Books by JRR Tolkien

Contains: - [Hobbit](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL262758W) - [The Fellowship of the Ring](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL15331214W/The_Fellowship_of_the_Ring) - [The Two Towers](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL262757W/The_Two_Towers) - [The Return of the King](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL27516W/The_Return_of_the_King)

Originally published from 1954 through 1956, J.R.R. Tolkien's richly complex series ushered in a new age of epic adventure storytelling. A philologist and illustrator who took inspiration from his work, Tolkien invented the modern heroic quest novel from the ground up, creating not just a world, but a domain, not just a lexicon, but a language, that would spawn countless imitators and lead to the inception of the epic fantasy genre. Today, THE LORD OF THE RINGS is considered "the most influential fantasy novel ever written." (THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FANTASY) During his travels across Middle-earth, the hobbit Bilbo Baggins had found the Ring. But the simple band of gold was far from ordinary; it was in fact the One Ring - the greatest of the ancient Rings of Power. Sauron, the Dark Lord, had infused it with his own evil magic, and when it was lost, he was forced to flee into hiding. But now Sauron's exile has ended and his power is spreading anew, fueled by the knowledge that his treasure has been found. He has gathered all the Great Rings to him, and will stop at nothing to reclaim the One that will complete his dominion. The only way to stop him is to cast the Ruling Ring deep into the Fire-Mountain at the heart of the land of Mordor--Sauron's dark realm. Fate has placed the burden in the hands of Frodo Baggins, Bilbo's heir...and he is resolved to bear it to its end. Or his own. --- **Contains** - [The Fellowship of the Ring](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL14933414W/The_Fellowship_of_the_Ring) - [The Two Towers](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL27479W/The_Two_Towers) - [The Return of the King](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL27516W/The_Return_of_the_King) - [The Lord of the Rings \[2/2\]](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL27306128W) - [The Lord of the Rings \[1/6\]](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL24170898W) - [The Lord of the Rings \[1/9\]](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL27305953W) - [The Lord of the Rings \[2/9\]](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL27305892W) - [The Lord of the Rings \[3/9\]](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL27306048W)

The Hobbit is a tale of high adventure, undertaken by a company of dwarves in search of dragon-guarded gold. A reluctant partner in this perilous quest is Bilbo Baggins, a comfort-loving unambitious hobbit, who surprises even himself by his resourcefulness and skill as a burglar. Encounters with trolls, goblins, dwarves, elves, and giant spiders, conversations with the dragon, Smaug, and a rather unwilling presence at the Battle of Five Armies are just some of the adventures that befall Bilbo. Bilbo Baggins has taken his place among the ranks of the immortals of children’s fiction. Written by Professor Tolkien for his children, The Hobbit met with instant critical acclaim when published.

The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien's three-volume epic, is set in the imaginary world of Middle-earth -- home to many strange beings, and most notably hobbits, a peace-loving "little people," cheerful and shy. Since its original British publication in 1954-55, the saga has entranced readers of all ages. It is at once a classic myth and a modern fairy tale. Critic Michael Straight has hailed it as one of the "very few works of genius in recent literature." Middle-earth is a world receptive to poets, scholars, children, and all other people of good will. Donald Barr has described it as "a scrubbed morning world, and a ringing nightmare world...especially sunlit, and shadowed by perils very fundamental, of a peculiarly uncompounded darkness." The story of this world is one of high and heroic adventure. Barr compared it to Beowulf, C.S. Lewis to Orlando Furioso, W.H. Auden to The Thirty-nine Steps. In fact the saga is sui generis -- a triumph of imagination which springs to life within its own framework and on its own terms. - Jacket flap. Frodo and the Companions of the Ring have been beset by danger during their quest to prevent the Ruling Ring from falling into the hands of the Dark Lord by destroying it in the Cracks of Doom. They have lost the wizard, Gandalf, in the battle with an evil spirit in the Mines of Moria; and at the Falls of Rauros, Boromir, seduced by the power of the Ring, tried to seize it by force. While Frodo and Sam made their escape the rest of the company were attacked by Orcs. Now they continue their journey alone down the great River Anduin – alone, that is, save for the mysterious creeping figure that follows wherever they go. J.R.R. Tolkien’s great work of imaginative fiction has been labelled both a heroic romance and a classic fantasy fiction. By turns comic and homely, epic and diabolic, the narrative moves through countless changes of scene and character in an imaginary world which is totally convincing in its detail. --- **Also contained in:** - [The Lord of the Rings](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL27448W/The_Lord_of_the_Rings)

A number-one New York Times bestseller when it was originally published, The Silmarillion is the core of J.R.R. Tolkien's imaginative writing, a work whose origins stretch back to a time long before The Hobbit.