The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

There is a reason this is the greatest epic fantasy series ever written, The movies pale in comparison to the trilogy of books.  This is final volume in the Lord of the Rings is all battle should I say battles.  It starts with the armies preparing for war at Minas Tirith,  Merry & Pippin are sent their separate ways in which they are both portrayed more valiantly than they are in the movie.  The sons of Elrond & the Dunedain come bearing gifts for Aragorn & join him on his quest along the paths of the dead.  A great many things happen during the siege of Gondor's capital city in the book it seems more of a brutal & desperate battle than it does in the movie.  Denethor's betrayal is a much darker revelation in which he has been deceived by Sauron.  The march to the black gate & that subsequent battle are pretty much the same as the movie.  There is really not a lot of focus on Legolas or Gimli in this book compared to the other characters of the fellowship.  The true gem of this book is the rescue of Frodo by Sam as this was the cliff hanger of the second book & isn't followed up on until the reader is two thirds through this book.  The finale of the book focuses on the fellowship returning to their respective lands following the crowning of Aragorn, King of Gondor & Queen Arwen.  There is also the marriage of Faramir & Eowyn uniting the lands of Gondor & Rohan into an even stronger alliance. The hobbits return to the Shire only to find that Saruman has beaten them there enslaving the people, hoarding the food & defacing the land.  The hobbits having come back from an incredible journey rally & unite the hobbits to fight for their land which ends in the death of Saruman at the hands of Grima Wormtongue.  Time passes Sam gets married Merry & Pippin are knights of the Rohan & Gondor respectively & Frodo finishes documenting the journey before setting off on one last adventure.  On Bilbo's birthday which will make him one year older than the Old Took; Frodo asks Sam to journey with him to the edge of the Shire on his way to Rivendale.  At the edge of the Shire they come across Elrond & Lady Galadriel with their houses, Gandalf & Bilbo heading to Grey Havens over the sea.  It is here that Frodo & Sam part Merry & Pippen are also with the elves at the request of Gandalf so they can accompany Sam back to Hobbiton; so ends the third age.