Tolkien is the OG, and praised so highly, for a reason. His prose is pregnant with meaning, and flows across the page like poetry. Despite its verboseness, I find an astounding level of clarity in Tolkien’s writing. The man was a scholar of words and languages, and that love translates to darn near every passage in every book. Paragraph to paragraph, sentence to sentence, the books are beautiful works of art and clearly labors of love.

With that said, if the books you mentioned are just your taste, then you may find Middle Earth a bit bland. Not that you shouldn’t read it! But I’m seeing a lot of “read it and find out,” which isn’t very helpful…

The Hobbit is a fairy tale, where the Lord of the Rings is an epic. Tolkien was heavily inspired by ancient Anglo-Saxon stories, and it shines through. In both, you’ll find Shakespearean dialogue (conversations that read a little too awkwardly for modern sensibilities), and over the top acts of courage and valor on the scale of Norse gods and Greek heroes. Maybe less so in the Hobbit, as compared to it’s counterpart.

If you approach the Lord of the Rings as if you are reading an ancient manuscript found in the tomb of some long lost king, it will blow your mind. If you approach it as another fantasy adventure, well, you’ve probably been so conditioned by modern authors that, like myself, you’ll have a hard time getting into it.

As a writer, I can appreciate the prose. As an avid reader, I can understand why so many people pass on Tolkien. I don’t think it’s aged out for people, because it wasn’t written for its age in the first place. Tolkien wanted to write an epic—a saga—and he did. And it’s brilliant.

Where GoT goes into excruciating detail about relationships, political intrigue, and the interconnectedness of the geopolitical landscape, LotR goes into excruciating detail of the world the characters inhabit. There’s a ton of depth through lore, mythology, and geography, but the living world itself is fairly barren in terms of politics. There’s certainly more going on than the movies display, but Tolkien was clearly less concerned with politicking and more concerned with people banning together to fight the abhorrent evils of Sauron. There’s hints of a world at large, but you will follow the main cast of characters on their adventures, while the politics are kept on the periphery.

Now, speaking of the living world, this is where Tolkien really shines for me. I have never seen a world so clearly through the lens of narration. Its as if you’ve stepped into a whole other world, one that was meticulously put together. The names of trees, geological and geographical features, the moving and migrations of peoples and species. The natural world is alive and well and so, so, very beautiful. I wish Tolkien could write descriptions for every book. His prose and ability to paint a picture is unparalleled. Every forest, mountain, and valley has a personality. Every ruin, city, and society has a story. And the way he coneys them is through the most beautiful writing I have ever read. No author can compare—period.

Well, I’m tired of rambling on, now. Hopefully, you have a better idea of what you’re getting yourself into by reading it, or not. 🤷‍♂️