Book Bearings
The Two Towers
Book 2 of The Lord of the Rings
- 434 pages · about 7 hours
- First published 1954
- 289 editions
Bookshop.org links may earn us a commission. It supports independent bookstores and costs you nothing.
1 About this book
The Two Towers is the second volume of The Lord of the Rings. The Fellowship that set out to destroy the One Ring has broken apart, and the story now follows its members along separate roads. In the first half, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli pursue the orcs who have carried off the hobbits Merry and Pippin, a chase that leads into the kingdom of Rohan and to war with the wizard Saruman. In the second half, Frodo and Sam continue toward Mordor with the Ring, and take as their guide Gollum, the creature who once owned it and still craves it. First published in 1954, the volume follows The Fellowship of the Ring and is followed by The Return of the King.
- Magic
- Fantasy
- Adventure
- Fantasy, epic
- Quests (Expeditions)
- Fantasy literature
- Hobbits
- The Lord of the Rings
2 What to expect
The middle volume of The Lord of the Rings, in two halves: first the scattered companions and the war in Rohan, then Frodo and Sam's slow journey toward Mordor with Gollum as their guide. The first half is fast, with pursuit and battle; the second is darker, quieter and more inward. It begins and stops in mid-story, so it cannot be read on its own.
Good for readers who want: epic fantasy, the heart of The Lord of the Rings, and battles beside a dark, tense journey.
3 About J.R.R. Tolkien
Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
4 More by J.R.R. Tolkien
5 Similar books
- The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
- The Gunslinger by Stephen King
- The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
- A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
- The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss