This is a book compiled by Tolkien’s son after his death. It contains a bunch of different types of information. The stories varied from origins, tragedies, and to a summation of history. I found much of it poorly written and complex in the locations and many characters. The book does fill in some information that helps to understand the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. I do not recommend this book other than to those who are big fans of Tolkien’s other books. ( )

This was my second time through (my third attempt in total) and it took me over a year (I started May 2014). I was intentionally slow this time around. It's true, this is a very hard book. It's fiction, but this is not straightforward bubblegum. This is the fiber to The Lord of the Rings's meat and potatoes. You might read of Gondolin in the comparative bubblegum of The Hobbit, but the reality of this book is that it is religious text, prophecy, cosmology, and history all in one. But yes, fiction, and all from the mind of one man.

Tolkien devoted much of his life to writing the history, and it remained unfinished at his death. How? You try writing a self-contained fictional history of over ten thousand years. Though unfinished, its creation and development bookends the releases of his two most popular books. Even in the bird's-eye view of the mythos, you can see Tolkien's philosophy, religion, and worldview. Interestingly, when the stories zoom in to examine these characters in depth is when the moral ambiguity dissolves into place. There are complaints that Tolkien's characters are weird black or white, good or bad, but these people have never read anything beyond his two popular books. What to think of the characters that are presented as among the greatest mortals to ever grace Middle-Earth, but commit fratricide? Or the tragic warrior held in high esteem that unwittingly plays into the hands of a demon, killing his closest friends and entering an incestuous relationship? This is Tolkien at his most Shakespearian if you can take it.

If you've tried, and failed, at this book, but maintain a love of Tolkien, I cannot recommend enough following along to lectures on what you've just read. The Tolkien Professor is great and knowledgeable not only of this work but all the other supporting ones.

I guess I'm off to read The History of Middle-earth now.

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First read: Oct 17, 2013-Dec 3, 2013
Second read: May 21, 2014-Oct 12, 2015 ( )

I loved this book. Endstop. It's insane and amazing how much I loved this book. I went into it with ten years of friends voices and the conglomerate internet voice tell me this book would be hard, dry and like crossing a desert more than reading a book. But I was in love before I finished chapter one. I do not know how I listened for ten years, or how not one person ever informed me it was a mythic text. But it was gorgeous and golden and I loved it.

I listened to it driving to and from my job, to and from a camping weekend. It was everything filling up my head for a week and a half, and I felt both more victorious with every chapter crossed off and more full of deep regret that the end was coming for me. I loved learning about the background of so many things I've always loved. Gods, Goddess, Music, Holy Cities, The terrible falls and great aspirations. I did skip the nearly verbatim chapters of Hurin nd Turin from Children Of, but everything else had my undivided attention and love. ( )

El Silmarillion cuenta la historia de la Primera Edad, el antiguo drama del que hablan los personajes de El Señor de los Anillos, y en cuyos acontecimientos algunos de ellos tomaron parte, como Elrond y Galadriel. Los tres Silmarils eran gemas creadas por Fëanor, el más dotado de los Elfos, y contenían la Luz de los Dos Árboles de Valinor antes que los Árboles mismos fueran destruidos por Morgoth, el primer Señor Oscuro. Desde entonces, la inmaculada Luz de Valinor vivió sólo en los Silmarils, pero Morgoth se apoderó de ellos, y los engarzó en su corona, guardada en la fortaleza impenetrable de Angband en el norte de la Tierra Media.

4**** for the work itself, but 3*** or at best 3½*** specifically for ISBN 0618391118, a rather expensive and oversized coffee-table book. I'm not that impressed with the originality of the edition's copious illustrations, which could have shown a bit more variety in style. It would also have helped if the captions accompanied each illustration at the bottom of the page rather than being limited to a table of illustrations at the beginning of the book. ( )