The Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkein is one of the greatest books in the history of literature. The thoroughness with which Tolkein creates the world where his many entertaining and inspiring characters play is remarkable. The drama is engaging. The epic sensibility awe-inspiring.
Despite Tolkein asserting he wrote the story without any underlying themes or messages, the story of the battle of good and evil echoes that of the great controversy and demonstrates the truth of the teaching of Jesus—“the first will be last and the last will be first.”
Rings is more than just a good story—it’s a grand work of art. As one critic said, Tolkein “may have been writing fiction, but he was telling the truth about the world as it revealed itself to him” (Caldecott).