The Two Towers describes the adventures of the fellowship after it is broken. First we find Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli saying farwell to their fallen friend Boromir. He single handedly defended Merry and Pippin from an army of Orcs, but he is overtaken and the hobbits are captured. After their good-byes, they begin to track the group of Orcs in search of their friends.
Merry and Pippin are being swiftly dragged toward Isengard when Merry smartly frees his hands and drops his Elven pin as a signal of life. Once they reach Fanghorn Forest, the orcs stop and are overcome by the Riders of Rohan. During the battle, they are able to stealthly escape into the forest using their elven cloaks. Once inside, they are discovered by Treebeard, an Ent. They tell him their story and he is prompted to go to war with Sauroman for his previous unjusteses. They gather and march toward Isengard trumpeting.
Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli eventually meet the Rohan Riders who are riding back after slaying the orcs. They tell the group that there was no sign of hobbits, but lend them horses to aid their search. Once they reach the scene of the battle, they discover hobbit tracks and lembas, which indicate that they stole away into Fanhorn. While in the forest, they run into Galdalf the White who they mistake for Sauroman. After they realize their folly, they join him in riding to Minas Tirith.
There they find that the king is under the influence of Wormtongue—one of Sauroman’s spies. Wormtongue flees and the men of Elendil accompany the riders to war in Helm’s Deep. The war is successful for those against Saufoman because of help from Fanghorn and Gandolf. They ride to Isengard and find Merry and Pippin at the gate.
The Ents had broken through the surrounding wall of Isengard and were flooding the area with water. Sauroman and Wormtongue hid in Orthnac in despair and cowardice. Gandolf asks him to come out, but he will not. He breaks Sauroman’s staff and obtains the Palantir which is the means for communication with Sauron. It forces an immediate departure of the group when Pippin interest allows Sauron to see him, a hobbit.
Finally, we meet again Frodo and Sam who are scouring over mountains and cliffs in attempts to reach Mordor. They find themselves unable to go further because of the terrain when they capture a persuing Gollum. Frodo decides to take Gandalf’s advise that help may be in unusual places and makes Smeagol swear on ‘The Precious’ to help them. Smeagol leads them out of the mountains, through the marshes, and to the Black Gates. They realize that there is no way through without being seen and aske Smeagol to guide them through another entry. One which is less guarded. They journey on and are captured by Faramir, Boromir’s brother, who is watching the Anduin land. He listens to Frodo’s story, but decides to leave the ring and Gollum in the hands of Frodo. Finallly, they reach the stairs at Cirith Ungol and begin climbing. While their, they see an army lead by the Wraith-king coming out of the gates of Minas Morgul and leading them toward Osgiliath. They continue their assent. Upon reaching the top, they are abandoned by Gollum in Shelob’s Lair. Sam heroically fights off Gollum and Shelob, but only after Frodo has been bit. He makes the decision to go forward with the ring because he believes Frodo to be dead. He slips it on to conceal himself from Orcs and finds out through them that Frodo is only asleep.
Recommendation: Definitely! I liked this book better than the first. It is very interesting to read such an interwoven tale. I do find it difficult to keep some of the cities straight, though.
Food: Beef stew
