New 'Lord Of The Rings' prequel series praised as a 'masterpiece'

'Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power' scored an 84% positive rating on the Rotten Tomatoes website among 136 reviews of early installments. Photo: Handout

The long-awaited The Lord Of The Rings prequel, The Rings Of Power, received widespread praise from television critics, with most reviews applauding the plot, visuals and cinematography of the first two episodes.

The show is based on appendices in J.R.R. Tolkien's original The Lord Of The Rings novels and is set thousands of years before the events of The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings novels and films.