Years. It had been years since I read The Two Towers. Like, maybe 20? I recall it being slow as hell, ponderous, difficult to read, and full of too much poetry and songwriting. Part of that is accurate, part is completely nuts: there’s plenty of language porn for the linguifile, but the pacing is solid and so much stuff happens. There’s a ton of exposition, which is probably why it felt so slow and plodding to me, but that doesn’t actually represent bad writing or a lack of action. Tolkien does a fantastic job of making sure that only action or at least activity makes it to the page. I’d go so far as to say this is a masterclass in concise writing without minimalism.
I don’t really know what else to say because it’s Tolkien. Everybody knows the broad strokes already, and of course I recommend it. Last thing I’ll say is that if you’re an adult who hasn’t revisited these stories in a long time, remedy that!