The Silmarillion

Product Information

These annals, with their brilliantly-etched admixtures of beauty and short-lived heroic triumphs set against an overpowering sense of futility and tragic defeat at the hands of an enemy whose cunning is as deep as the infernal pits of his cavernous dungeons and whose malice engirds the star-kissed world, whose very corruption has been bled into the core of creation itself, were just what were needed to spark a young imagination; Tolkien's private amusements and delights mirrored my own in their fledgling form, and inspired me to tributary tasks of creation that nobody else could understand or appreciate but which gave me immense personal satisfaction. They awoke within me the powerful demiurgical desire to craft worlds, populate them, endow them with their own gods and mythologies, formulate a history, laden it with political systems, the whole works, all in the service of a time-bound fate that culminates in an apocalyptic showdown betwixt the dark and the light. At that point in a person's life, when the complex and inscrutable mathematical rituals and hierarchical causality of all-powerful modern science have immense appeal but few handholds, the prismatic and primal allure of myth and magic, the intuitive interconnectedness of nature with the sorcerously creative will of man, even at that tender age a force struggling to avoid restraint and desperately endeavoring to draw power from those spiritual furnaces deep within, the font of dreams, such tales of heroism and fortitude in the face of the supernatural are, for many, very hard to resist. What's more, the channeling of natural phenomenon into organic spirits with anthropomorphic features and forms offers another intuitively-appealing means to understanding a vast material world that otherwise seems awesomely inexplicable and frighteningly unpredictable. Stories that tap into our innate desire both to be entertained and be edified by human theatre set within the panoramic vistas of a horizon-hid past—Tolkien delivered in spades. Successive generations have been spellbound by the exploits of Frodo, Gandalf and their comrades as they journey towards Mordor to do battle with the Dark Lord Sauron. This book is Biblical is scope and also Biblical in its writing style. It's not for the casual reader, but it is a goldmine for the Tolkien enthusiast. The closing chapters also talks about Numenor and the rise and fall of the that great island nation and how this society led to the line of kings of whom Aragorn was one. This edition also includes a foldout National Geographic-style map and a comprehensive glossary of characters, locations, and languages. Relevant family trees are also included.

Don´t expect an average short story collection, this is far beyond what one is used to see as a prequel, sequel, extra short story collections, or whatever else is nowaday instrumentalized in the mainstream fantasy sci-fi industrial complex to boost the sales. King Thingol was murdered. Melian returned to Valinor without her husband and daughter. Tolkien's grave has 'Beren' inscribed on it, while his wife Edith's has 'Lúthien.' But, as said, be aware, these stories are disguised nerdgasms so full of the language Tolkien adapted from originals and invented himself, such a celebrating of OCD perfectionism, a planning close to no modern nowadays author would invest in her/ his work, the work of a lifetime, that it´s truly no easy read. I will probably do it that way, just as I like to read my sci-fi and fantasy extra, outsourced exposition explanations about characters, chronological timelines, maps, fandom, etc., to get the flow better started.This was very new and different to me because my only Middle-earth exposure is the Lord of the Rings films and The Hobbit book. There are a lot of charters, places, and concepts that I was unfamiliar with: so I resorted to Youtube videos and Wikipedia to help me along the way. The first part, of Eru Iluvatar (God) is clearly inspired by the Christian Old Testament. The music of the Ainur (angels) has one Ainur who thought his voice was better than the rest – Melkor (Satan) and so Eru made the music into the world and fifteen Ainur came to reside in the world, including the troublemaker.

First, there's The Big Guy, Illuvatar, who brings into being the Ainur, who essentially end up being the gods of this world (The Valar). Then there's the creation of the physical world, and the people destined to inhabit it. It's all described in rather complex detail, so this is not light reading, my friends. To be honest, The Silmarillion is not an easy read. There's Valinor, Númenor, Middle-earth, creation of the world, music battles (I am not joking), the Valar, the Maiar; Vanyar, Noldor, and Teleri elves, men, orcs, beasts, wizards, dragons, and jewels. At the heart of the book is the story of the Silmarils. The Silmarils were crafted by Fëanor, the Elven King of the Noldor. These magical jewels contained the essence of the Two Trees of Valinor. Fëanor asked Galadriel, the princess of Noldor and his niece, for a few strands of hair to put in The Silmarils. She refused him. If you remember, she granted the request to Gimli in the Fellowship of the Ring. The Silmarils, beautiful as they were, were the cause of all the drama in the book. Morgoth stole the jewels and placed them in his crown. They would dictate the fate of numerous heroes for thousands of years.In my opinion Tolkien is really brilliant at shaping a world and creating cool concepts and story arcs... He is just not the best in writing these down... What I mean with that is that he is not the best at writing characters and their feelings and making me connect with these characters on a very emotional and personal level BUT he is the best at putting characters in certain situations and creating a plot and their surroundings. That's why I loved the Silmarillion. Each chapter was basically a finished story (even though all stories go hand in hand and can be put in a timeline). Almost every new chapter focused on a new person. Meaning Tolkien could do what Tolkien can do best AKA exposing a lot of brilliant concepts and plots without having to write a lot about the characters as people with feelings... Now the Elves made many rings; but secretly Sauron made One Ring to rule all the others, and their power was bound up with it, to be subject wholly to it and to last only so long as it too should last. And much of the strength and will of Sauron passed into that One Ring; for the power of the Elven-rings was very great, and that which should govern them must be a thing of surpassing potency; and Sauron forged it in the Mountain of Fire in the Land of Shadow. And while he wore the One Ring he could perceive all the things that were done by means of the lesser rings, and he could see and govern the very thoughts of those that wore them.” J.R.R. Tolkien turns the world-building knob all the way up to 11 in The Silmarillion, which is a masterclass in high fantasy. Discover the true scope of Frank Herbert’s vision in Dune: Messiah, the epic second act in the classic sci-fi saga, presented in a cinematic illustrated edition from The Folio Society.