The Silmarillion

This novel is a grand story from Tolkien about the heroic first age in Middle Earth. The stories are beautiful and dark. If you were captivated by Middle Earth then this is the book is a must read after LOTR and the Hobbit to read as it tells a lot tales about elements of Middle Earth of which there were only fleeting bits in the other two well known novels like Tale of Beren and Luthien, city of Gondolin, Children of Hurin and lot more. I have read it twice and never got bored of reading it . Its is just amazing to know a single person thought of all this stuff

I have read this book twice. I loved the book even more the second time. I guess you appreciate the richness of Tolkien's Middle Earth and the grand tapestry of story-telling that Tolkien weaves for the reader. The first time I read this was around 1992-93, in my late teens, before the films came out, shortly after I had read LOTR for the first time (read it again 6 years later). AT the time I had to muscle through The Silmarillion, I found it kind of difficult to read due to the expanded timeframe, it isn't a linear read like LOTR, but a fascinating insight into the history and workings of the saga behind The Ring, so I duly muscled through it. This time though I really enjoyed the book start to finish, read it within a couple weeks which is really quick for me. I am now looking forward to reading The Lost Tales and Book of Unfinished Tales AGAIN. Eagerly anticipating Luthien & Beren too in June. I guess you could say I have become a bit like Bilbo and fascinated with the First Age and the heroic tales of The Eldar and their struggles against Melkor, who was later to become 'Morgoth Bauglir' and a story which I am sure would be a fantastic series of films, can you imagine the battle scenes between Morgoth and The Valar? Or the 5 battles culminating in the War of Wrath destroying large chunks of the known world?! WOW - can't wait.

If you're already a fan of the Lord of the Rings, and you like the idea of knowing the background and seeing how the whole history of the world of Middle Earth fits together, you'll enjoy this book. Just to warn you though - the start is a little odd. Give it time, or skim read it. And keep using the glossary!