Published: 29th July 1954 (print)/11th October 2005 (audio) 
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt /HarperCollins Publishers
Pages: 398/18 discs
Narrator: Rob Inglis
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Fantasy
★ ★ – 2 Stars
In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, The Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell into the hands of Bilbo Baggins, as told in The Hobbit
In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as his elderly cousin Bilbo entrusts the Ring to his care. Frodo must leave his home and make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.
First of all, no one in all my years of hearing about Lord of the Rings ever mentioned just how much singing I would have to sit through in this book. The only time I wish I was reading it instead of listening to it was putting up with so many songs. There were five-minute songs in there that were hard to skip on audio, not to mention all the random ones we needed in there about having baths, walking, general merriment, and who knows what else.
Tom Bombadil was also a nightmare to put up with, I was so relieved when his part ended I actually cried out in frustration when he came back. That is not to say the rest of the story was horrible. I actually enjoyed some parts, some parts were genuinely interesting and had that adventure tone to them, and then other times it was just boring.
I wanted to like this story, it started off so interesting and each time I found myself becoming uninterested I felt I was doing this story a disservice. I know people talk about Tolkien being big into description and long-winded things but that wasn’t a real problem, I didn’t mind the walking and the travelling for most of the book, but for some reason the walking towards the end was incredibly dull and hard to listen to and there are some scenes that I think were entirely unnecessary.
I did like the characters though, I liked Frodo and I liked Sam’s loyalty. Merry and Pippin weren’t as silly as I recall them being in the movie and I especially liked the complexity of Aragorn. There is a good story here woven between the oversharing and focusing on that instead is a great way to get through the boring bits. Tolkien came through though with a good and interesting ending, after a dull stretch it suddenly takes off and you are whisked into a great conclusion that makes you want to head straight into the next story.
I am not a huge fantasy reader but I don’t hate the genre, and this is after all THE fantasy novel, the beloved classic, and I am a little surprised, I thought I would like it more than I did. You can certainly see the Tolkien genius, but my goodness you have to put up with a lot of nonsense to get there.
I also realised too late that I should have started with The Hobbit, but there was a prologue recap before the story and there are enough references within the text itself that it is not really needed, but I did feel like I was missing out on something.
You can purchase The Fellowship of the Ring via the following
QBD | Dymocks | Book Depository
Booktopia | Bookworld | Fishpond
Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible
Lost in a Good Book 