Mount Readmore Book Review, 2017 32/100

The Silmarillion By JRR Tolkien

Paperback Edition

Finished on 3/28/2017

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7332.The_Silmarillion

Genres: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, LotR, Grimdark, Folklore

Morgoth has Rebelled Against God, and Seeks to Conquer Middle Earth for His Own. Wearing a Crown of 3 Holy Simarils, This Dark Lord has Incurred the Wrath of the 7 sons of Fëanor. Now the Noldor and Telari Elves Must Put Aside Their Differences and Defeat Evil Once and For All out of 5

Spoiler-tastic Review

This novel contains the history of Middle-earth prior to the events of the Hobbit and LotRs. If possible it is more epic than either of those stories, for the Silmarillion contains a story spanning thousands of years, instead of mere months.

I won’t lie and say my attention wasn’t distracted from this book a time or two. This book can be dry. The creation of the world in particular was boring, as were some of the internecine conflicts between the various elvish nations of Beleriand. But that depth is required to fully flesh out this beautiful world. If anything I was left wanting more, wanting to know the history of the oft-mentioned east, where there must be great civilizations of Men founded upon the worship of Morgoth.

Also I constantly found myself wanting a better map/maps. I kept referring to the map in the back of the book, trying to understand where the story was going on, but so many important landmarks were missing. Also I wanted to look at the map and compare the locations from the LotR to those in the Silmarillion, but there was no overlap between the two.

Is this book for everyone? By Eru Ilúvatar, no! If I, a fan of both LotR and the Hobbit, found this book occasionally boring than a normal person would never like this book. If you’re a fan of the setting of Middle-Earth and you like reading difficult fantasy books and you like reading folklore than yes I do suggest you give this book a whirl.