Rating: 
Summary: Tough, but worth it!
Review: "At that time Beren and Luthien yet dwelt in Tol Galen, the Green Isle, in the river Adurant, southernmost of the streams that falling from Ered Lindon flowed down to join with Gelion; and their son Dior Eluchil had a wife Nimloth, kinswoman of Celeborn, prince of Doriath, who was wedded to the Lady Galadriel."Congratulations! You have just completed a typical sentence from The Silmarillion (p. 290). This hefty book sums up most of the history of Middle-Earth, from before its creation until somewhat after the War of the Rings (skipping the part told in The Lord of the Rings). Now, you can imagine that with so much material to cover, it can't afford all the vivid descriptions, poetry, and dialogue featured in Tolkien's other works. The result is pure, distilled Middle-Earth history. If you imagine The Hobbit as the soft drink of Tolkien, and The Lord of the Rings as maybe the wine, this is the hard liquor. It isn't an easy read. You'll come across the names of so many people and places that it's impossible to remember them all. Even the map isn't too helpful, since the Valar fight several wars in which the entire planet is totally rearranged. However, if you take this in stride, skip over unfamiliar names, and use your imagination where description is lacking, it is well worth it. You'll find the sweet story of Beren and Luthien, two lovers forbidden to marry until Beren completes an impossible quest, epic battles, such as Fingolfin the elf-king fighting the Dark Lord Morgoth, and countless others. My favorite is the poignent, tragic story of Turin Turambar. In short, don't put it down in the first 100 pages. You would regret it!
Rating: 
Summary: A hard read, but worth it!
Review: It might take you a LONG time to read this book, because it is like driving a car through mud. The details are exquisite, and if you miss one, it messes the story up. So, when you read this, make sure you have LOTS & LOTS of time! The time spent is for a lot of info tho, so give it a try!
Rating: 
Summary: Novelizing an Encyclopaedia
Review: I am perplexed by the reviews calling this book a great read. It is not. It is a convoluted maze of disconnected vignettes mixing moments of high drama with long stretches of sheer pedantry. It is also a curious jumble of epic phrasing and reference information. This must be the first book I have ever read that falls into the brand new genre of Dramatic Encyclopaedia. This book probably garners its high reviews because it follows up one of the most beloved creations of the twentieth century. Lord of the Rings is the kind of writing that haunts one for life. The world of Middle Earth is so richly textured that Tolkien himself felt the need to further clarify his world through the inclusion of a series of appendices to the main story. The Silmarillion should have been another collection of appendices. Instead, it was turned into a self-conscious, puffed-up, precious tome: an accountant in epic costume. I don't know about the reading public these days, but I still demand minimal standards from my books. Things like consistency, coherency, connected narrative, and clarity still matter. These are some of the things that made Lord of the Rings such a magical experience. By no means the only things, but they were indispensable, and Tolkien delivered. The Silmarillion does not. I struggled with this rating. As a reference work, it is an interesting addition to any Tolkien aficionado's library. But as a dramatic work, it is deplorable. Averaging out three stars and one yields two.
Rating:
Summary: A window into Tolkein's mind - if yours is firm enough
Review: I read this book because I wanted to know the story of the First Age. I wanted to know who the heck Morgoth and the Valar were. Well, like many reviewers, I agree that the first 10 chapters are "boring, meaningless drivel." I very nearly destroyed the book. But, out of sheer spite more than anything else, I pushed on, until I finally stumbled on the real story. And I tell you now, if you have the firmness of mind and the intellectual faculties to endure the "glossary chapters," you will find, at the end of your toil, a window into the soul of Tolkein's world. The people who rate this book badly are mostly people who want LOTR2, people who have an insatiable appetite for Tolkein's unparalleled narrative excellence. That is not to be found here. But what IS to be found here is far more absorbing. I read this book, and I found the characters of legend and their many deeds. I read it twice, and I got all the names straight, and discovered an incredible story. I read it a third time, and beheld the theme of Middle Earth and the Two Kindreds, of the irrevocable marring of the world, and the hope that remains. Marvelous. A bit of clarification: Tolkein didn't have this published in his lifetime because he knew that it didn't read itself to people, and many would find it difficult. However, it was his original, core and absolutely most important, lifetime work. It was, as it were, the "trunk" of JRRT's "branching acquisitive theme," and was the source from which such epics as LOTR and Hobbit were created. Without this reference, Lord of the Rings would never have had consistency or depth - for that, at least, it deserves respect. For those people who refuse to believe that JRR wrote it and think that it is an embarrassment to him, well, he would be likely to take that as a deep, profound offense. Okay, that was a lot of clarification.
Rating: 
Summary: If you love this book don't read this review.
Review: Well I warned you and hear we go. I had just finished The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I was amazed I hadn't read Tolkien until now. So I figure what else has he done that I would enjoy. So Amazon has this book and 310 reviewers review it at 4 and half stars or something. So I get it and start reading it. I couldn't get past about 100 pages. I tried I really did. I would read two pages and put it down and take a break and try again but I couldn't get anywhere. The story he was telling wasn't a story at all. It seemed like a history lesson, with a boring hard to follow plot and people whose names you couldn't pronounce let alone remember. Now I've read some Tom Clancy books that were longer and as boring as watching CNBC but this was ridiculous. OK so I'm sorry if you love this book I'm sure if I was devoted to Tolkien maybe I would give this book another shot. However if your looking for a good read from Tolkien try the LOTR again.
Rating:
Summary: further up and further in
Review: These are composite versions of the tales that caught C.S. Lewis up in wonder in the decade prior to the Second World War, and where LOTR travels through valleys and mountains and wastes, here the forests are darker and more terrible, the peaks more glacial, the darkness colder and the light more piercing. "For Hurin stood in despair before the silent cliffs of the Echoriath, and the westering sun, piercing the cloluds, stained his white hair with red. Then he cried aloud in the wilderness, heedless of any ears, and he cursed the pitiless land; and standing at last upon a high rock he looked towards Gondolin and called in a great voice: 'Turgon, Turgon, remember the Fen of Serech! O Turgon, will you not hear in your hidden halls?' But there was no sound save the wind in the dry grsases. 'Even so they hissed in Serech at the sunset,' he said; and as he spoke the sun went behind the Mountains of Shadow, and a darkness fell about him, and the wind ceased, and there was silence in the waste. - Yet there were ears that heard the words that Hurin spoke, and report of all came soon to the Dark Throne in the north; and Morgoth smiled, for he knew now clearly in what region Turgon dwelt, though because of the eagles no spy of his could yet come within sight of the land behind the Encircling Mountains. This was the first evil that the freedom of Hurin achieved." Despite his lack of affinity for 20th century writing, the severe style (and sentiment) comes closer to Hemingway than it does to the heroic cadences of the 19th century, except Tolkien's language is less self-conscious than his, since his reading tastes stopped well short of the 17th century. Despite the perpetual presence of LOTR high on the list of 20th century classics, some readers and critics still profess to find Tolkien a juvenile writer, stuck in adolescence. "The Silmarillion" would, or should, dispel any doubts and please anyone who loves the stark beauty of the English tongue and the English imagination, in these pages perhaps in their last clear blaze.
Rating:
Summary: SOME OF THE BEST READING THIS SIDE OF THE PELORI
Review: This is an amazing story told in a grand and beautiful style. The lyric "Music of the Ainur", the painfully beautiful "Beren and Luthien" (my personal favorite-I'm sure I'm not alone) and the grand story of Numenor, hideously glorious, even in its fall are some-but not all-of the highlights. The geneologies are a bit confusing (I'm still not sure how Galadriel is related to Feanor, but I think she is his half-brother's daughter or something)but the characters- Valar, Maiar, Elves, Men, Dwarves, monsters, etc. are truly absorbing. From Feanor's challange in the royal square of Tirion to the fight of Huan and wolf-Sauron to the monumental voyage of Earendil to the awakening of elves at Ciuvienen to the enchantment of Thingol by Melian the Maia...This book is just absolutely full of grand and exciting moments. Don't be put off by the antique style, that is one of the beauties of the book. Also one last piece of advise-don't read about Ungoliant just before going to bed.
Rating:
Summary: Tolkien's Bible...
Review: It's more than slightly staggering to consider the epic fantasy "Lord of the Rings" to be the tail end of Tolkien's invented history. The "Bible" of Middle-Earth, the "Silmarillion" stretches from the beginning of time to the departure of the Elves from Middle-Earth. A complete summary is impossible, because the book spans millennia and has one earth-shattering event after another. But it includes the creation of Tolkien's invented pantheons of angelic beings under Eru Iluvatar, also known as God; how they sang the world into being; the creation of Elves, Men, and Dwarves (hobbits are, I think, not really covered); the legendary love story of Beren and Luthien, a mortal Man and an Elf maiden who gives up her immortality for the man she loves; the demonic Morgoth and Sauron; Elves of just about any kind -- bad, mad, dangerous, good, sweet, brave, and so forth; the Rings of Power; the Two Trees that made the sun and moon; and finally the quest of the Ringbearer, Frodo Baggins. Many old favorites will pop up over the course of the book, such as Elrond, Galadriel, Gandalf, and so on. Fans of Elves will find plenty to feed their hunger; if you are fond of Hobbits or Dwarves, you will not find as much here. For those, you should check some of the other "lost" books of prior writings. It will also answer some questions that "Hobbit" and LOTR may raise, when references to long-ago incidents and people are made. Be forewarned: The writing style of Silmarillion is more akin to the Eddas, the Bible, or the Mabinogian than to LOTR. It's more formal and archaic in tone, Tolkien did not get as "into" the heads of his characters in Silmarillion as he did in LOTR, and there is no central character. Needless to say, this is necessary as a more in-depth approach would have taken centuries to write, let alone perfect. If readers can bypass the automatic dislike of more formal prose, they will find enchanting stories and a less evocative but very intriguing writing style. This style strongly leans on the Eddas, collections of story and song that were unearthed and translated long ago. Though obviously not as well-known as LOTR, it is clear that these collections helped influence the Silmarillion. It's evident, while reading this, that Tolkien's passion for his invented history. Someone who had a lack of enthusiasm could not have spent much of his adult life writing, revising, and polishing a history that never was. It's also almost frighteningly imaginative and real: It isn't too hard to imagine that these things could actually have happened. And in an age of shallow, cliched fantasy, Tolkien's coherent, carefully-written backstory is truly unique. If you can take the formal prose and mythical style, this is a treasure, and a must-read for anyone who loved LOTR or "Hobbit." Only after reading this can readers truly appreciate Tolkien's literary accomplishments, and the full scope of the Middle-Earth that we glimpse in his more famous books.
Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected
Review: This is NOT a continuation of the LOTR/Hobbit story. I rated it only 2 stars not for any fault in the book, but rather the fact that this is really a reference book and not a story. I suppose that if you wish to ferret out specific details and "historical" content it would be fine. But I found it a little too dry and disjointed to read with enjoyment
Rating:
Summary: A fantastic Book for all!
Review: The Sillamarillion is a great book. It's a prequel in a way to the Lord of the Rings series. It tells the Tales of the first and second ages. The original Dark lord Morgath, Feanor and his sons, the forging of the Sillamarils. This books has any type of tales you could want. Love stories such as that of Beren and Luthien, to the adventures Turin Turimbar. I think anyone who reads this book will enjoy it greatly. Although I strongly suggest reading The Lord of the Rings first to get a Idea of what they are talking about.
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