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This is my general Lord of the Rings trilogy review:

What can you even say about Tolkein? The man was a linguistic genious, literally. He created entire languages, and what's more, he created vibrant and fully-realized cultures to go with them. I love that he borrowed so heavily from Norse myth to create a sort of mythic Northern European pre-history, colored with Germanic/Anglo-Saxon imagry.

The hobbits themselves are my least favorite aspect of the books, which I know is close to heresy. I understand that they're a symbol of childlike purity and innocence and the pastoral ideal and all of that, but they're a bit too good to be fun. Trolls also bore me incredibly (although that might be backlash from the movies and Gimli's role as a profoundly unfunny source of "comic" relief and zippy one-liners). The elves are snotty and stiff, but at least they are intriguing; I like the fading, sad feel that they have.

The Men are, as they were likely intended by the author, the most interesting in their flawed natures and ability to step up to the plate when needed. I like Aragorn a lot. He could have been very irritating, but is saved by his hesitancy to rule, despite his birthright, and fear of his own weakness. I like him the best becuase he combines the best features Tolkein gives to Men and elves, with very few of their downfalls (namely pride). I love the Ring and all it's not-very-subtle methaphors for the seduction of power and evil.

His writing feels more like mythology than a sci-fi novel. It reads like something that was handed down from generation to generation, and that gives it such a unique quality that other authors have tried and largely failed to emulate.