Mary and Pipped both steel themselves with valiant, but private, pre-war speeches a la "if I must die, then I might as well smite a couple of them with me." The devotion to the cause and one another is awesome. I love these books for the portrayal of filial love.

I didn't much care for all the songs in Fellowship, but their repeated appearances throughout the whole trilogy makes the scene where Sam sings throughout the tower in Mordor to keep himself company super epic. That whole chapter (book 2, chapter 3) is so so good. It does such a great job of conveying Sam and Frodo's wretchedness as they make their final journey, as well as the effect of the ring/Mordor on them and each other.

I quite enjoy that Tolkien's respective sub-cultures all have a lot of positive and fleshed out attributes, unlike many other fantasy series where cultures are defined in opposition to other culture's values.

And Tolkien is nothing if not thorough, for this series is a history more than a novel, and the story continues for a good 150 pages after the climax to explain how everything unfolds. It's a bit tedious, but not unwelcomed.

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