The Silmarillion in SpecFic Buddy Reads

Jul 30, 2011 Lyn rated it really liked it

*** 2022 Reread

I reread this wonderful book in anticipation of the upcoming Prime Video series. Still as good as ever.

Tolkien tells the story of the beginning of Middle Earth and has provided us with a very cool mythology for his creation. We learn about the Valar, the Maiar (of whom Gandolf and Suaron are both members) the tribes of the elves and the fall of the great cities of the Elves in Middle Earth.

The closing chapters also talks about Numenor and the rise and fall of the that great island ...more

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Mar 26, 2013 Bradley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, 2019-shelf, worldbuilding-sf

This is actually my third time reading and I feel kinda bad because I keep picking up big new details I missed the first couple of times I read it.

Well, maybe I don't feel *THAT* bad. I mean, it is DAMN full of names and genealogies and it's probably a bit worse than having to slog through the Iliad for all that.

BUT. And here comes the huge, fire-belching butt of Melkor...

The Silmarillion is likely the best book of mythology I've ever read.
Better than any rendition of the Greeks or the Nordic. ...more

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Jun 07, 2019 Trish rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I was quite apprehensive going into this. I needn't have been.

This isn't exactly a story like LOTR itself but an account of the beginning of the Tolkien universe until the events at the end of LOTR, all written in an almost novel-like fashion.

Want to know Galadriel's family tree? Or where the White Tree of Gondor comes from (the Tree of the King)? Or how the Orks were made? If Sauron was the worst and most powerful bad guy ever? What the difference between Elves, dwarves and men are? Why the elv I was quite apprehensive going into this. I needn't have been.

This isn't exactly a story like LOTR itself but an account of the beginning of the Tolkien universe until the events at the end of LOTR, all written in an almost novel-like fashion.

Want to know Galadriel's family tree? Or where the White Tree of Gondor comes from (the Tree of the King)? Or how the Orks were made? If Sauron was the worst and most powerful bad guy ever? What the difference between Elves, dwarves and men are? Why the elves in the LOTR book(s) didn't fight alongside humans anymore? Then this book is for you.

There are some names that I recognized early on (simply because certain elves are that old) but most was completely new. However, that didn't hinder my enjoyment one bit. I might not be able to quote the history of this universe after this first read but that's also not necessary. I simply enjoyed the hell out of the writing style and depth of the history. Tolkien not only came up with some interesting kingdoms, not even only with a fascinating planet, but with an entire vast universe. He combined typical mythological figures with Christian elements and made it more about the actual events than single characters.
Not to mention that there is one hell of a lot of magic here, and magic of a few very specific kinds that worked perfectly together. Thus, we not only get the creator of the universe, his immediate children, their offspring and eventually elves and dwarves and men, but also magical trees and giant always-hungry spiders, special jewels and more.

There is a lot of information packed into this. However, thanks to Tolkien's wonderful writing style, it read like a very well-crafted mythology book. Well, and it is. But here's the kicker: while it's true that every mythology is made up, though "real" mythology is grounded in humanity's history, Tolkien took elements from the Norse and Greek mythology (and, possibly, some others) and created a completely new one that is just as vivid, interesting and engaging. In short: it's realistic as hell. What I mean is that if there's a WW3 and all knowledge gets destroyed along with every human except for small children and if those children were then to find only a copy of this book left in the ruins, there was no way for them to know that this isn't actually our history/mythology but fantasy (well, except for this one having orks, monstruous spiders and giant eagles *lol*). It's THAT good.

If we look at it objectively, it doesn't matter if we read the Edda or the Iliad/Odyssey or Tolkien's work. They are all made-up stories and they are all insanely entertaining. What was most funny was having read LOTR last month and now reading the same story in such a condensed way as it is only one part of a very vast history.

Telperion and Laurelin, the two Trees of Valinor

I'm seriously enarmoured with this and am very likely going to read it again. ...more

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Sep 05, 2025 Cathy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2025

It was time that I read this as a fan of The Hobbit and LOTR. I decided to listen to the 19+ hour audiobook narrated by Andy Serkis. I also have a pretty, illustrated hardback version.

Not easy. Pretty dry, a lot of names. Every now and then someone or something popped up that I knew. I glimpsed some snippets that reminded me of Rings of Power—I didn‘t even finish the first season. Or did I? It was ok, but didn‘t grab me.

Somewhere werewolves made an appearance. And then vampires… that was some in ...more

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