Book Review: The Silmarillion by John R. R. Tolkien

So, we meet again, Silmarillion – my nemesis of books.

I’ve read The Silmarillion once before, sometime less than ten years ago. I was very excited to finally give it ago, having read both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit sometime before this. Unfortunately, I made one horrible mistake.

I picked it up as an audiobook.

Don’t get me wrong – I love audiobooks. It gives me the opportunity to read books when I don’t really have the ability to look at a page or screen, to experience exciting worlds and magical stories while I’m doing mindless tasks at work, or when I’m out running or commuting.

At the same time, The Silmarillion is in my opinion a horrible format for an audiobook.

Not because it’s not an awesome book, just because of the way it’s written. You see, The Silmarillion is a mix of an encyclopedia and the bible. It tells the whole history of the origin and creation of Tolkien’s massive universe, from beginning to end, and thus lists an absolute f***ton of characters, place names, events, lineages, nations, and how they’re all connected to each other.

You probably see my issue now, with reading it (for the first time) in audiobook format. I couldn’t follow a single thing, couldn’t keep track of any characters, or understand what in the world was going on. It probably didn’t help that most characters who are related have very, very similar names. Hell, even the ones who aren’t, often do as well. I still followed through and finished it (which I realized in hindsight I probably shouldn’t have), and by the time I finally finished it I was more frustrated than anything else.

But now, I’m super glad I read it again! Because The Silmarillion is an absolutely epic book. The epicest of epics. The way it’s written, with all the who’s who, and where they come from, what they built, which wars they fought, and who won is fantastic to read about (as long as you pay attention). I was mesmerized with the story from page one, and didn’t really recognize my old opinion of it anymore.

The Silmarillion is more than a book, more than a story, it’s an experience.

I grew up with the Lord Of The Rings – that is, the movies by Peter Jackson. I’ve always loved fantasy and science-fiction and when I first saw those movies I was hooked. I loved that universe – still do! And reading The Silmarillion now, 25 years later, with half a lived life on my shoulders and a stronger, growing love for the genre, it was fantastic to experience the book again – and love it.

Honestly, even if you’re not a fan of Tolkien, but love fantasy and reading excellent books, you should give it a shot. It’s heavy, long and parts of it feel unnecessary and drawn out – I’m not gonna lie – it’s still a very unique experience. I felt like I said good bye to an old friend by the time I was done.

Oh, and by the way, because I’m sure some of you are wondering – yes, both the events of The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings come up in The Silmarillion. They make up maybe the last 5% of it. I feel like that maybe puts into perspective how much more there is to this incredible universe.

So there you have it: in short, an excellent, incredible fantasy book. Highly recommended.

Have you read The Silmarillion? What did you think – did you love it or hate it? Prefer Tolkien’s other works? Let me know in the comments!

As always, please check out all my books and stories below. If you’re into psychological horror, crime thrillers, or science-fiction and fantasy, you’ve come to the right place! Bye for now!

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