Theof Tower of Cirith Ungol
Perhaps its my wife playing lots of Elden RIng, but the descriptions of Sam ascending the tower had a very frumsoft vibe to them. Sam presenting as a elven hero, and how that actually works, and ends up later causing much confusion in the orc ranks is awesome. The song that Sam sings is really good, but I would like the book to own that its partly a musical and just have singing be a thing, without "words of his own came unbidden to fit the simple tune." Just sing Sam.

The land of shadow
The survivalism is strong here, a lot of time is spent on how they collect water and when they drink and what they do.
I also like the comments on the growing things of Mordor, and how they have saved Frodo and Sam's lives by cushioning their fall, along with trying desperately to grow in this place, much like same and Frodo are desperate themselves.
The forced conscription into the Orc army for a few paragraphs is nice, and it shows how they blend in, along with the diversity of Sauron's troops.

 

The Tower of Cirith Ungol

• Sam's test with the ring remains one of my favorite bits. It's the ring overreaching in its eagerness when it gets to Mordor and the fullness of its power, only to fail bc deep down Sam is too simple a man to ever go for it.
  
• Sam folding his elven-cloak into "a surprisingly small roll" is lovely. I've commented on it before how magical things the elves make are from their point of view just good craftsmanship, and this is a really fun one because we can make things that fold into surprisingly small sizes which is so convenient for camping/travel. This is one that blurs the line and helps us see the elvish perspective on it, even if we can't really make rope that will hold perfectly until your safely down and then undo its knot when you tug it (yet).
• Chapter ending with the Nazgûl swooping down is such a fucking cliff hanger

The Land of Shadow

• The struggle with food and water in Mordor really makes this chapter imo
• Really like the bit about Sauron brooding about Aragorn, does a good job showing that in these key moments he made the right choice in revealing himself
• The scene with the two orcs arguing and then fighting was a great way to give us info and a bit of an insight into internal politics of Mordor
• Sam and Frodo going along till they drop of exhaustion, eating a bit of food, and doing it again does a great job of showing just how long and tiresome this journey has been
• Sam finding that little trickle of water made me internally cheer. Feels a bit like watching one of those survival shows.