All the stars. I give this all the stars.

How I missed this deeper narrative, the 36 times I have read LOTR cover to cover, baffles and embarrasses me. And I knew how devout he was.

This is easily the best book I didn't bother to finish. The author is an expert in both Christian Theology and Tolkien. It comes through on every page. And that's also the reason I couldn't finish this. It's just too much for me.

While the format is helpful, since it goes section by section of the book, I wish it had been a more concise book. But for the Tolkien fan, this is great addition. Fleming Rutledge is an Episcopal priest and a renowned theologian (check our her well-received and massive tome on the crucifixion), so I was surprised when she told me, “My Tolkien book is still my favorite of all my books.”

Really great commentary on the Lord of the Rings books Theres a lot of great info and connections of themes of the books to biblical references. I had never seen Gandalf as Moses figure and this really brought that to light. Same with things like, the idea that Sauron has no creativity so he could not consider alternative methods ie Frodo taking the ring to Mt Doom.

Rutledge really hated the movies, and while she kept those comments to the footnotes it kind of colored my opinion of the book. Her complaints are valid, but she also seemed to miss the fact that the movies are a different medium entirely and are an attempt to convey differences than the books. The movies are in no way perfect, but it seems unnecessary to point out plot changes made to streamline and condense the very think source material.