I think perhaps I've never written a review for this series before because I have always shied away from explaining why this series is, for me, a hallowed thing.

My first remembrance of knowing, truly knowing, that I loved fantasy, was from watching the first Lord of the Rings film. It came out in 2001, when I was about ten years old, and frightened me silly. But it also enraptured me, enchanted me and made me feel truly transported.

From that moment I began desperately seeking other books in the genre, albeit more age appropriate ones (such as Tamora Pierce novels, and JK Rowling's Harry Potter series). However eventually the time came when I was ready to read the originator of my fantasy addition - the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

At first, I was disappointed. I found the first half of the Fellowship to be difficult work. The book was so dense with mythology, philology and geography that I was overwhelmed. However I persevered until, one day, reading these novels was no longer work. Reading them was like living the watching of the films for the first time all over again. The joy of discovering something I was truly connected with was there in spades.

Tolkien managed to achieve an incredible feat with this series. He created a world so rich it has inspired generations of readers to feel Middle Earth so acutely, as to become lost in its history. He began writing a history, and created something quite unique - the history of a fantasy world which, with his pen to guide us, we as readers have been made to feel is almost real in its vibrancy.

If you love fantasy, you must read these books. It is as vital to the history of the genre as text books are to the history of the world.