Lord of the Rings

Lord of the Rings is a Fantasy book series by J.R.R. Tolkien, set in the fictional world of Middle Earth, following The Fellowship of the Ring, who set out to destroy the soul of the evil conqueror Sauron, trapped within the One Ring. Receiving critical acclaim and becoming one of the highest selling book series of all time, it has spawned several adaptations, including the equally acclaimed movie trilogy by Peter Jackson, and several video games within the same universe.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Middle Earth is richly detailed with huge amounts of lore and history, making it easily one of the most detailed in all of fiction, period. Some further lore was even explored in Tolkien's posthumous work The Silmarillion.
 * 2) Excellent writing that manages to be ridiculously detailed without being boring, it's incredibly entertaining to see the level of imagination put into the world even if it's so long.
 * 3) Likeable and iconic characters who are equally detailed with their own backstory and personalities that make them feel surprisingly real.
 * 4) Many iconic lines, such as "Not all those who wander are lost."
 * 5) Though the premise is quite serious, there are plenty of light-hearted moments that don't ruin the momentum and instead make the series remain entertaining.
 * 6) Tolkien takes his time to build up the story so that it has a believable atmosphere and tone. His writing style makes it feel like you're actually in the world with such vivid detail on imagery and the like.
 * 7) Essentially, this series lead to the creation and popularization of High Fantasy, with it's influence felt on other such books throughout time.
 * 8) The movies, by Peter Jackson, took painstaking care adapting the story, taking plot points down beat for beat while still doing some of it's own original things that fit in very well with the universe.
 * 9) Though there are plenty of religious undertones, due to Tolkien being a devout Christian, they don't ever make it feel like the series is preaching to you, but instead like it wants you to think for yourself.
 * 10) Tolkien was always very anti-racist in life. Not that that has much to do with the series itself, but that's an awesome fun fact.

The Only Bad Quality

 * 1) The series may not be for everyone due to the overall slow pacing.