The Two Towers
J.R.R. Tolkien, 1954
★ 4.51 from 1.2m ratings on Goodreads
The middle volume of the war for Middle-earth: a divided fellowship, a haunted guide, and two hobbits climbing toward the one place that can end it. The story moves at a steady, plain-spoken pace, carrying friendship and dread through a wide, wondering world.
Feels like wonder, dread and tenderness. About friendship, war and freedom.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy long fantasy journeys with many characters and a grave, old-fashioned voice. Be aware that some stretches, especially the separated storylines, can feel slow.
Why read it
It offers the steady company of friends under pressure and a world that feels vast and old, giving weight to small loyalties.
A page from the book
What it takes to imagine an enemy's life instead of his death.
It was Sam’s first view of a battle of Men against Men, and he did not like it much. He was glad that he could not see the dead face. He wondered what the man’s name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil of heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would not really rather have stayed there in peace. What readers say
Readers often say the book moved them through its friendship, hope, and rich world, with many loving the characters and epic action. Some found sections slow or less engaging, while others were fully swept up.
J.R.R. Tolkien.Tolkien said the Ents began with his disappointment at Shakespeare's Macbeth: Birnam Wood marches, but it is only soldiers carrying branches. He wanted actual walking trees.
Books that feel like this
More by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Hobbit
J.R.R. Tolkien, 1934
A quiet Hobbit's routine world is shattered when an unexpected visitor introduces him to a quest of impossible stakes.
The Fellowship of the Ring
J.R.R. Tolkien, 1954
A quiet hobbit inherits a ring that is not his to keep, and leaves the Shire with friends who do not yet know the road.
The Silmarillion
J. R. R. Tolkien, 1977
The creation myth and lost legends of Middle-earth: cosmic music, doomed oaths, and the wars that made Frodo's world.
Where to get it
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Questions readers ask
- Is The Two Towers for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy long fantasy journeys with many characters and a grave, old-fashioned voice. Be aware that some stretches, especially the separated storylines, can feel slow.
- What is The Two Towers like?
- The story moves at a steady, plain-spoken pace, carrying friendship and dread through a wide, wondering world. Feels like wonder, dread and tenderness. About friendship, war and freedom.
- What should I read after The Two Towers?
- If you liked The Two Towers, try Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (J. K. Rowling), A Clash of Kings (George R. R. Martin) and Dune (Frank Herbert).
A taste of the feed
What a friend paints on her ceiling when she misses you.
Luna had decorated her bedroom ceiling with five beautifully painted faces: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville. They were not moving as the portraits at Hogwarts moved, but there was a certain magic about them all the same; Harry thought they breathed. What appeared to be fine golden chains wove around the pictures, linking them together, but after examining them for a minute or so, Harry realized that the chains were actually one word, repeated a thousand times in golden ink: friends...friends...friends...friends... Harry felt a great rush of affection for Luna.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows · J. K. Rowling
The glory of battle, as remembered by a man who prefers a chair.
He laughed. “No, I’m done with fields of battle, thank you. I sit a chair better than a horse, and I’d sooner hold a wine goblet than a battle-axe. All that about the thunder of the drums, sunlight flashing on armor, magnificent destriers snorting and prancing? Well, the drums gave me headaches, the sunlight flashing on my armor cooked me up like a harvest day goose, and those magnificent destriers shit everywhere. Not that I am complaining. Compared to the hospitality I enjoyed in the Vale of Arryn, drums, horseshit, and fly bites are my favorite things.”
A Clash of Kings · George R. R. Martin
What to say to yourself when fear arrives and will not leave.
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
Dune · Frank Herbert
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