I've read the Hobbit and the Trilogy twice; but this book is a slow go. I will finish it eventually. It is a nice addition to my collection.

I've owned 'The Silmarillion', along with 'The Hobbit' and a collected 'Ring trilogy' for some time, but hadn't actually tried reading them til now. I thought 'The Silmarillion' would be the best place to start, but I now know better!
I wasn't expecting it to be a novel, more a collection of connected short stories. It wasn't til I actually started reading that I realized I was wrong. The best word I can use to describe this book is 'impenetrable'.
I can't help thinking that the book's posthumous release was just an attempt by Tolkien's son to just get something out on the market for the fans who'd discovered the trilogy and/or 'The Hobbit' in the '60s.
Perhaps it's telling that, although this book has remained in print alongside the others, it seems to have faded into the background, and is apparently something only the most dedicated Tolkien fans can enjoy.
I can certainly see how Tolkien was influenced by the folk histories and creation tales of various cultures. Unfortunately, this work is just as dense as they are! The archaic sentence structure is most reminiscent of sagas such as 'Beowulf'...which up til now has been the single most difficult literary work I've attempted to read! I only finished that because it was required reading for college. This similarly scholarly work is absolutely NOT meant for anybody who has never read Tokien's work! I might try to read 'The Silmarillion' again, but not until I've read 'The Hobbit' and 'LOTR' first.

Its important to undertand that even though The Silmarillion was not published until four years after the death of its author, it nevertheless contains some of the earliest of his writings about his invented world. Compiled from a mass of unfinished and disorganized writings, this is the closest we will ever get to J.R.R. Tolkien's masterwork as he himself imagined it.

The largest part of The Silmarillion covers the thousands of years which make up the First Age, in which the Great Enemy Morgoth makes war upon the Valar or angels of Iluvatar/Eru, The One. As the lands later known as Middle earth were formed, new creatures were born to populate it, first the Elves or Eldar, and later Men, Dwarves, and others. All of these were drawn into the Great Conflict against Morgoth and endured centuries of warfare. The main part of the Silmarillion closes with the defeat and casting out of Morgoth. The next part, the Akallabeth, deals with the history of Numenor, the island realm given to the noblest Men, the Edain, as a reward for their struggles. Finally we have a recapitulation of the history of the Third Age, in which Morgoth's chief servant Sauron was finally defeated.

Christopher Tolkien edited and compiled the writings which became The Silmarillion, and some have criticized him for eliminating much of the beauty which characterizes his father's writing at its finest. But its important to understand that the Silmarillion is meant to be the motherlode of Middle earth lore, and that the later embroiderings developed to adorn this original text.

This edition is greatly enhanced by the beautiful illustrations provided by Ted Nasmith.

This is a easy read. It lays a wonderful foundation for the adventures to come. If the revival of the Lord Of The Rings series left you wanting more, this book is very satisfying.

This is the Best Book I've EVER Read. And I've read some Doozies.. Oh, i mean, this is Second only to the Bible, of course. There are some initial similarities, But that is not why i Love this book. This book is Amazing. Because of the Writing and greatly creative stories. This book is So insanely poetic and has very peotic king james-like language. The Adventure stories that Mr. Tolkien comes up with are purely the work of a Genius Creative Mind. His Stories took my breath away, like the chapter on Beren and Luthien! Talk about Adventure! I will read this book over and over again.