This was my 20th book finished in 2024.

Okay, so it's an improvement on "Fellowship". There are less of the worst things, but it's still laden with such boring chapters.

It frustrated me so much the way Tolkien writes sometimes. Instead of writing first hand an exciting scene, it gets described by one character to another. God, I'm so tired of these exhausting monologues. My main example being the mind-numbingly long chapter of Treebeard, which culminates in a battle that is completely missed. Instead we have it spoken about in retrospect. Ugh!

There are far fewer songs in this book, so that's a huge plus. Gollum is my favourite character in the films, so it's no surprise I enjoyed the second half of the book. Although it went on for too long, with the three characters having seemingly the same conversations over and over.

The problem, shared with the first book, is that it's just too long. It's far too slow-paced, based in heavy confusing lore, with far too little going on. Just one book to go...