The Two Towers

The second installment in the trilogy is awesome! While it wasn't better than the The Fellowship of the Ring, it was very good literature. You need to read these in order!!!

This book move much faster than the Fellowship of the Ring. As Tolkien splits up the Fellowship into two groups, he also moves to split the book into two distinct halves, both equally enjoyable in their own right. The book continues to develop the character relationships and introduce a whole slew of new characters at the same time. The world continues to unfurl as the Fellowship continues their march into the unknown and Tolkien's writing really shines throughout the whole of this book.

This book divides the narrative of the fellowship (now broken) into two separate narratives, each taking up one half of the book. The first half, involving Aragon, Legolas, and Gimli, are fascinating and quick. The action is wonderful, the characters colorfully drawn, and the narrative engaging. The second half, with Frodo, Sam, and the loathsome creature Gollum, carrying the ring to Mordor, is less engaging, but also shorter and faster. Tolkien wisely keeps the narrative with the ring-bearer brisk and short, since their journey mainly involves walking, rather than war (as in the first half of the book). I remember when I was younger and I read these books for the first time, I thought The Two Towers was dreadfully slow, but this time I found myself hanging on every word. I can't wait to read the final portion of Tolkien's signature work. The Lord of the Rings is not a trilogy, but rather a singular book published in three volumes, and it is one of the finest works of fiction ever put on paper.

A little bit darker than the first book; still intensely spellbinding.

This is an awesome piece of writing by Tolkien!

I really do like this series. More perhaps than I thought I would. I admit the second half didn't intrigue me as much as the first, but I think this is due mainly to the fact that the first half had pretty much all of my favorite characters in it, which kept it interesting and captivating. Seriously, I just love Merry and Pippin and how amazing they are at being little comic reliefs and voices of relaxation. Plus Gimli and Legolas' friendship is one of the greatest things ever.
I haven't yet watched this movie all the way through but I feel from what I do know that the film deviated more from this book than perhaps the Fellowship. If so, hopefully it changed for the better and didn't take anything away from the storyline.
Daring escapes, fearsome battles, wicked creatures and lights in the darkness come together to make this fascinating, timeless tale. This book did nothing to diminish the first of the series (I actually think I like this one more than book one) and it was a wonderful (if not slow) read.
I'm hoping the next and last book makes me want to read chapters of Sam and Frodo. I like them well enough, but I get weary of their chapters when the story continues in their perspective after a while.

The Fellowship has broken, and, awkwardly enough, so has the narrative. I mean that in an editorial sense. In this middle volume Tolkein has split story into two, cleanly separated smaller volumes—one follows Aragorn and company throughout the land of Rohan, and the other follows Sam and Frodo on their quest to Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring.

Tolkein keeps the tension high as the forces of Sauron conspire to locate the Ring of Power in order to secure Sauron's dominant reign over Middle Earth. Saruman the White is but a mere puppet in this pursuit even though he himself has fallen under the Ring's powerful seduction.

I've seen the Peter Jackson movies a dozen times since last reading The Two Towers book and I'm surprised at how much the movie shows the audience versus what is only spoken of in the book (e.g. the Ents charge on Isengard). Also, the movie corrects the divided storyline problem by mercifully intercutting both.

It is the best book out of all the trilogy!

Awesome book!

It is slow for first time readers of fantasy, but is a classic all the same. Look into some of the mythology put in this book, and you'll be entranced.