The first part of the Lord of the Rings-the Fellowship of the Ring ends with Sam and Frodo going off alone into Mordor. In the second book, after the departure of Boromir the orcs take Merry and Pippin away to Saruman, with Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas taking off after them, leaving Sam and Frodo to their quest.

The Two Towers is mostly the story of the opposing fortunes and strategies of Saruman's Tower of Orthanc, and Sauron's Tower of Barad-dur, although a few more side-plots begin to develop in the second and third books of the trilogy. Now that the hobbits have been separated, they continue to develop more of their own characters, and have more adventures of their own, meeting new suprises, new threats, and new friends and enemies.

There is a lot more on Merry, Pippin, Frodo and Sam than in the first book, with generally more character development and dialogue.

I won't give much away, but Tolkien fans will be waiting with anticipation for gollum's appearance, the Men of Rohan, Theoden, Boromir's brother Faramir, Eowyn and others, with a keen eye on the upcoming film in December 2002. It is probably the darkest book in the trilogy, meaning you get your fair share of fear and suspense. Read this before the film comes out-and get an eye-opener! After that, on to book 3- The Return of the King!. Good luck!