The Return of the King vs Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Middle Earth, English Fantasy fiction, Fiction
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,…
Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth
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Unfinished Tales is a collection of narratives ranging in time from the Elder Days of Middle-earth to the end of the War of the Ring, and provides those who have read The Lord of the Rings with a whole collection of…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate The Return of the King highest: The Return of the King 4.6 · Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth 4.0.
- The Return of the King has the widest readership — 1084551 ratings behind its score.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| The Return of the King | Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.6 (1084551) | 4.0 (45725) |
| Hardcover | 4.6 (1896) | 3.9 (152) |
| Google Books | 5.0 (24) | — |
| Apple Books | 5.0 (280) | 4.0 (24) |
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Reception
| The Return of the King | Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 1084551 | 45725 |
| Editions | 285 | 62 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 435394 | 60559 |
| Reading it now | — | 5572 |
| Written reviews | 28222 | 1748 |
| Wikipedia attention | 8777 | 6429 |
| Pages | 603 | 512 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: The Return of the King or Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth?
The Return of the King has the higher combined reader rating across sources (The Return of the King 4.6/5, Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth 4.0/5).
Which is shorter to read: The Return of the King or Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth?
Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth (512 pages, ≈ 9 h 29 m); The Return of the King (603 pages, ≈ 11 h 10 m).
Which is harder to read: The Return of the King or Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — The Return of the King: Challenging; Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth: Moderate.
Have both books been made into films?
The Return of the King: 5 film adaptations; Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth: no film adaptation on record.