The Silmarillion

Not really a novel, may be ok for hardcore fans. This is Tolkien's huge Elvish name dictionary, strung together with other words in between.

I really wanted to like this, and it's very pleasant to hear the almost of a story of the inception of the world of LotR. Every region, mountain, river, forest and every single being that ever existed is named in this book.

It's kind of weird listening to this book as an audiobook. Going from the sort of “Literary agent” structure that the Lord of the Rings was born from (J.R.R. Tolkien translating a book that he found in some archive somewhere), the Silmarillion feels like it should be structured in the form of something like Beowulf or the Odyssey - a legend originally told orally, transcribed into a more written form. Thus, this should be something that would be perfect for an audiobook.

However, rather than using any of the meters or rhyming verses that those earlier works (which clearly inspired Tolkien) used, instead the book is structured in a form that's probably closer to the Bible, particularly the King James version, with a mix of events told in the abstract, combined with individual moments told with more specific details, in a very floral style.

Having the book read as an audiobook does make it less dry, and easier to get through. However, there are moments where, as a reader, I have to basically stop the book after the book summarizes a big moment (such as an epic battle between two armies), and picture that battle in my mind's eye, before continuing with the book, whereas in the more specific moments, the story in the narration plays out at about the same pace that it does in my imagination.

I am glad I've finally read the Silmarillion, but it's not something I'm going to re-read again for a while, and even then, I'll probably stick to specific passages.

As a standalone book, I don't know why anyone would want to read this. Now, I love Tolkien's world – I've read LOR multiple times, same with the hobbit. Seen the movies more times than I can count, including midnight releases for each of them. But even armed with this background, and other information gleaned from videos, Tolkien encyclopedias and other sources I couldn't get into this. It's amazing in what it is – a reference about the world – but it is not a compelling story. I think of this more as a glossary that goes at the end of LOR to help give background to the world.