27 replies to this topic

[The New Richard Nixon]

Evening guys and girls, as you can see I have started a collection on JRR Tolkien books and along with his son Christopher. I have just started reading the History of Middle Earth Volumes The book of lost tales Volume 1 which i have just started to read.
I have read the the Similarion, The children of Hurin, The Hobbit and started to read the Two Towers. As you can see there is still alot of reading to do. Also I need volumes 9, 10 and 11 but I wont be getting volume 3 as it has poems which i dont really like.

I don't have much time now but later I will do a review on The Similarion.

[Armchair Educated]

that collection looks good, i really need to finish all of those. simarilion was meant to be harder to read i heard

[the L]

To me best ever book written by Tolkien was Hobbit following by Roverandom.
Tolkien fell in my eyes after I discover that he didnt invented material but borrow it.
There is now better fantasy writers then Tolkien.

Also one fantasy book that I will never forget is Wizards fisrt rule. I recommand it for anyone who like fantasy.

Edited by the L, 10 October 2012 - 05:38 PM.

[Taun]

the L, on 10 October 2012 - 05:37 PM, said:

To me best ever book written by Tolkien was Hobbit following by Roverandom.
Tolkien fell in my eyes after I discover that he didnt invented material but borrow it.
There is now better fantasy writers then Tolkien.

Also one fantasy book that I will never forget is Wizards fisrt rule. I recommand it for anyone who like fantasy.

It could be argued (and has) that there are better fantasy writers now because of Tolkien...

[OverSword]

Taun, on 10 October 2012 - 05:50 PM, said:

It could be argued (and has) that there are better fantasy writers now because of Tolkien...

Tolkien pretty much invented the genre as far as I know.  
I agree with the L about wizards first rule, but the second book in that series, the stone of truth I'm having trouble getting through.

[Odin11]

the L, on 10 October 2012 - 05:37 PM, said:

To me best ever book written by Tolkien was Hobbit following by Roverandom.
Tolkien fell in my eyes after I discover that he didnt invented material but borrow it.
There is now better fantasy writers then Tolkien.

Also one fantasy book that I will never forget is Wizards fisrt rule. I recommand it for anyone who like fantasy.

Wizards First Rule is a good book but every book after it in the series goes down hill fast. Each one worst then the one before it.

[Odin11]

OverSword, on 10 October 2012 - 06:10 PM, said:

Tolkien pretty much invented the genre as far as I know.  
I agree with the L about wizards first rule, but the second book in that series, the stone of truth I'm having trouble getting through.

I've heard, and agree with, that: "Tolkien invented Fantasy, but Robert Jordan perfected it."

[keithisco]

Reading the "Silmarillion" just left me cold. It had none of the wonder and awe of Hobbitt and Lord of the Rings trilogy. It was evident where Tolkien's son had written the dialogue and verse, and just became intensely boring.IMO

[Taun]

keithisco, on 10 October 2012 - 06:26 PM, said:

Reading the "Silmarillion" just left me cold. It had none of the wonder and awe of Hobbitt and Lord of the Rings trilogy. It was evident where Tolkien's son had written the dialogue and verse, and just became intensely boring.IMO

From what I heard, JRR T wrote the Silmarillion as an outline for two complete other series "Silmarillion" and "Akalabeth" (sp)... That's why they read like they do - he didn't live long enough to flesh them out - or so I heard...

[the L]

Did anyone read Roverandom? That is interesting book.

R.A.Salvatore is good one.
Richard Lee Byers is also amazing one.
And Ursula Le Guin.

Tolkien didnt invented anything imo. He just explore notrh european myths.

Edited by the L, 10 October 2012 - 08:22 PM.

[Junior Chubb]

Nice collection TNRN

It just reminds me of how little time we have in our day to day lives. I would love to begin such a collection, I just wish I had the time to start reading such a collection (maybe I waste to much time on UM ).

Good luck on your hunt, hope you enjoy them.

Edited by Junior Chubb, 10 October 2012 - 08:58 PM.

[The New Richard Nixon]

Anyway in the first review I talk about the Silmarillion.

When i first started to read the introduction I knew i was in for a long ride as it talks about the life and how the book came to life about elves and the first age. It was a bit long and i did not think it was needed, because at that point a few people would have not carried on. The book is in 5 parts, the first which is the Ainulindale which is the creation of EA, Ainur which is created by the one of Eru and the beginnings of Melkor and his corruption. This for me was hard to understand because it talks about the music being created and the type of language the characters use, which is like a Shakespeare old English. In the 2nd part it goes onto the Valaquenta which gives a description of each of the Valar lords and Valar Queens, one of which i like is Ulmo, the lord of waters because he is one of the most powerful and he rules the seas in a strong fashion. The 3rd section which contains most of the book is the Quenta Silmarillion which starts before the first age and how Melkor uses one of them in his crown as the power of the Silmarils is very powerful. The 4th is the Akallabeth where for the first time mentions Sauron when he sides with Morgoth and the tales of men who cannot enter the realm of the elves which the men turned evil under the Dark Lord and had a war with the elves. Also mentions Isildur.
Up to this point is where the 3rd and 4th sections become very interesting as the tale speeds up and the language style becomes easy to read and follow and the names are common and in the last section talks about the beginning of the 3rd age where Sauron makes the rings that are given to the elves, dwarfs and men however his plan fails as they hide them from him. He has a war with the elves and gets all the rings apart from 3 of them which was given to the elves, in this time Sauron made the one ring. It then goes on until the defeat of Sauron and the ring survives and ending of the 2nd age.

There is alot to type but I only put small snippets of each of the 5 parts of the book.
It is a hard book to read for a 1st timer which starts slow and builds up quicker in the middle and the end. The language Tolkien uses is excellent as he uses descriptive writing of all the characters and places and realms in the book  

[JGirl]

Ever Learning, on 10 October 2012 - 05:25 PM, said:

that collection looks good, i really need to finish all of those. simarilion was meant to be harder to read i heard

i didn't get through the silmarillion - yawn central

[Twin Peaks]

the L, on 10 October 2012 - 08:17 PM, said:

Did anyone read Roverandom? That is interesting book.

R.A.Salvatore is good one.
Richard Lee Byers is also amazing one.
And Ursula Le Guin.

Tolkien didnt invented anything imo. He just explore notrh european myths.

So where was Feanor, Melkor, Sauron, The Silmarills, Valinor, Luthien Tinuviel ,etc... before The Silmarillion?

Edited by Twin Peaks, 11 October 2012 - 06:02 PM.

[the L]

Twin Peaks, on 11 October 2012 - 05:59 PM, said:

So where was Feanor, Melkor, Sauron, The Silmarills, Valinor, Luthien Tinuviel ,etc... before The Silmarillion?

I dont know but I can surely tell you where was Thorin and others dwaves, runes, Tolkiens trade mark Gandalf and similar.