I first read the
Silmarillion over a decade ago, and just finished it for the second
time. Unlike The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings (which are set in
the Third Age), The Silmarillion is mostly set in the First Age, and
is more about elves than men. The version I had also includes (as
well as the precursor bits) the Akabelleth [a 30 page or so summary
of the Second Age] and a similarly concise retelling of the Rings of
Power.
It’s the highest of
high fantasy, telling the creation of the world from before its
birth, through to its early days when the gods were fiddling with it
by themselves, and then (the lion’s share of the text) telling the
tale of the elves. To be honest, I like it a lot more than The Lord
of the Rings. Although the span of time it covers is enormous, there
isn’t much wasted space. Instead of endless detail, time is devoted
to interesting escapades (Beren’s adventures, for example) without
the excessive padding that, for me at least, makes The Lord of the
Rings a little too fat.
The Silmarillion is a
great book of world-building (in both the literal and story-telling
sense), covering Arda from before its creation to the final events
that are described in greater detail in The Lord of the Rings. A
potential downside is that, after the initial part, it can be damned
tricky remembering just who certain elves (and, later, men) are, and
how they’re related to one another. Elves being immortal makes this
more difficult than it would otherwise be.
Because the author
doesn’t dwell needlessly on less interesting events, the pace is
good despite the enormous scale of time involved. It is not essential
reading for The Lord of the Rings, or The Hobbit, but it does help
fill in some background knowledge and is interesting in its own
right.
I’d strongly advocate
checking a sample, however. The writing is substantially different to
other works, and I suspect some people would loathe it.
Thaddeus
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