#1 in Classics
The Return of the King
- 502
- Pages
- about 9 h
- Reading time
- Film 2003 +1
- On screen
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Our view
“The Return of the King” delivers the great battles, yet its lasting force lies in the quieter pages that follow. There victory is shown to have its price. Some readers rank it as the strongest part of “The Lord of the Rings”, especially its second half. Tolkien’s prose style does not engage everyone, but the ending earns its mix of grief and hope.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
As the shadow of Mordor grows across the land, the Companions of the Ring have become involved in separate adventures. Aragorn, revealed as the hidden heir of the ancient Kings of the West, has joined with the Riders of Rohan against the forces of Isengard and takes part in the desperate battle of the Hornburg. Merry and Pippin, captured by Orcs, escape into Fangorn Forest and there encounter the Ents. Gandalf has miraculously returned and defeated the evil wizard, Saruman. Sam has left his master for dead after a battle with the giant spider, Shelob; but Frodo is still alive—now in the foul hands of the Orcs. Meanwhile, the armies of the Dark Lord are massing as the One Ring draws ever nearer to the Cracks of Doom.
Reading order · The Lord of the Rings
Full order & progress →- The Fellowship of the RingStart here
8.88.8 / 10 - The Two Towers
8.98.9 / 10 - The Return of the KingThis book
9.19.1 / 10
On screen
This book has been adapted for the screen 2 times — from 1980 to 2003.
Adaptation data: Wikidata · On screen →
Where the score comes from
The sources average 9.2 across 2,111 ratings. With that many, the reader vote carries 93% of the weight and the score stays at 9.1 — the Classics average of 7.7 barely moves it.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.9 | 106 | 5% |
| Google Books | 10.0 | 24 | 1% |
| Hardcover | 9.2 | 2K | 94% |
Frequently asked
How long is The Return of the King?
It has 502 pages — shorter than 58% of the ranked books in Classics.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Classics — with scores between 8.1 and 9.1, closest to this book.
