Rating: 
Summary: tough reading, and at times boring
Review: "tough reading, and at times boring" sums up my view of this book. To me it is not a book that you can relax with, or pick up when you have few minutes to spare. There are a lot of names and places to remember that kept my flipping back to the index. From all the glowing reviews on here I keep turning the pages hoping that it will get better but I have yet to find anything that really draws me into the book. I read through the hobit and lord of the rings at a record pace and loved reading them but the silmarillion has been a real roadblock to me. Out of Middle earth and back to the Forgotten realms for me.
Rating: 
Summary: Research Material For Die Hard Fans Only!
Review: this book should be looked at as the middle earth bible. it literally begins with the creation of the planet by what pass as the GODS of the universe. extremely interesting in the beginning then it tails off into chapters that become topical. for a good portion of the read you don't need to follow page for page or chapter for chapter. find something you've been interested in, go to that chapter and read about it. long and densely drawn out, this is literally a reference piece. if you're into that sort of thing, pick this up. if you are intrigued with the concept of lord of the rings and would like to check out the books for the first time, START HERE! you won't be sorry.
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Summary: The History of Tolkein's Imaginitive World
Review: The Silmarillion is quite an undertaking as a reader. The book is not exceptionally long, but it is written more or less like a Bible of Middle Earth--making it more difficult to read than say....The Lord of the Rings. Then again, if The Lord of the Rings fascinated you, you probably would be willing to deal with Tolkein's jargon in this case. The novel is filled with names and locations and is at times overwhelming, albight a well-compiled index helps to refresh the reader's memory about characters and places. The Silmarillion, a truly wide ranging work, encompasses multiple smaller tales all somehow related to the main plotline.
The scale of this novel is far beyond the scope of The Lord of the Rings and the events are all the more world-shaping (sometimes literally). This novel must be approached as a history, not a narrative. The reader rarely gets a deep understanding of a character before multiple others arise.
Aside from the imaginative and exciting (yet sometimes dry) main novel, other connected stories concerning the shaping of Middle Earth, and even the days of Sauron (the Dark Lord of LOTR) answer many questions about Middle Earth.
Although this book pertains to events preceding the Hobbit and LOTR, it should be approached after the completion of those novels. This novel is hard to appreciate without a Tolkien background.
In essence, the Silmarillion is an engaging history of Middle Earth that is likely to only be appreciated by readers enthralled by his other great works.
Rating:
Summary: A Full Exploration of Middle Earth
Review: The Silmarillion is a fascinating work of fiction on many levels. The work itself is intricate and should satisfy all but the most rabid Tolkien fans. But on another level, it is also fascinating that a "fake history" that is, in many ways, as difficult to read as an 16th century humanist saga, should be so attractive. After all, there are "real" mythologies abounding, and despite our familiarity with the main characters (Zeus, Ulysses, Odin, Thor, etc), there is as much to be learned in the background as Tolkien presents in the collected Silmarillion. Perhaps the attractiveness is that Tolkien presents us with a completed cycle from the birth of the world, through to (presumably) the world as we know it. The departure of the Elves at the end of the Third Age, the diminishing of the Dwarves, Hobbits, and Dark Elves provide a bridge between the creatures of our own mythology and the world Tolkien created. It is also interesting that Tolkien so thoroughly avoided theology. His "fallen angel" is familiar enough. Anyone who has read Augustine's City of God will be immediately familiar with the perspective in which Tolkien holds the gods of his story as opposed to the dark powers. It is the strange dichotomy of Man & Elf / Mortality and Immortality, and the "purposes" for each implied in the creation of the World that is left tantalizingly unexplored. Thus the "advantage" of Tolkien's "fake history" is not pursued, leaving one to unsatisfying conjecture. As a minor complaint, the fractured nature of parts of the book are apparent and disappointing, if understandable. The writing style, vast material covered, and lack of depth in the characters will disappoint many LOTR fans. But the gems buried within (the origin of Gandalf, for example) are well worth whatever discomfort the work might cause. And ultimately, after reading the Silmarillion, the leap to "real mythologies" becomes a lot easier.
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Summary: the history of Middle Earth
Review: It has been said that the Silmarillion is the masterwork of Tolkien. Long before he wrote the Hobbit or the Lord of the Rings, Tolkien was working on what would become the Silmarillion. While Lord of the Rings is rightly his most popular work, it is only part of a larger world. Tolkien created the whole of Middle Earth and we only got to see a little glimpse of it. The Silmarillion can be treated as a history of Middle Earth. Actually, that might be the best way to look at it. It is not a single story and there does not seem to be any one thread or theme running through the course of the book. Instead, we are given everything from the origins of Middle Earth right up to the events that led into Lord of the Rings. If you think of the Silmarillion as a history book, you won't have any sort of unreasonable expectations going into it. It is the history of a familiar world that never was. I can't imagine that this would be a good starting place for someone looking to read Tolkien, but for fans (and only for fans) of Middle Earth, this is required reading to get a sense of the history of the land. Like all of Tolkien's work, this is well written but it is also a little dryer than his other stuff.
Rating:
Summary: A Hallabalooza Fest for the Mind
Review: When I first read this book, I was thinking "Is this some sort of Bible?". Certainly not! It started to read like one,old and lacking of momentum. But after a couple weeks I was enthralled at the majesty of Tolkien's vision. He created a whole world,complete with languages and culture. Towards the end,I couldn't pull myself away! I found myself rationing the few last pages (REALLY!). I don't see how anyone could go without reading such a fantastic book. Just read it. My favorite parts were Turin Turambur and Berin and Luthien! Oh,and the Numenorien thing! And the part about the third age! Just all of it!
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Summary: Better than the Bible
Review: Another reviewer has said the Silmarillion is "the next best thing to the Bible." In my humble opinion, it is much better,and in many ways deeper. From the wonderful creation myth in which the world is SUNG (not just spoken) into existence, and evil is seen literally as a kind of disharmony, to the philosophically brilliant understanding of the human condition by contrasting our human freedom through the "gift" of death with the Eleve's deathless fate being tied to the world, to the beautiful and spare telling of individual tales, this book continues to bring me delights, tears, and indescribably deep emotions after many readiings. A beautiful and profound meditation on the deep questions of mortality, good and evilI, freedom and fate; I recommend it to anyone who is on the path to becoming more fully human.
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Summary: very interesting.....
Review: if you are a fan of LOTR than this is the book for you!!! it goes more in dept to the characters and descibes them in a deaper way....sorta. :) this book doesn't have a stoyline, but it's more of a desciption of how middle earth was in the 1st age and how the elves and the men were. it's a very good book and every tolkien fan should own it.
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Summary: A Must Have for Tolkien Fans!
Review: After reading the Lord of the Rings series, I decided to read the Simarillion. It was wonderful! Though it is a challenging read, any true fan of Tolkien will eat it up in no time. This book includes every aspect of the history of Middle-Earth from its very start, and will answer many questions you may have been asking after reading LOTR. This writing of this book is so vivid, I felt like I was living the history of Elves, Men, Orcs, Dwarves, and Ents. I suggest taking the time to read it through twice, you will pick up so much more. And don't be afraid to use the "dictionary" at the end, I know I got a little confused with names at times! Well, buy this today!
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Summary: For true devotees of Middle-Earth lore...
Review: The Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit are great stories, and most people seem to enjoy them immensely without ever reading The Silmarillion. If you're like me, though, and you just can't get enough of Middle Earth - this will become one of your favourite books. This is Tolkien's real masterpiece... the creation of a complete mythological history of his world. Every time Gandalf or Aragorn mentions Luthien, Earendil or anything else - it's a reference to events that are laid out in this book. If these vague clues to the distant past of Middle Earth ignite your curiosity and imagination, read this!
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