Of all the voluminous sagas in this type of literature, some of which are critiqued here in DaVinci's World, my opinion is that Tolkien has done it perfectly. The pace of the stories is just right, not too fast, not too slow. The level of description, (which can be WAY overdone and burdensome in many of these types of stories), leaves just enough to the imagination. I love the way he lets the readers (until the release of the motion pictures) develop their own images of what the various denizens of Middle Earth really looked like. The real key to his perfection is that balance. He tells enough of the tale, with it's environments, sights, sounds, action and character development, to frame the readers own imagination. He lets us put just enough of ourselves into the characters and the struggles so that we can really "belong" to the story. The mistake too many authors make is to elaborate ad nauseum on every detail of the scenes and the scenarios. Tolkien got it right! Clean, direct and on with the tale!!

He weaves the story, moving from one group to another, separating and rejoining his characters enough so that the suspense builds ... we follow Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas on their incredible journey searching for the lost hobbits, Merry and Pippin while we wonder .... what is happening with Frodo and Sam? "Just wait a little longer, my dear readers, I'm coming to that". I can hear Tolkien saying. And so he does, bringing us back to the Ringbearer and his trusty companion, then, just as the danger is emminent, the author leaves us on the cliffhanger! Back to the world of men and horses and Gandalf racing down out of the sun ....

The characters are rich and vital. Most great novels have a reluctant hero ... the little guy, the average Joe, who gets called up to do the impossible. I think the years shortly after World War II, when this was written, inspired much of that theme in these books. Mighty forces, the tides of power, all hinging on an impossible quest by two unlikely halflings. Each of us picks the bits and pieces of these characters they love. Gimli, the rough and tumble dwarf, proud and quick to anger, who finds his tough little heart melted in Lothlorien by Galadriel, the Lady of the Woods. Legolas, the timeless elf who fears nothing and is undaunted by the worries and toil of this world. Boromir who losses his battle with temptation and greed, failing in his quest and paying with his life. My favorite is Aragorn as Strider. I love the notion of the cloaked and hidden power. The man who appears to most as a road weary traveller, just another wanderer, sitting alone in the corner at the Inn at Bree. None suspect that this transient and mysterious man is the King of the Dunedain, the most powerful man on Earth, who will inherit the World.