The Fellowship Of The Ring vs The Return of the King: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: The Lord of the Rings, Hope, Fantastic fiction, Elves, Fear, Adventure
The Fellowship Of The Ring
“THIS BOOK is largely concerned with Hobbits, and from its pages a reader may discover much of their character and a little of their history.”
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One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. “A unique, wholly realized other world, evoked from deep in the well of Time, massively detailed, absorbingly…
The Return of the King
“Pippin looked out from the shelter of Gandalf's cloak.”
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THE RETURN OF THE KING, which brings to a close the great epic of war and adventure begun in The Fellowship of the Ring and continued in The Two Towers, is the third and final part of J. R. R. Tolkien's masterpiece,…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- The Fellowship Of The Ring is the quickest read — about 7 hours vs 11 for The Return of the King.
- The Return of the King has the widest readership — 1084551 ratings behind its score.
- The Fellowship Of The Ring runs the darker storyline; The Return of the King stays the lighter read.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| The Fellowship Of The Ring | The Return of the King | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.4 (58309) | 4.6 (1084551) |
| Hardcover | 4.4 (5086) | 4.6 (1896) |
| Google Books | 4.5 (13) | 5.0 (24) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (631) | 5.0 (280) |
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Reception
| The Fellowship Of The Ring | The Return of the King | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 58309 | 1084551 |
| Editions | 316 | 285 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 997339 | 435394 |
| Reading it now | 118 | — |
| Written reviews | 58309 | 28222 |
| Wikipedia attention | 16761 | 8777 |
| Pages | 423 | 603 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: The Fellowship Of The Ring or The Return of the King?
The Return of the King has the higher combined reader rating across sources (The Return of the King 4.6/5, The Fellowship Of The Ring 4.4/5).
Which is shorter to read: The Fellowship Of The Ring or The Return of the King?
The Fellowship Of The Ring is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The Fellowship Of The Ring (423 pages, ≈ 7 h 50 m); The Return of the King (603 pages, ≈ 11 h 10 m).
Which is harder to read: The Fellowship Of The Ring or The Return of the King?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — The Fellowship Of The Ring: Light; The Return of the King: Challenging.
Have both books been made into films?
The Fellowship Of The Ring: 3 film adaptations; The Return of the King: 5 film adaptations.