Just like with the first book it's a brilliant read. Besides the structure it's a lot closer to the film than the first. I really enjoyed all the Ent lore which wasn't really covered in the films, also a lot of the smaller characters come through much more. On the other hand the battles feel less grand than they do on the big screen, though I suspect that will always be the case.

I preferred the first book but still thoroughly enjoyed this. The writing style definitely takes a bit of getting used to and you have to invest the time to understand the lore in order to fully engage with the book but it's well worth it. I will pick up the third and final installment soon happily.