I was reminded over the weekend about The Last Ringbearer while talking with my buddy Sam, who likes The Lord Of the Rings but had never heard of TLR.
The tl;dr version is it’s LOTR as told by the losing side. I enjoyed LTR more than LOTR because it provides more context to the events – the political manoeuvring and intrigue, about-faces, and a far more rational explanation for why the battles portrayed in LOTR are so important.
The original is in Russian, but the English translation is “non-commerical” (the translator’s words) and is free. It can be found at http://ymarkov.livejournal.com/270570.html where the translator provides backstory for why TLR exists and why the translation is free.