The Lord of the Rings
British novelist, 1892–1973.
The Lord of the Rings is a 1954 novel by J. R. R. Tolkien.
In fantasy
On 9 of the 17 lists it was eligible for.
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At a glance
- Author
- J. R. R. Tolkien
- First published
- 1954
- Length
- 1244 pages (UK paperback)
- Genre
- Fantasy, Adventure
Is The Lord of the Rings worth reading?
9 of the 17 best-of lists it could have made include it, among them Readers' top 100 novels (The Guardian) and The Big Read top 100 (BBC).
| List | Place | Original |
|---|---|---|
| 100 books of the century (Le Monde, 1999) | No. 58 | See the list |
| 100 novels everyone should read (The Telegraph, 2009) | No. 100 | See the list |
| 100 novels that shaped our world (BBC Arts, 2019) | Listed | See the list |
| All-Time 100 Novels (Time, 2005) | Listed | See the list |
| Readers' top 100 novels (The Guardian, 2026) | No. 1 | See the list |
| The 100 greatest British novels (BBC Culture, 2015) | No. 26 | See the list |
| The 100 greatest novels of all time (The Observer, 2003) | Listed | See the list |
| The Big Read top 100 (BBC, 2003) | No. 1 | See the list |
| The Great American Read (PBS, 2018) | Listed | See the list |
Best edition of The Lord of the Rings
The edition we link to is the HarperCollins paperback (2014), 1244 pages.
- Publisher
- HarperCollins (paperback, 2014)
- Pages
- 1244
- ISBN
- 9780007525546
How critics and readers rate The Lord of the Rings
Readers and critics rate it about equally: it earned 53% on readers' and booksellers' lists and 50% on critics' lists.
Share of the available points it earned on each kind of list it was eligible for. How the scores work
Books like The Lord of the Rings
If you liked The Lord of the Rings, try Cloud Atlas, Dune or The Stand.
