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Home > Mere Mortals Book Reviews > Worldbuilding on Steroids: Fellowship of the Ring, Book Review
Podcast: Mere Mortals Book Reviews
Episode:

Worldbuilding on Steroids: Fellowship of the Ring, Book Review
Category: Arts
Duration: 00:11:46
Publish Date: 2025-08-22 12:28:00
Description:

Tolkien doesn’t write chapters; he builds civilisations. The Fellowship of the Ring is a slow, deliberate march through languages, histories and the lived feel of time, a marathon of meaning more than a sprint of action. I respect the scope, loved the journey, but prefer punchier reads.

(00:00) “You shall not pass.”
(00:09) Welcome & why review Fellowship now
(01:14) Trilogy intent & page heft (535pp!)
(01:34) Comparing to The Hobbit — brisk romp vs dense saga
(02:15) Tolkien the philologist: languages → world → story
(03:46) Book vs films; songs, lore, and density
(04:50) When detail drags — what I skimmed & why
(06:25) Feeling the journey: Tolkien makes time pass on the page
(07:52) “Feels familiar” because it birthed the genre
(08:31) Fellowship in a nutshell (plot sketch)
(09:44) What I loved vs what I didn’t (I like punch)
(10:51) Verdict, who should read it, and why — 7/10
(11:31) Sign-off & CTAs

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