The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Synopsis
The Two Towers, the second volume in J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic The Lord of the Rings trilogy, continues the journey that began in The Fellowship of the Ring. After the breaking of the Fellowship, the narrative splits into two parallel storylines.
The first follows Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli as they pursue the orcs who have captured Merry and Pippin, leading them into the kingdom of Rohan. There, they become entangled in the affairs of King Théoden, whose mind has been poisoned by the wizard Saruman. Meanwhile, Merry and Pippin escape into Fangorn Forest, where they encounter the ancient Ents and help mobilize them against Saruman’s forces at Isengard.
The second narrative tracks Frodo and Sam on their perilous journey toward Mordor to destroy the One Ring. They capture and tame the creature Gollum, who becomes their guide through treacherous lands. Their path takes them past the terrifying Nazgûl, through the Dead Marshes, and eventually to the secret stair leading to Mordor—where a betrayal awaits that threatens their entire mission.
Throughout both storylines, the shadow of Sauron grows as the forces of darkness gather for war against the free peoples of Middle-earth.
My Thoughts
Despite my long-standing love for Peter Jackson’s film adaptations, I’ve postponed reading Tolkien’s source material for years, intimidated by its reputation for dense prose and complex world-building. After finally making my way through The Fellowship of the Ring last year, I discovered what generations of readers have known: there’s nothing quite like experiencing Tolkien’s Middle-earth directly from the page.
For The Two Towers, I opted for the audiobook narrated by Andy Serkis, and this decision transformed my experience entirely. Serkis—famous for his portrayal of Gollum in the films—brings extraordinary versatility to every character. His Gollum/Sméagol dialogues are predictably brilliant, but I was equally impressed by his ability to differentiate the various human, elven, and dwarf characters with subtle vocal variations that never feel cartoonish.
What surprised me most was how engaging I found the Frodo and Sam sections of the book. In the films, their long journey sometimes dragged for me, but Tolkien’s detailed writing and Serkis’s narration revealed layers of emotional complexity and tension that kept me thoroughly invested. The relationship between Frodo, Sam, and Gollum becomes a psychological drama playing out against the bleakest landscapes of Middle-earth.
The book’s structure—split into two distinct “books” within the volume—creates a perfect narrative rhythm. Just as you become fully immersed in Aragorn’s storyline and the buildup to the battle at Helm’s Deep, Tolkien shifts to Frodo’s journey, maintaining tension across both narratives. This structure, while initially jarring, ultimately heightens the epic scale of the story.
Tolkien’s prose, often described as dense or archaic, revealed itself to be something quite different: a deliberate stylistic choice that elevates the material. His descriptions of landscapes are painterly, his battle sequences kinetic, and his quieter character moments filled with emotional resonance. The songs and poems, which I expected to find tedious, became highlights when performed by Serkis, each representing a different culture’s musical tradition within Middle-earth.
The march of the Ents against Isengard stands as one of the most memorable sequences in all of fantasy literature. Tolkien conveys both the ancient, deliberate nature of these tree-shepherds and the awesome power they unleash when finally roused to anger. This sequence alone demonstrates why Tolkien’s work has endured—he creates moments of genuine wonder that resonate on a primal level.
Verdict
The Two Towers isn’t merely a “middle book” in a trilogy; it’s a masterpiece that expands and deepens the world established in The Fellowship of the Ring while dramatically raising the stakes. The dual narrative structure showcases Tolkien’s ability to balance intimate character development with sweeping, world-changing events.
What most impresses me is how the book manages to feel both timeless and urgently relevant. Themes of corruption, environmental destruction, the trauma of war, and the importance of compassion (particularly in Frodo’s treatment of Gollum) resonate powerfully with contemporary concerns.
For anyone who has only experienced The Lord of the Rings through the films, the books offer a richer, more nuanced experience. Jackson’s adaptations are remarkably faithful in spirit, but Tolkien’s original work contains countless moments of beauty, horror, and philosophical depth that simply couldn’t fit into a theatrical runtime.
If you’re like me and have put off reading these books due to intimidation, I cannot urge you strongly enough to reconsider. And if audiobooks are your thing, Andy Serkis’s narration is nothing short of extraordinary—bringing Middle-earth to life with the same magic that made the films so captivating.
I’m now eagerly anticipating my journey into The Return of the King, both dreading and looking forward to the conclusion of this remarkable saga that has, even after all these decades, lost none of its power to transport and transform its readers.
