The Silmarillion

First American Edition, 365 pages

English language

Published September 1977 by Houghton Mifflin Company.

ISBN:
978-0-395-25730-2
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OCLC Number:
2966874
ISFDB ID:
1214
Goodreads:
77673

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4 stars (2 reviews)

The Silmarillion is the core of J.R.R. Tolkien's imaginative writing, a work that he could not publish in his lifetime because it grew with him. Its origins stretch back to a time long before The Hobbit. But The Hobbit was caught up in what Tolkien called "the branching acquisitive theme" begin in The Silmarillion, and eventually The Lord of the Rings emerged from this as well.

Tolkien considered The Silmarillion his most important work, and, though published last an posthumously, this great collection of tales and legends clearly sets the stage for all his other works. For this is the story of the creation of the world and the happenings of the First Age. This is the ancient drama to which characters in The Lord of the Rings look back, and in whose events some of them, such as Elrond and Galadriel, took part. The three Silmarils were jewels created …

87 editions

reviewed The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien

Review of 'The Silmarillion' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

While this book features the finest world building in all of fiction and perhaps even all of English literature, its obsession with detail makes it a difficult read. It is not something I should have attempted reading at age 13 (did not finish at about 35%), but restarting it was one of the finest decisions I've ever made.

Subjects

  • Middle Earth (Imaginary place) -- Fiction
  • Fantasy fiction, English

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