It took the Rings of Power coming out to finally get me to buckle down and read this book. My previous attempts all ended because I couldn't get into it. So much walking! Random disconnected events! Absolutely NO women other than a bitchy hobbit aunt! 

As someone who had been raised on Tamora Pierce and who read her first N.K. Jemisin when I was 15, Tolkien seemed quaint and outdated to me. I wanted to understand it and be in on the fandom - people seemed to be having fun! - but it wasn't clicking for me and I never could get past the first ~150 pages. The movies came out slightly too early for me to imprint on them (though I did marathon the extended editions with friends as a teenager). I can now report that Tolkien is indeed quaint and outdated - but nevertheless charming and a fun time if you reset your expectations. The problem was that I expected Serious Epic Fantasy when I previously attempted to read this series. While there are Serious Epic Fantasy moments, this world is GOOFY and a playground for a fiddly old academic to dump his pet languages and lore. 

LOTR: Rings of Power has made me invested in understanding the world and has given me space to appreciate the original trilogy despite my critiques (seriously, we've met 4 women so far and none of them feel like real people [bitchy hobbit aunt, Goldberry, Arwen, Galadriel]). 

The narration was fantastic! 

I wanted to like this so much more than I do... The first half was so slow and so much extraneous information. I thought there would be a lot of more character and relationship building but I should have known how hard into worldbuilding it would dive. I did love Tom Bombadill though. The second half I liked lot more because I just considered it a dnd podcast which it really reads like. I did want more of Arwen, or any woman. I was fully invested by the end and I am curious how I will feel about the rest. I do still like the movie better though.

3.5–4 stars for most of the book. I would give the Frodo and Sam scenes more than five stars if I could.

I was surprised by how nostalgic I felt reading this first LOTR volume, which I’ve never read before — the ‘epic’ sense of adventure reminded me a little of reading Percy Jackson and Harry Potter as a child. 

I’m rooting for Aragorn and Sam, always <3  (but can’t believe Arwen is so much less present here than the films!) 

But yeah, if we’re being honest, there’s a lot of slightly dull walking around various parts of the wilderness that require patience to get through. 

There is nothing I can add to already-established discourse about this book, series, or author. Y'all know the drill. 5/5, forever.

Rob Inglis, the narrator, also gets 5/5.