The Fellowship of the Ring

The classic fantasy tale that started the modern genre. Excellent, as it was 20 years ago in college. Still some of the best prose I have ever read. The classic good and evil story. While I realize that there are very few cases of all good or all evil, and I definitely like my stories with nuance, sometimes I just like a story with clear lines. Plus, the massive world that he built is still even in light of the size of some of the worlds in newer books with more words written on them, this is still one of the most complete fictional worlds ever written. Even the likes of WoT and Malazan, the worlds are not done as completely as Arda.

The book is not, however, without its flaws. Maybe it's not so much a flaw as the product of its time. The writing definitely doesn't flow as easily to my eye as more recent works, but then Tolkien is a man of the early 20th Century, and somewhat the upper crust of Britain at that. I still like the style, but it does take more effort to read that some other works.

The last problem honestly, is the way he describes skin color in the book. While I have seen no evidence of him being racist, and certainly having no writings as troubling as his contemporary HP Lovecraft, I can't help but notice that the whiter the character's skin, the better they are. The elves have the whitest skin, while many of the groups of men who have sided with Sauron are describes as “swarthy”, ass are likewise even those members of mostly friendly groups, the few hobbits and men in league with evil have darker skin. Again, I'm not sure one could read too deep into it, but it is noteworthy. Maybe it changes in later books, but I have yet to see a good character described as having anything besides pale white skin.

All in all, an excellent book. Even those who started reading fantasy with newer works, I think would gain much by reading the work that began it all. Even today, over 60 years later, this man influences fantasy in inummerable ways, and will for decades to come.