Fantasy Geeks Unite!

Hello everyone once again.

Yes, it has been a while since my last review. No one can help when real life decides to crash in on the party.

In any case, the majority of my time is now being taken up by an actual job. Now, while this job isn’t the hourly paying kind I figure it’s better than nothing at all. At the current time, I’m writing articles as a Liberal Examiner on Examiner.com.

My income is based completely upon how many hits I receive on my articles. For those of you that don’t know, it’s basically how many times the articles are read. So, in a manner of speaking, I’m entirely counting on readers like you to go and read the articles I type up.

It doesn’t cost you anything to read the articles. You don’t have to create an account or give them any info to read them. If you feel compelled or maybe just curious, stop on by Examiner.com Liberal Examiner to check my articles as they come out.

All the articles are pretty short, 200 to 400 words typically. Not much of a side track. I will go ahead and thank anyone who decides to stop by just to peek since I won’t know if you do or not.

Now, for the real reason this blog exists.

Book reviews.

For those that have read my last blog, you would know that I was reviewing the Lord of the Rings books and that last time it was The Fellowship of the Rings.

And for those who are just as geeky as me, you know it’s time for the review of The Two Towers. This being the second book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, if you don’t count The Hobbit.

Now, given this book as the next to review, I have to say that though all of the book are very high on my favorite books list, this book is actually not my favorite of the series if I had to put them in some kind of order.

This by no means means that I hate this book. This book along with its companions broke through barriers and managed to create a new world and something original. Most writers assume that nothing can ever be original again but Tolkien proved many people wrong.

By this point in the series, the Fellowship is way underway in their journey to get the ring to Mount Doom to destroy the ring. Though by this point there’s not much of a Fellowship as Frodo and Sam are alone carrying the ring to Mordor while Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas are working to save Merry and Pippin from a group of orcs.

To me the book itself becomes slow about this time as they go through various tasks which I won’t spoil for anyone who has managed to somehow not read this series.

It is the slow progression that irks me the most about this book simply because, unlike most “girls” who prefer the romantic comedy and the like, I’d very much rather have some action. And NOT the Michael Bay type action. But that’s a rant for another time.

In this book, the humans who have been conspicuously absent finally get their day in the heat of battle to prove themselves to the other races of Middle Earth. Oddly like in the current decade, the humans have to prove their worth after their predecessors caused the current mayhem to come about.

Once this task is completed with the inevitable battle of epic proportions, now all eyes turn back to the task of hoping that Frodo and Sam are still alive and still possess the ring.

While there are details I have skipped over and things that happened that I didn’t mention, I doubt anyone has the time to read a complete and thorough review of the series.

However, the main point I want to touch on would be that this is the book that serves as the turning point for Aragorn as a character. All this time, he has served as a ranger, a guide, a protector but still not accepting of his bloodline that leads him to the throne of Gondor. The trials he faces beings to internally shift his mindset from a mere ranger to that of a warrior and a leader. As the book progresses, he uses less of his skills as a ranger and more the skills of a diplomat, a warrior, and a strategist.

The Two Towers easily balances the shift between the necessary plot lines without jerking the reader around. It flows from the basic quest, to character growth, internal struggle, epic battle, and then to the tension with the knowledge that the battle is far from over.

I still recommend that everyone read this series. While even I occasionally joke about the round about way they are going about completing their goal in this series, it wouldn’t be much of a series if it was all completed in one book. And if it had been completed in one book then it wouldn’t hold the same weight it does now that warranted a movie series and a remake of The Hobbit.

So, read it, see the movies, share it with friends and family. This is one series everyone can watch and read.

Well that’s all for this review. Now, as life permits, I will be doing a review of the third and final book The Return of the King. After that, I’m planning a detailed review of The Hobbit since I fully intend to see the movie when it comes out in theaters. Whether I do a second review giving my take on the book to movie translation remains a question. It’s more likely that I would join my long time friend The Cinema Chick to review it with her.

In that case, I will make a short notice on this blog about the review and add a link to her site for the review. That’s if we work something out since her reviews have turned into vlogs. Whether I do one myself or not I will link to her vlog of the review of The Hobbit when it’s posted.

As for this review, that’s all from me.

This is Creative Karma and I proudly proclaim my geekery.