[Thinhyandoiel]

I agree with Nar. Not that I don't like the interlacing. It gave sufficient time to see what was going on in each party and develop the story better on both sides.
But the moment I got to the second book of TTT I desperately wanted to continue with Pippin, Merry, Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli, etc. It took me a whole half chapter to get back into the story, and shaking my fist at that dratted Gollum everytime he spoke. And then I'd be shaking my fist at dear old Sam for being so untrusting! And then back to Gollum, and so on. 'Twas great fun! And I don't think many other authors can do it as well as Tolkien did, even if there was that little "Aww, why are you there?!" period for a few pages.