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Summary: Absolute ly necessary for an understanding of The Lord of
Review: This is not the easiest book to read, but for those addicted to the "truth" of Midddle-Earth and its inhabitants, an absolute necessity. It explains all the history of the beginning, the interludes and the finality of this magnificent universe. It pulls together many histories that were omitted in the recounting of earlier stories. Tolkien's concept of the beginning of the earth surely rivals that of the Bible's Genesis. The only problem found by some readers is that the "accounts" are not necessarily time-sequential; but if you can understand this, the reading will make each reader wizer and more fulfilled by this metaphor of our existance and our dreams.
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Summary: Breathtakingly Beautiful
Review: The Lord of the Rings was so wonderful. The Silmarillion has a completely different kind of beauty. It reads more like an old tale of history (like Herodotus without all of the digressions), and it is steeped in the unique magic of Middle-earth. If you ever feel a longing for days that will never return, The Silmarillion is for you. It satisfies that feeling for a while, yet it sharpens the longing all the more.
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Summary: Slower but informative
Review: This book is very interesting and provides much detail about the history of Tolkien's universe. However, it read like a textbook. I highly recommend the unabridged audio version read by Martin Shaw. His voice works very well, and listening removes some of the tedium.
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Summary: Slow going, but breathtakingly beautiful.....
Review: "The Lord of the Rings" is my favorite book ever. I have to start with that statement. I was not planning to read "The Silmarillion." I had heard how slow-going it was. But as my love of Middle-Earth grew, so did my lust for more knowledge of the characters I so loved.
I am extremely glad I picked up "The Silmarillion." Everybody I listened to is right. It is a slow read. There is almost no fast-paced action, and many sections read like chapters of an International Bible. But these are not downfalls of the book by any means. This is a wonderfully crafted writing. I take my time reading it, so that I may absorb the history of Arda (Tolkein's Earth) more easily. I read each chapter with anticipation of reading "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" again with a deeper understanding of where many of the characters came from. For instance, I now have a much deeper appreciation of the Elves.
I would not recommend this book for everyone, but if you have a little patience and a great love for Middle-Earth, buy this book now.
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Summary: Great background.
Review: If you've wondered about all those "historical" references in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, you'll like this book. As with LOTR, the prose is sometimes tedious and the scores of names (as many as five per character) bewildering, but the book's editor -- Tolkien's son, Christopher -- does his best to keep it moving with maps, geneaological charts, pronunciation guides, etc.
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Summary: Several Classics of World Lit Combined into a History!
Review: Let's get this out of the way right away. This is not The Lord of the Rings nor is it The Hobbit. It is not written in the same style. It is not attempting the same goals. Don't go into it expecting more adventures of hobbits, in depth characterizations, or lengthy descriptions of the landscape.This owes more to Herodotus the father of history than to Dunsany. You can tell that Tolkein was fulfilling the scholar within him for this work. It is the result of the compilation of poetry, stories, and songs which he wrote over many years. For perspective, the year or so of adventure in the three books of the Lord of the Rings only take up about twenty-five pages of this book. That being said, one must then notice that if J.R.R. Tolkein had attempted to put the detail of the Lord of the Rings into the other adventures in this book, he would not have been able to finish within his lifetime! This is an overview of many beautiful stories and myths in Elven lore. Their version of the creation of the world. The splitting of the Elves into Light, Dark, and Twilight. The rise of the first Dark Lord, Morgoth and his eventual downfall. Not to mention the creation of the Dwarves, Men, the Ents, the giant Eagles, the spiders, the Dragons, the Balrogs, and just about everything else you encounter in the Lord of the Rings. It is all told in a style reminiscent of the Old Testament fused with elements of Homer, Herodotus, Mallory, Tennyson, and the unknown authors of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. My personal favorite is the tale of Beren and Luthien Tinuviel. It has elements of classic romance with definite twists, the female lead saves the male at least twice! All in all, a fascinating read.
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Summary: What was Eric Sternberg thinking?
Review: This is an incredible work. Tolkien probably wanted it published, but we'll never know. His son did the world a great service. I for one, consider this to be one of the greatest literary works in history.
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Summary: It's good, but really one for the diehard Tolkien fans only.
Review: Three things one should say about this book: 1) It is really only for the die-hard Tolkien fans. It's long, complicated, intricate, and written more like a historical/mythical geneology, than a novel. There are many people who manage to get through The Lord of the Rings, but not this book, which is written in a very different style.
2), However, if your are one of those diehards-like myself-you'll love it.
3) The illustrated edition by Tolkien artist Ted Nasmith, is probably the best edition to get. It is divided into 4 sections.
1) The Creation of Arda-(ie the world)-being the time before the "First Age";
2) The "Quenta Silmarillion"- which is essesntially the "First Age" of "Middle Earth";
3) The "Second Age" including the "Alkallabeth"-whhich is the Downfall Of Numenor and
4) "Of the Rings of Power and The Third Age" (ie a background to the Lord of the Rings). It is really a prequel to the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, upon which much of their material is based. Viewers of the recent "Lord of the Rings" movies will learn more about Balrogs, for example and their origins, wizards, orcs, the seeing stones, and Sauron's original master-Melkor of the Valar-the Ainu, or "Gods" to men. Elrond, and his ancestors, where Gandalf comes from, the origin of dwarves, elves, men and others, are all there. 4 of the main stories include:
1) the ancient elvish race of the Noldor, attempting to get back their Silmarils-beautiful light giving gems-from Melkor who stole them,
2)the tale of Beren and Luthien who fall in love and get back one of these Silmarils, and
3) the tale of Turin Turumbar who destroys the first and mightiest dragon, but is also caught in the corruption and doom of the Noldor, who become accursed in their greed to retain the Silmarils.
4) Another major story is the Alkallabeth which describes the origin of Aragorn's race in Middle Earth, coming from an Island Kingdom -Numenor-destroyed by the Valar (Gods) because of their ultimate corruption by Sauron. J.R.R.Tolkien wrote these books well before he wrote the Lord of the Rings, mostly for his own benefit, since he saw little hope for their gaining popularity in general. After the "Lord of the Rings" was a success, The Silmarillion was published, (after his death), to which the Lord of the Rings looks back in time. It is highly mythic, with grandeur and romantic elegance, for those interested in the deeper and ancient things of Middle Earth. In many ways it is deeper and more mythic than even the Lord of the Rings, but it is not an easy book to read. It certainly has a romantic- poetic-even religious flavour to it, which gives solace to the spirit. Read it if you're keen on all things Tolkien, otherwise many try, but get lost half way through. One point to note is that Mr Tolkien, being a classical linguistic scholar, borrowed much of his material from the ancient myths of ancient Europe-the Norse, the Celts, the Vikings, even the Greeks in part etc, so an alternative to these narratives of Tolkien is to read some of the ancient myths of these cultures themself, upon which many of his ideas are based. Some of these aren't too bad to reasearch-think of some of the ancient Greek myths made into some Hollywood movies- eg Jason and the Argonauts, the Golden Fleece, or the Rings Saga of the Vikings and Germanic tribes- which Wagner elucidated. What many of these ancient myths have in common is an understanding of deeper human nature, upon which much of our modern society(s) stems. "The Silmarillion" is no different. Good luck.
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Summary: Greek Mythology Tolkien Style...
Review: If you are a fan of Tolkien's better known works, don't be fooled that Silmarillion will take you on another epic adventure... it is not a novel, but more a collection of interconnected short stories, that together tell a larger story. The stories are reminiscent of Greek Myths, or Shakespearean Tragedies. The book intends to tell the story of the Silmarils, which are magical jewels. More specifically, once the jewels are stolen by Melkor, who is basically the Devil, the book follows the consequences of an evil oath of the jewels creator, an Elf named Feanor, and his sons, to get them back at any cost (and remember, Elf's have LONG lives, and the stories span many thousands of years and this oath results in wars, murders and many betrayals). The book starts with the creation of the world, the elves, man, dwarves, orcs... all of middle-earth. It answers many of the questions you are left with after The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. It explains where Elves go when they go West out of Middle-Earth, for instance, and where Sauron comes from and what he is. The stories are incredible - again, a mix of Shakespeare and Greek mythology. One of the stories tells of a man who wants to mary an elf - Beren, the man, is taken to the King, who is Luthien, the Elf's, father. The King says Beren can only marry his daughter if Beren brings back a Silmaril from Melkor's (the Devil) crown. Thinking he has sent Beren to his death in this hopeless quest, and has put an end to the issue, the King finds that his daughter has gone on the quest as well. The story doesn't end as you might think, but treats you to a wonderfully surprising adventure, wrought with bravery, battle and honor. There are points in this book that are so poignant and powerful -the "wow" factor certainly applies. The book is not a novel, but at the end, when you really look at how the stories have been intertwined, and how the characters are inter-related, you will really be impressed with the imagination and planning that went into not only this book, but all of Tolkien's stories.
Rating: 
Summary: The presumption of sons
Review: If Tolkien had intended this book to be more than working notes towards a history of Middle Earth, he would have published it on his own. However, his son's money-grubbing has begun a horrible tradition of talentless sons pillaging the notebooks of their fathers, a tradition that has resulted in the continuation of an already tortured Dune series in addition to the collections of partial tales by Tolkien released after his death.
He must be spinning in his grave.
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