How one man had all this inside his head is beyond me. It is difficult to put into words how completely captivating and engrossing these stories are. The stories of Feanor and his sons and the Silmarils, the fall of Gondolin, the love story of Beren and Luthien, the tragic story of Turin Turambar all completely enthralled me. I actually felt quite bereft when I'd finished it. By the time I had reached chapter 6 "Of Feanor and the unchaining of Melkor" I was completely gripped and couldn't put the book down. I knew I was having difficulty reading the first chapters so I forced myself to read two pages a day (not an ideal way to enjoy a book!). This time I bought it in hardback, thinking that I could guilt myself into reading it as I'd paid so much for it. Many years later I decided I would try The Silmarillion again. In the end I gave my paperback to charity. Once more I couldn't get past the first couple of chapters. However, a few months later I tried again. What was this? It was like reading the Bible. I gave up after a few pages feeling bored and confused. I bought The Silmarillion a long time ago in paperback, settled down and started to read. Start with the Hobbit, LOTR and then work your way into the Silmarillion, when you do, you'll be glad. But don't start your adventure into Tolkien's writings with it. If there was no Silmarillion then there would no other stories of Middle-earth, so it deserves to be held in highest regard. My old hardback copy came in handy after all. There is an index of names at the back of the Silmarillion but jumping back and forth to it on a Kindle is pretty hard. Also helpful is access to a Tolkien companion of names. There are several available but I found Karen Wynn Fonstad's The Atlas of Tolkien's Middle-Earth, very useful. Two things make reading this book easier, having access to a Tolkien atlas. However for readability it does not reach those heights so I have opted for giving it four stars. So much of what he is famous for is only just the final part of whole landscape of mythology.įor its amazing scope this is undeniably a 5 star work. Tolkien started his writing with creating languages and creating the legends at the heart of the Silmarillion. It is undeniably a classic work but more than that, if it wasn't for the Silmarillion we would have The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit. This year after reading a biography of Tolkien I have been working my way through all his writings and I once again attempted the Silmarillion, this time in Kindle edition. I lent it to a friend who persisted through it over about six months admitting it was hard going. Several times I tried but it was too dense. I launched into the Silmarillion and did not get very far. I had just read Lord of the Rings and already had a box set of Tolkien's other writings. I clearly remember the excitement I felt in 1977 when my brother gave me a first edition hardback edition of the Silmarillion. The Akallabeth recounts the downfall of the great island kingdom of Númenor at the end of the Second Age and Of the Rings of Power tells of the great events at the end of the Third Age, as narrated in The Lord of the Rings. The Ainulindale is a myth of the Creation and in the Valaquenta the nature and powers of each of the gods is described. Included in the book are several shorter works. The tales of The Silmarillion are set in an age when Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in Middle-Earth, and the High Elves made war upon him for the recovery of the Silmarils, the jewels containing the pure light of Valinor. It is the ancient drama to which the characters in The Lord of the Rings look back, and in whose events some of them such as Elrond and Galadriel took part. The Silmarillion is an account of the Elder Days, of the First Age of Tolkien’s world. The forerunner to The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion fills in the background which lies behind the more popular work, and gives the earlier history of Middle-earth, introducing some of the key characters.
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