a fun, classic fantasy, it can be unnecessarily long and tedious.

Reviewed by Rafi B., Grade 12

Glendale Central Library