Blurb: (From Book 1) One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkeness bind them
In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, The Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell into the hands of Bilbo Baggins, as told in The Hobbit.
In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as his elderly cousin Bilbo entrusts the Ring to his care. Frodo must leave his home and make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.
Review: No doubt in my mind that you've heard of this series. It is the bed-rock that the fantasy genre is built on, and the film adaptation remains the best bit of fantasy ever seen on screen. So just to summarise in case the point was missed: this series is still worth reading. The plot doesn't spend a-lot of time exploring the grey area between right / wrong, good / evil, but rather sets up a quest from the very beginning and builds an absolutely beautiful world as the quest progresses. The writing style may be a bit difficult for non-native speakers if you're trying it in English, but I think that it really adds to the story, and just flows well. One of the things the films adapted well were the characters. Some were cut, so even if you've seen the films there'll be large parts that would be new to you, but others which are pretty pivotal, are somewhat lackluster in the books. It's well earned its popularity.