The Book of Lost Tales, Part 1 (The History of Middle-Earth, Volume 1)

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Summary: Blub Blub
Review: This book is cool because it shows how Tolkiens Ideas were formed before the silmarillion. I like the idea for AElfwine journeying to Tol Eressea and learning about the valar, melkor, and turin.

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Summary: For the Tolkien Scholar
Review: This book is excellent! Christopher Tolkien has done an amazing amount of work gathering, and sorting his father's unpublished works on the beginning of Middle-Earth. His comentaries on each story make them easier to understand and enjoy.
However, this book is not for everyone. Just because you like the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit doesn' t mean you will like this book. It is not light reading and requires some patience and concentration.
But for the serious Tolkien fan it is a treasure you won't want to miss out on. The epic poems are fantastic especially when you consider that he was writing a lot of this in his early 20's. A really excellent book.

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Summary: THE BEST WORK EVER BY THE GREAT MASTER
Review: THIS BOOK IS SO AMAZING YOU WIIL BE LEAVING BURN MARKS ON TH E PAGES AS YOU TURN THEM ONE BY ONE.ABSOULETLY THE BEST WORK EVER BUY JR.IF THIS BOOK DOSE NOT ENDORSE YOUR MIND AND SOUL UNTILL THE LAST PAGE BELIVE ME NOTHING WILL

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Summary: An excellent companion
Review: This book was the "first" silmarillion, that Tolkien wrote during and directly after the first world war. It contains some of the first 'real' stories that he conceived about middle earth.

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Summary: A great volume coming from the father of modern fantasy
Review: This book, a compilation of notes, shows how the mind of the greatest fanasty writer of all time came upon his tale, from the first word to the last any reader of sophisticated taste with a love for the unusual will find this book to their liking. Set as a narrative of the education of a man by the Eldar of Middle Earth, it will continually surprise with its brest of time and place to bring about each of the individual tales. These tales are books unto themselves, and once caught one can never quite be free from the grasping clutch of Middle Earth upon ones heart, mind, and soul. Adrian Sloan

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Summary: Great stuff!
Review: This had been a great book to read! I find it fascinating, particularily the laborous accounts of the Gates of Morn, Door of Night, Valinor, and the Gods (Valar). This book however, is best read after the Silmarillion, because it is more "primitive" in design, and it often contradicts the official version, because it is the earliest stage in Tolkien's work. Regardless, This book is filled with information for the curious mind eager to delve deeper into the tales, information and detail that the Silmarillion sadly neglected. Read it now!

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Summary: The Birth Of Tolkien's "Middle Earth"
Review: This is a fine introduction into the early phases of Tolkien's writing as he began the tales which would become the core of his "Silmarillion". His son Christopher does an excellent job providing critical commentary and annotations regarding his father's early work. Undoubtedly a must read for amateur scholars of Tolkien as well as his fans.

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Summary: Beyond The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings
Review: This is a very worthy read. It gives you an inside in with the Middle Earth world and back ground stories.

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Summary: Thankful Tolkien "found" it
Review: This is a wonderful book that looks not only at an awesome story, but also into how it was written. Some people have and will find this a dificult book to read, but it is a book you must go into with a little understanding.
To begin with I would highly recomend reading the "classics" of Tolkiens works. Read the Hobbit first, not so much for the depth of the work (it was written with children in mind), but for the questions that will arise when you read The Lord of the Rings. When you have finished this and have seen how the Third Age ends, with new things begining and old things ending, then it is time to move on to the Silmarillion, Tolkien's crown of his writing career.
Now you learn about the beginings of the world and the sad story of the Elves.
Finally you should read the beautiful yet [sadly] undone Unfinished Tales. Not only does it contain the stories that he was changing for the Silmarillion, but it is an excellent introduction to his son Christopher's thought provoking commentary.
Now we move on to the book you are wondering about. When I first read it (I was much younger at the time)I had the impression of it being a bunch of loose stories that were eventually rewritten to become the Silmarillion. WRONG!!
This is abeautiful work that evolves right before you eyes. The book of lost tales is actually a book that was written to be a mythology for England, which Tolkien saw to be sorely lacking. It is the story of an Englishman (Eriol) who finds the land of Faery and is told a series of stories which is an history of the world and the Elves, so these tales that were "lost" to humanity were given to Eriol who wrote them down and called it The Book of Lost Tales. (This is what Tolkien also did with the Hobbit by Bilbo Baggins, LOTR by Frodo and Sam, And the Silmarillion said to be compiled by Bilbo with the help of Frodo).
The commentary by his son is very hepful in keeping things straight, and and seeing a timeline of when things were written.
All in all this is an excellent book and series.

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Summary: From the heart of a LOTR fan
Review: Wow! This book really suprized me! Having read LOTR I thought this book would have no comparison and guess what... I was right! LOTR was tons better but I enjoyed seeing the formation of Tolkein's ideas about everything from Balroqs to Middle Earth in general. But I warn you, the title is litteral. Some of these tales are not even finished. But the wonderful editing and commentary from Christopher Tokein made up for this. Yes, sometimes the meaningless comments on how the characters' names and such were formed gets pretty dull, but all in all this was and enjoyable book. I would definatly ONLY recomend it to people who read LOTR.