The Two Towers : Being the Second Part of the Lord of the Rings / by J. R. R. Tolkien

In the First Part of The Lord of the Rings, 111-year-old Bilbo Baggins (hero of The Hobbit) passed along his magical ring to his orphaned nephew, Frodo--unwittingly setting its original owner, the horrible Gollum, on his trail. Lest the ring fall into evil hands, Frodo sought to destroy it at the Mountain of Fire in the enemy land of Mordor. He convened the Companions of the Ring to carry out this perilous mission, but his brave band has been scattered, beset by orc-soldiers, and in the Second Part, as 'the great Darkness' descends, Frodo himself has mysteriously disappeared.