Have you heard of Dungeons and Dragons? Are Elves, Dwarves, and Hobbits words you're familiar with? It's all because of J.R.R. Tolkien's masterwork of fantasy fiction.

Now, it's been a long time since I've read The Lord of the Rings, so I can't comment much on the writing style. However, one common critique is that the style is rather dry - the books are very, very detailed, zooming in on building an entire world for the characters to inhabit. If you are planning on writing epic fantasy or science fiction trilogies, then you should pay special attention to these techniques. For speculative fiction of all stripes, the creation of a realistic and enthralling universe for your readers is critical.

Now, for young readers, I highly recommend these books. I read them when I was thirteen or fourteen, and they inspired my imagination. To a large degree, my early desire to write originated with crafting fantasy stories in the LOTR tradition (I had to think of something better to say than "plagiarism"), and I was too young to notice if the plot was dry or the characters somewhat flat.

In addition to the fantasy elements which may trigger a teenager's imagination, there's a very strong moral element to the story. Tolkien's outlook on life was greatly affected by his experiences in World War I, and he wrote the trilogy largely as a protest to war and the blunt industrialization of the world. We might not think of Tolkien as an environmentalist, but LOTR definitely promotes a theme of a balance in the world. If you're a parent hoping to instill these values in your children or a writer hoping to develop such themes in your writing, I strongly recommend these books.

I've also included a link to The Fellowship of the Ring movie - unlike many book/movie pairs, the movies here remain very true to the novels. Plus they're tremendously fun. So if you don't have the time or the desire to read the trilogy (and don't forget The Hobbit), take some time to watch the movies. If nothing else, they're great crowd pleasers.