I had been thinking that, when I retire, I'd finally get a chance to read some books that take a little more dedication, that can't be skimmed easily. But, instead, I decided to visit some old friends first.

This is about the sixth time I've read the Tolkien saga. This time, I did read all the songs (except those in elfish). I had meant to read the Appendices, even, but The Annals of the Kings and Rulers reminded me of my old family gatherings, where people gossiped about folks I didn't know back in Greenville: not enough tale to make it interesting if you don't know the people.

I'm still surprised that "The Hobbit" was written after the Trilogy. It is a much simpler book, with a much more casual narrative. It doesn't have the format or language of an ancient English Beowulf-ish saga, which I think the Trilogy does.

2019 - I realized as I read it this time, that most of why I love LOTR so much is because I read it as a teenager. It's like those oldie songs I love that I know I couldn't stand if I heard them today. I'm not sure I'd have the patience to read LOTR for the first time today; I think that after the 27th "lo","behold", or "lo and behold" I would have pushed a different station button.

Still love them.

Single handedly got me into reading by showing me these 4 fantastic books in this incredibly compact and easy to read format. Every book should be made like this.

I wrote a review for each book in their respective pages:

The Hobbit 2/5

The Fellowship of the Ring 3/5

The Two Towers 4/5

The Return of the King 4/5

Have actually read these books many, many times, first time in college, eons ago.

All four books remain enjoyable in spite of Tolkien's peculiarities, and the passage of time. (You'll find the "The Hobbit" has quite a different tone than "The Lord of the Rings"--much more humorous, and clearly more of a "children's" book.) I personally find the Sam-and-Frodo portions of LOTR a little too much, and I usually skip them when I re-read. Frodo is a bit of a prig, and Sam's devotion to his master is uncomfortable. Many will not care for Tom Bombadil. "The Scouring of the Shire" chapter in "Return of the King" is nearly unreadable, and seems to have been extracted from an Edwardian book for boys intended to improve their morals. There are very few women, and all are tall, beautiful, and queenly, with the exceptions of the foolish (and lower class) Ioreth in the Houses of Healing, and the robust but humble Mistress Rose, Sam's future wife. It disturbs the modern reader to run occasionally into phrases like "of purer blood" (not contaminated with the blood of "lesser men"). The modern reader may also find the classical black versus white theme unsettling. Is this a picture of Tolkien's own world or an example of his adherence to the historical worlds he was in effect re-creating? Probably both.

Yet I keep reading them. There is something true in them, in spite of everything. Éomer of Rohan asks the future king Aragorn how should men judge what to do in their time of strange portent, Aragorn replies "As he has ever judged. Good and Evil have not changed since yesteryear..." It is something to know how those who have been through evil times (and Tolkien had been through two world wars, fighting in WWI) made it through, or helped others to do so.

Worth the investment of time, even if you aren't particularly a fan of fantasy.

One of the BEST fantasy fiction series of all time. GREAT READ

Real good value for price. All 4 books about 1/2 the size of standard notebook page. The font is not too small, okay to read. Light weight enough to pack away on a trip or put into your purse or bag if you are wanting to read and take with you. And of course the books are excellent sci fi writting, better then the movies.

Good quality book set and well packaged. Of course, The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings saga is a great, rich, and very detailed novel.

The sleeve is heavy paper/thin cardstock and it was damaged because the shipper sent in a plastic bag. It was a gift but the receiver was okay with that so at least the books weren’t damaged. They’re good quality for the price and are nice to combine with the other sets.

As an avid reader, I've always wanted to read Tolkien. These books include everything I could ever want in a novel: the author's original storyline, unaltered and unchanged; a simplistic & cohesive aesthetic; and the complete authorization of publication by the author.

I really like the art of the books and was a bit worried about the delivery. Thankfully the book set came in a box, no damage whatsoever. Really happy with my purchase!

The books are not a regular size book which makes it hard to hold them, keep them open and read them especially the corners between pages where you can't even see the words properly. The quality is good but it's just not for me. You should think about it before you buy them, especially if you have big hands.

Love Tolkien's writing, and I've been looking for a compact set of his books. This one is perfect, especially because of its storage case for all four books. It fits nicely on my bookshelf and is attractive as a display.