From Library Journal
New Line Cinema will be releasing "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy in three separate installments, and Houghton Mifflin Tolkien's U.S. publisher since the release of The Hobbit in 1938 will be re-releasing each volume of the trilogy separately and in a boxed set (ISBN 0-618-15397-7. $22; pap. ISBN 0-618-15396-9. $12). Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
[Editor's Note: The following is a combined review with THE TWO TOWERS.]--There is something incongruous about American voices in ancient Britain (or to be precise, Middle Earth). Nonetheless, these American productions of the Tolkien classics--originally broadcast on NPR Playhouse--are well worth hearing. While not as elaborate as the BBC production (which featured Ian Holm), this adaptation is more accessible to a wider audience. Gail Chugg, who also plays the character of Gollum, narrates the story with an easy storyteller's style. James Arrington reads the part of Frodo Baggins, the Hobbit bearing the burden of a ring of great power. Bernard Mayes portrays the wizard Gandalf with a homespun flourish. S.E.S. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

FROM OUR EDITORS

Having vanquished Sauron's troops and killed the Lord of the Dark Riders, heroic hobbit Frodo Baggins and his band of soldiers now face another, bloodier battle outside Mordor's Black Gate. The concluding volume of Tolkien's masterful trilogy.

ANNOTATION

"No imaginary world has been projected which is at once as multifarious and so true to its own inner laws." -- CS Lewis

FROM THE PUBLISHER

As the Shadow of Mordor grows across the land, the Companions of the Ring have become involved in separate adventures. Aragorn, revealed as the hidden heir of the ancient Kings of the West, has joined with the Riders of Rohan against the forces of Isengard, and takes part in the desperate victory of the Hornburg. Merry and Pippin, captured by Orcs, escape into Fangorn Forest and there encounter the Ents. Gandalf has miraculously returned and defeated the evil wizard, Saruman. Sam has left his master for dead after a battle with the giant spider, Shelob; but Frodo is still alive -- now in the foul hands of the Orcs. And all the while the armies of the Dark Lord are massing as the One Ring draws ever nearer to the Cracks of Doom.

SYNOPSIS

While the evil might of the Dark Lord Sauron swarmed out to conquer all Middle-earth, Frodo and Sam struggled deep into Mordor, seat of Sauron's power. To defeat the Dark Lord, the accursed Ring of Power had to be destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom. But the way was impossibly hard, and Frodo was weakening. Weighed down by the compulsion of the Ring he began finally to despair.

The awesome conclusion of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, beloved by millions of readers around the world.

FROM THE CRITICS

New York Times

An extraordinary work — pure excitement.

Daily Telegraph

A triumphant close... a grand piece of work, grand in both conception and execution. An astonishing imaginative tour de force.

New York Herald-Tribune