If you are already reading science fiction and fantasy books intended for adult audiences you may find it easier to read The Lord of the Rings first and then The Hobbit. Whichever of those two books you read first, Tolkien wrote several companion works that were published after The Lord of the Rings for fans who wanted to learn more about Hobbits and their world.
These works have been republished in different collections through the years. This book includes a few notes that provide additional information about Middle-earth. If you want to know more about the ancient Elvish histories that are alluded to in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings then you should next turn to The Silmarillion.
The majority of the chapters in The Silmarillion are narrative summaries of historical events and are not typical stories or adventures in the 20th century tradition. Many of these accounts represent a stylized evolution of the old Norse sagas that Tolkien perfected. The Silmarillion was edited by Christopher Tolkien, eldest son of J.
In subsequent years Christopher published numerous corrections, errata, and anecdotes about the manuscripts he used to compile the published Silmarillion. This book was compiled by Christopher Tolkien from fragments of two works his father left behind, but it omits a critical final chapter that was published in The War of the Jewels , the eleventh volume in the volume History of Middle-earth series that Christopher published from the mids to the mids.
Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth includes the fullest stories and adventures, along with some commentary from Christopher.
After Unfinished Tales all that remains to be read concerning Middle-earth from the hand of a Tolkien is the volume History of Middle-earth series. Tolkien abandoned the English mythology but reused many of the stories to create a Silmarillion mythology that grew and changed over many years.
Volumes of The History of Middle-earth follow J. These books follow J. Throughout all these books Christopher provides extensive commentaries explaining the condition and history of the many manuscripts.
In each volume he makes reference to earlier points in the history where he feels he had made a mistake. It is thus a very complex and confusing narrative that has led many readers to misinterpret the significance of some of the Tolkien texts.
Beyond the Tolkien books there are a few notable sources that provide yet more Tolkien manuscripts. The most important of these sources is the two-volume History of the Hobbit , begun by the late Taum Santoski and completed by John Rateliff.
Humphrey Carpenter edited The Letters of J. Ask Question. Asked 9 years, 7 months ago. Active 3 years, 9 months ago. Viewed 82k times. I'm mildly shocked I can't find this question on this site through my many searches Improve this question. Mithical Doug T. What finally got me to read and enjoy! Before the movies gave a face to all those names "why give a character one name when three will do? After seeing the movies and knowing what happens, I could read the books and appreciate the language and poetry, and politely skip the pages I wasn't interested in slogging through.
Call it a nitpick if you feel the need but technically it's not a trilogy. Tolkien talked about this but it's also in the second edition onward it states it directly.
It's one tale consisting of six 'books' in three different parts due to material and costs just after the war. The 50th anniversary edition is in fact one book only. Consider it one long story rather than three separate stories because really that's what it is - a long story that had to be split up into three volumes.
Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. Improve this answer. Christi Christi 7, 32 32 silver badges 53 53 bronze badges. What is the right age to start reading the series to a child? And in what order? Definitely The Hobbit first for a child, as it's the one book explicitly aimed at children. As to whether LotR is suitable will depend heavily on what you regard as suitable. I read the Hobbit myself at about 12, and LotR at about 15, and didn't find either problematic, but your mileage may vary.
I personally can't recall anything in the Hobbit that is going to be problematic for a 10 year old, but I don't have kids, so may not be the best person to answer.
I'm not aware of anyone having asked this question, so you may want to ask it separately, after having searched for duplicates. Plutor Plutor Alenanno Alenanno 1, 15 15 silver badges 23 23 bronze badges. But if you follow that last logic you might as well start with The Silmarillion too. I get what you mean though - just adding that caveat. The pacing is slow, so slow, so painstakingly slow. The descriptions are thorough and specific, so you have no doubt about the way an elf carves his bow, right down the tree it comes from.
But in many other ways, I understand it. These slow burn books are now a labor of love. So why, when there are pretty good adaptations of classic novels like the Lord of the Rings trilogy, do we even bother with the books?
The depth of detail that pushes away modern readers also draws in the fans. I have to admit that for all I love fantasy — for all I love epic fantasy — I struggle with the Lord of the Rings trilogy. A couple of years ago, I decided I was going to re-read the trilogy. I have all three books on Audible, and I even managed to read the first one.
But I regret nothing. When the The Fellowship of the Ring premiered back in , it was well received by general audiences, but got some backlash from Tolkien fans. Because where was Tom Bombadil? Where was Goldberry? These are little treasures only readers of the books will see. So while I will fully admit that the Lord of the Rings series is, frankly, a chore… I still encourage people to read the trilogy.
The stories are incredible, filled with meticulous detail and thrilling side quests. So give it a try. Buddy read them, if it will help. Force yourself through the eternal Council of Elrond. Notify me of follow-up comments by email.
Notify me of new posts by email. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. The vast majority of my friends, actually. It was fast paced, but also a lot of fun.
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