Reading order · Fantasy
The Lord of the Rings Reading Order
The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien has 4 main books (1937–1955). Start with The Hobbit (1937) and read the numbered books in order.
The Lord of the Rings books in order
Your reading speed
- 5 h 26 min
- 8 h 37 min
- 7 h 36 min
- 8 h 44 min
Main books together: 1,735 pages, about 30 h 23 min at 238 words per minute.
Page counts: median across editions on Open Library. Times assume about 250 words per page. How we calculate.
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The Lord of the Rings: common questions
- How many books are in the The Lord of the Rings series?
- There are 4 main books in The Lord of the Rings. The most recent main book listed here is The Return of the King (1955).
- What order should I read The Lord of the Rings in?
- Read The Lord of the Rings in its numbered order: The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King. The Hobbit is a standalone prequel published seventeen years before The Lord of the Rings.
- What is the first The Lord of the Rings book?
- The first book is The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, published in 1937.
- How long does it take to read the whole The Lord of the Rings series?
- The 4 main books add up to about 1,735 pages (median edition lengths). At 238 words per minute that is about 30½ hours of reading, or about 61 days at 30 minutes a day.