The Return of the King
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, "The Lord of the Rings." In these three books, which form one continuous narrative, Tolkien created the saga of the Hobbits of Middle-earth and the great War of the Rings. Praised by such writers and poets as W. H. Auden, Richard Hughes and C. S. Lewis, "The Lord of the Rings" - that special world of beauty and terror and meaning - holds a secure place among the books that will live.
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What you might want to know about The Return of the King
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
With the Fellowship broken, Gandalf and Pippin ride for the white city of Minas Tirith, Aragorn calls the Dead out of the mountain, and Theoden of Rohan rides his horsemen onto the fields of Pelennor. Beyond the Black Gate, Frodo and Sam cross the plains of Mordor toward the cracks of Mount Doom.
Yes. The Return of the King is the third and final volume of The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien intended LOTR as a single novel; his publisher split it into three volumes.
Peter Jackson's 2003 film adapts The Return of the King with significant condensation. The film cuts some material (including the Scouring of the Shire) but is widely considered the strongest of the original trilogy films and won 11 Academy Awards.
The Return of the King was written by J.R.R. Tolkien, published in 1950 by HarperCollins Publishers.
The Return of the King is 505 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The Return of the King takes most readers 8 to 11 hours to finish.
The Return of the King is a standalone novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, not part of a series.
The Return of the King is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.