The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Silmarillion
Book Review: A Wonderful book, but....
Summary: 5 Stars
THE SILMARILLION is a wonderful book and provides a rich legacy of information which underlies Tolkien's beloved THE HOBBIT and THE LORD OF THE RINGS (LOTR). The author shows the true depth and richness of Middle Earth, creating a beautiful mixture of myth, folklore, and in some respects, scripture.
For those who have loved and cherished Tolkien's more famous works, this book will provide great enjoyment. HOWEVER, for the person not familiar with LOTR, the book may be extremely difficult. While beautifully crafted, it may be difficult to follow as it is more reference than story in a sense.
I would, as have many others, recommend THE HOBBIT first, followed by LOTR, both masterpieces of storytelling. With sufficient interest and background, THE SILMARILLION can then be truly appreciated for its own great gifts.
Book Review: A fascinating, rich history of Middle-earth
Summary: 5 Stars
For those who have read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and want more information and backstory from the earlier Ages of Middle-earth, this is where to look.
Tolkien's first foray into Middle-earth was actually one of the stories in The Silmarillion, which he began during his service in World War I. Later, after completing both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, he went back and added in more and more history for the world he'd created - too much, in fact, to finish. The Silmarillion was first published in 1977, 4 years after Tolkien's death, and even then it did not include all that he hoped to write about his world. Fortunately, some of his most beautiful and tragic tales are contained in it, including:
-The creation of Middle-earth by Illuvatar and the fall of Melkor
-Tales of the Vala and the Firstborn (Elves)
-The Tale of Beren and Luthien, the love story to end all love stories
-The Children of Hurin, the dark and tragic tale of Turin Turumbar and his sister Nienor Niniel
-The fall of Numenor
It's also worth buying this particular edition, especially if you're a Tolkien enthusiast, because Ted Nasmith's gorgeous paintings pop off the page and bring the story to life. What more could you ask for?
Book Review: A must have edition of Silmarillion for any Tolkien fan
Summary: 5 Stars
This review is regarding the 2004 Ted Nasmith illustrated edition of 'The Silmarillion'. I got my copy of this masterpiece finally yesterday, after a month-long agonising wait. Since this edition will, in all probabilities, be bought only by avid fans who already own a less expensive edition of 'Silmarillion', I will restrict my review to my impressions of this edition, and not the story. (Anyways, as far as the story is concerned, I can say with confidence that, so far, no other book had so much of influence upon me than the 'Silmarillion'. 'LoTR' simply pales in comparison to this in my eyes.)
Among the renowned Tolkien artists, I rate Ted Nasmith's illustrations of Silmarillion as probably the best. John Howe and Alan Lee may have an edge in "LoTR" and "Hobbit", but they cannot beat Nasmith in "Silmarillion". His portrayal of characters might leave much to be desired, but his depictions of landscapes are too beautiful. And this new 2004 edition has over 45 of his renowned paintings. The book is a bit heavy and seems very much durable. The papers are of the glossy type that might give a little trouble in certain lighting conditions, but is otherwise quite elegant. Thus, in all ways, this book is the counterpart of the 3 volume Alan Lee illustrated box set edition of "LoTR" which, incidently, I happened to receive together with this. I think I can treasure this gem for the rest of my life.
But I have got a complaint with this edition as well. I sorely missed two of Ted Nasmith's most beautiful artworks. One is the picture of Luthien clad in a blue dress dancing in the forests of Neldoreth. Whenever I think of Silmarillion, the picture that first flash through my mind is this. I was once quite shocked (a pleasant shock, really) to see it as the title picture of a music program in a local Malayalam language TV channel in India. (Maybe the producers had no clue as to whose picture it was. They may have used it as they found it to be quite beautiful.) Instead of this, the book has another picture of dancing Luthien that does not quite measure up to the one mentioned above. Another picture I missed was that of Tuor looking upon Gondolin across the fields of Tumladen. These were pictures that captured my imagination when I saw them on a website before I knew anything about Silmarillion.
I do not know why the publishers omitted these. These were some of Ted Nasmith's best. Maybe they did not blend with the tone of the rest of Nasmith's paintings in the book. But if that was the case, they could have at least used these as the front and back cover for this edition. (They would have made a damn good cover better than the current one.) Moreover, the existing cover paintings are redundant as they are included inside the book as well.
Other than this, the 2004 Ted Nasmith illustrated edition of "The Silmarillion" is a must-have in any Tolkien fan's library.
Book Review: A must read for the devoted Tolkien reader
Summary: 5 Stars
While Tolkien's masterwork will always be Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion is a work of undisputed genius. For the devoted Tolkien reader, this book is a must read. The best way to summarize The Silmarillion, is that it completes the picture of Middle Earth and makes it whole.Book Review: A review on the printing quality instead of content
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a very handsome cloth-cover book.
The binding, cover, and pape quality are extremely similar to the three volumne TLOR boxed set (ISBN: 0618260587). The only differences are 1) the cloth cover is in blue color, 2) paper is not glossy (but the paper used also has extremely high quality). The binding is superior. It contains 48 or 50 (I did not count yet)
beautiful illustrations. A colored folded map is attached at the back cover. In short, it is a add-one if you own the three volumne TLOR set.