Rating: 
Summary: Back in fictional time
Review: "Lord of the Rings" was the climax. Silmarillion was the Bible. And the Histories of Middle-Earth series is the big stack of history books. Author J.R.R. Tolkien wrote a vast fictional history of Middle-Earth, and the first five volumes of the Histories are compiled here. The evolving backdrop of stories about Elves, Men, and the rich tapestry of fictional history is shown here, such as earlier versions of the legendary romance of Beren and Luthien, or the history of the Valar. Not the finished product of "Silmarillion," but older drafts riddled with footnotes and commentary from Tolkien's son Christopher. What's more, it includes linguistic evolution, exquisite poetry, and a time travel story that evolved into something much greater. It takes a certain amount of geeky dedication to read these books. They are not light reading, and it takes knowledge of the final material to understand their significance. In many of the stories, there is greater detail than is found in the Silmarillion. And in many cases, there are huge differences, such as the mortal Beren originally being an Elf. (Which changes the whole story of Beren and Luthien, and also how we see their distant descendants, Aragorn and Arwen) Fans of "Lord of the Rings" and "Silmarillion" will undoubtedly enjoy seeing how the unrivalled fantasy stories came to be. Not for newbies, but fascinating for major fans and anyone who likes seeing how Tolkien's writing evolved.
Rating:
Summary: Back in fictional time
Review: "Lord of the Rings" was the climax. Silmarillion was the Bible. And the Histories of Middle-Earth series is the big stack of history books. Author J.R.R. Tolkien wrote a vast fictional history of Middle-Earth, and the first five volumes of the Histories are compiled here. The evolving backdrop of stories about Elves, Men, and the rich tapestry of fictional history is shown here, such as earlier versions of the legendary romance of Beren and Luthien, or the history of the Valar. Not the finished product of "Silmarillion," but older drafts riddled with footnotes and commentary from Tolkien's son Christopher. What's more, it includes linguistic evolution, exquisite poetry, and a time travel story that evolved into something much greater. It takes a certain amount of geeky dedication to read these books. They are not light reading, and it takes knowledge of the final material to understand their significance. In many of the stories, there is greater detail than is found in the Silmarillion. And in many cases, there are huge differences, such as the mortal Beren originally being an Elf. (Which changes the whole story of Beren and Luthien, and also how we see their distant descendants, Aragorn and Arwen) Fans of "Lord of the Rings" and "Silmarillion" will undoubtedly enjoy seeing how the unrivalled fantasy stories came to be. Not for newbies, but fascinating for major fans and anyone who likes seeing how Tolkien's writing evolved.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Although difficult to read at times, the series FULLY describes the shaping of Middle Earth and beyond. It does at times feel like a history book, but it was still incredible. And by the way... J.R.R. Tolkein died in '72, so I doubt he'll be writing any more books, as was previousley requested by another reviewee...:-)
Rating: 
Summary: Unfinished drafts and scrapped notes
Review: First off let me say that i absolutely love The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion. They are easily my favorite books and i have read them all more times then i can count... But i utterly despise The History books.
These books are nothing but Tolkiens first rough drafts and his scrapped ideas. He scrapped them for a reason. And i dont think that reason was so his son can milk the franchise into the stratosphere... And another thing about these books is that they are definitely not for everyone. These books are only for the true diehard Tolkien fans and will NOT be enjoyed by anyone else. They are an extremely tough read with footnotes and headers galore. So if you truly live, breath, and sleep Middle-earth then these books might be for you. But i would rather not line Christopher Tolkiens pockets with his late great fathers draft pages and scrapped ideas.
Rating:
Summary: For Serious fans only
Review: I find these books very confusing and it's hard to read but in order to understand Tolkien's world better. My favorite is the second book of lost tales but it was really confusing. The shaping of Middle earth was good too but it was even harder. I would suggest reading the Similarion first because that will help you to understand these books and if you can't understand that one don't buy this set.
Rating: 
Summary: Not for the casual fan, a tall glass of limpe for devotees
Review: I first feel the need to level a good-natured attack at the reviewer who claimed that Christopher Tolkien spent uncounted exhausted hours reviewing and annotating his father's mountains of notes and manuscripts to "line his pockets." The very notion is ludicrous. The publication of the Histories was a labor of love, nothing more, and I for one appreciate it immensely. "The Histories of Middle-Earth" is an invaluable collection for anyone who would know the process behind the creation of a literary world as vast as Tolkien's. For someone who has read "The Lord of the Rings," "The Hobbit," and "The Silmarillion" (I recommend also reading "The Unfinished Tales" first) and is interested in knowing more about the origins of Middle-Earth and Valinor, these volumes are fascinating. For someone who simply loves the story of LOTR and sees the greater history of Middle Earth as nothing more than a setting, these books probably aren't for you. Hence the four stars rather than five.
Rating:
Summary: The Lord of the Rings
Review: The best book I've read after Harry Potter Series. The story is so good.I like the walking trees (called ents)the best. They look good on the movies too. A must read and must watch. Write more books Tolkein....
Rating:
Summary: Hard read..but worth it.
Review: The first five volumes of the history of Middle Earth are great books and a must for Tolkien fans.If you are interested in reading these, I would suggest reading the Silmarillion first.If you thought that was too confusing don't bother picking these up.My favorite is the third book: The lays of Berliand. All of them are good books and I recommend reading them.(If you've read the Silmarillion,The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings)
Rating:
Summary: Lord of the Rings
Review: The merchindise for the Lord of the Rings is SWEET
Rating:
Summary: The Elf's review
Review: These are excellent books which explore the writing of J. R. R. Tolkien which eventually led to the Silmarillion. Granted, these books are not for everyone. They are definately for the very dedicated fan who is willing to take the time to slave over the often difficult writing (these were rough drafts often)and the allusions to things that one has no capability of understanding without reading the rest of the book. Though at first I was very confused when reading The Book of Lost Tales 1, by the time I got to the end of it I understood it perfectly. It was a joy to read all of these books, and it really stinks that they weren't offered as a box set when I bought mine. One of the best books in this set is, The Lays of Beleriand. It is a book of essentially two very long epic poems and they are excellent. I didn't like fantasy until I read Tolkien and the same is true of poetry. The Tolkien devotee will get true enjoyment out of these tales of the ancient days of Middle Earth and will revel in the archaic language of the Ainur, elves and men of the first age of Middle Earth.
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