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A review by willjacks
Unfinished Tales by J.R.R. Tolkien
3.0
I loved this book, don’t get me wrong.
Stories I really enjoyed the most were from the first and second ages. Turin Turambar, Aldarion and Erendis, and basically any of the Numenor stuff the Silmarillion was severely lacking.
The problems came with the stories from the third age. They were largely boring, stuff that didn’t end up in the beloved appendices of LOTR. That’s my problem with the third age, it all just feels like gratuitous supplemental stories to LOTR/Hobbit. It’s a lot to ask from an author, all these details from different ages and to create multiple brilliantly crafted stories. However, this book and the Silmarillion make me think that the third age must have been boring before the quest of Erebor, which must be untrue.
I took a star off for the third age stories, and a star off for some of the stories being jarringly incomplete. I know it’s called unfinished tales, I get it, but the Galadriel and Celeborn section wasn’t worth putting in this book in my eyes.
Otherwise, well worth reading if you loved the Silmarillion like I did. I love the first age!!
Stories I really enjoyed the most were from the first and second ages. Turin Turambar, Aldarion and Erendis, and basically any of the Numenor stuff the Silmarillion was severely lacking.
The problems came with the stories from the third age. They were largely boring, stuff that didn’t end up in the beloved appendices of LOTR. That’s my problem with the third age, it all just feels like gratuitous supplemental stories to LOTR/Hobbit. It’s a lot to ask from an author, all these details from different ages and to create multiple brilliantly crafted stories. However, this book and the Silmarillion make me think that the third age must have been boring before the quest of Erebor, which must be untrue.
I took a star off for the third age stories, and a star off for some of the stories being jarringly incomplete. I know it’s called unfinished tales, I get it, but the Galadriel and Celeborn section wasn’t worth putting in this book in my eyes.
Otherwise, well worth reading if you loved the Silmarillion like I did. I love the first age!!