When we left the end of the first book Frodo and Sam had become seperated from the rest of the fellowship and this book continues that. Most of the book focuses on the adventures of the rest of the group. After burying Boromir, Legolas, Gimli and Aragon set off to find Merry and Pippin who have been captured by Orcs. They eventually meet up with Gandalf and go off to Gondor to fight a couple of battles. Merry and Pippin meanwhile escape from the orcs into Fangorn Forest where they meet Treebeard the ent and go off on some adventures of their own. In the meantime Frodo and Sam are nearing Mordor and finally meet up with Gollum and recruit him as a guide. The book ends with them in dire straits in Mordor.
This book is one that I always have mixed feelings about. There are some of my favourite parts and characters in it. I love the Ents and the parts in Fangorn Forest, I love the part where Frodo meets up with the Riders of Rohan and of course Gollum is always fascinating. As always, Tolkien builds such a fascinating world, which really draws you in to it, there are some wonderful battle scenes, and I love the banter between Gimli and Legolas. We also get to see Merry and Pippin as real characters on their own, rather then hangers on, which up until now they seem to have been. However, I do sometimes feel as if this book is just a "filler" There is no real beginning and end, it is just there in the middle, almost like something you have to get through to get to the good stuff in the last book.
I also have to talk about Sam here, he is such a wonderful supporting character. Always, loyal, helpful and trying desperately to do things for the good of his "master". I always think I would love to have a Sam by my side all the time!
I am really looking forward to starting the third one.
I just have to talk about Sam here
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