I've finished The Two Towers just in time for the preview of the movie to appear at the end of Fellowship screenings. While I have read the entire trilogy a few times, everything after the end of the Fellowship always seems to be a blur for me, so the refresh was worthwhile. The Two Towers chronicles, in two parts, the pursuit of Merry and Pippin, who are hauled off by Orcs at the end of the Fellowship, and the journey of Sam and Frodo to Mordor. In many ways, Towers is a bridge connecting the start of the trilogy to its fantastic conclusion, but there is plenty of meat to chew on regarding Gandalf, Saruman, Gollum, the Ents, Rohan and Gondor. All of these characters and places play a prominent role in the unfolding events.
Perhaps what makes this part of the trilogy less appealing to me is the less prominent roles played by Elves and Dwarfs in the Two Towers. All that being said, there are some fantastic moments of pure terror and I can't wait to see it all rendered onto the big screen. No doubt, Gollum and Shelob will present major challenges to the visual effects people, not to mention the Ents. I have yet to catch the new preview, but from what I hear, it's stunning.
I'm not sure that I'll be able to hold off until next year to read Return of the King. In any case, I'm looking forward to dusting off my copy and diving right back in.