Back in the summer I was at a yard sale, and the lady was selling a thick volume of all three LOTR books for a dollar. I got it and didn't start reading it til late October and I just finished Return of the King this morning.
I really enjoyed it and I feel that even though the movie took some things out (like the battle for the Shire) they did a good job following the spirit of the story. It also reminded me the importance of a story being timeless vs being topical with a lot of messages specific to the time we are living in now.
I remember reading where Peter Jackson said that his goal was to present Tolkien's vision and not his own. I really wish the moronic showrunner for Wheel of Time had the same philosophy but he seems obsessed with lgbt representation amongst other things. I have reached a point now where whenever I hear that a new show is adapting a book series, I just buy the books. As a life long comic book reader, I am more than happy to stick with the comic books from decades past. I plan on buying the Witcher series sometime next year as well.
because lotr is basically the proto "high fantasy" with everything else being derivative
many high fantasy writers don't know when to tone it the fuck down so you end up with worlds where everything is so fucking magical