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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
It has been a while since I have read anything by Tolkien, but as usual he never disappoints.
From the first page of the book he weaved his magic and I was once again transported to Middle Earth. He has such a gift for writing and storytelling you feel like you are there living and breathing the story. No wonder the man is a legend, his imagination knows no bounds from the poetic location names to the wealth and personalities of the characters, especially in this version as I listened to the audiobook my mind was conjuring up all sorts of colourful images. I guess it help having read previous books in the Middle Earth Universe collection, lots of the place names and characters were familiar to me.
No-one writes elves, goblins or dwarfs quite as well this man.
The Silmarillion takes us back to the beginning, it is almost like the blu print to all the other books. It paints a picture of Middle Earth in its entirety and explains how some of the things in other books "come to pass" (one of my favourite Tolkien expressions).
A must read for all fans of his work. Listening to the audiobook version was like listening to a spell being cast, absolutely memorising.
From the first page of the book he weaved his magic and I was once again transported to Middle Earth. He has such a gift for writing and storytelling you feel like you are there living and breathing the story. No wonder the man is a legend, his imagination knows no bounds from the poetic location names to the wealth and personalities of the characters, especially in this version as I listened to the audiobook my mind was conjuring up all sorts of colourful images. I guess it help having read previous books in the Middle Earth Universe collection, lots of the place names and characters were familiar to me.
No-one writes elves, goblins or dwarfs quite as well this man.
The Silmarillion takes us back to the beginning, it is almost like the blu print to all the other books. It paints a picture of Middle Earth in its entirety and explains how some of the things in other books "come to pass" (one of my favourite Tolkien expressions).
A must read for all fans of his work. Listening to the audiobook version was like listening to a spell being cast, absolutely memorising.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I did not expect this to be a true "gem" of a book. But, once again, Tolkein never disappoints in his vivid descriptions, engaging storytelling, and complex characters. Even the sources of inspiration for this book are just as interesting, in my opinion.
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank God there’s an index in this thing.
I would recommend this book to anyone who has read the Lord of the Rings books and is at all interested in the deeper lore of Middle Earth.
I would recommend this book to anyone who has read the Lord of the Rings books and is at all interested in the deeper lore of Middle Earth.
Ahhh now once I finally read Return of the King, I will no longer be a fake Tolkien fan. Sad to lose the ability to flabbergast people with my thorough in-depth knowledge of the Legendarium which I obtained without ever having read The Silm (thanks Tolkien Gateway), but I’m glad to have read this at last.
Lots of it also wasn't new because I have read each of the Great Tales but I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting those parts. Martin Shaw was a fantastic narrator and I doubt even Andy Serkis could beat him, tho I will reread that version at some point to fully compare.
Lots of it also wasn't new because I have read each of the Great Tales but I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting those parts. Martin Shaw was a fantastic narrator and I doubt even Andy Serkis could beat him, tho I will reread that version at some point to fully compare.
I was initially excited to read this book - despite all of the warnings from friends and family to abandon ship - because I loved reading LOTR when I was younger and was looking forward to revisiting Tolkien’s world and its rich histories. Unfortunately, this book ended up taking me the majority of the year to finish because I just couldn’t get into it. The text is filled with so many names of different people and places that I felt like I was reading another language. Granted, Tolkien is known for creating unique languages, but in this case, it ended up taking away from the story and made it extremely hard to follow. I would have given this book a 1-star rating were it not for a couple of chapters at the end where the story-telling was more comprehensible and enjoyable - similar to what I remembered from LOTR.
Switching to physical! Lost track of the story.
Sixth (or seventh) reread and there's no way this will get less than 5 stars from me. Masterpiece. There are paragraphs that are more epic than whole books of modern fantasy.
Plus, unpopular opinion warning, it is a straightforward read. It may be weird at the very beginning but once you are 5-6 chapters in, it gets easy to follow. Can't fathom why people complain about the complexity and the abundance of characters. The plot follows the same 30-40 characters for throughout the book, with many dying quite early, and the action is in a handful of realms. The book has a detailed map and multiple genealogies to help you get who is who. One book of a recent fantasy series has roughly the same number of characters. I read the Silmarillion as a kid and always found it super-easy to follow. End of the unpopular opinion.
Plus, unpopular opinion warning, it is a straightforward read. It may be weird at the very beginning but once you are 5-6 chapters in, it gets easy to follow. Can't fathom why people complain about the complexity and the abundance of characters. The plot follows the same 30-40 characters for throughout the book, with many dying quite early, and the action is in a handful of realms. The book has a detailed map and multiple genealogies to help you get who is who. One book of a recent fantasy series has roughly the same number of characters. I read the Silmarillion as a kid and always found it super-easy to follow. End of the unpopular opinion.