The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel written by J.R.R. Tolkien, which was later fitted as a trilogy. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier fantasy book The Hobbit, and soon developed into a much larger story. At publication, it was divided into The Fellowship of the Ring (1954), The Two Towers (1955), and The Return of the King (1966). Around 1968, one-volume editions started to be published in both hardcover and paperback, but both those editions are now...