The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings are Tolkien's 3 major Middle-earth books outlining the entire history of his fantasy world. They share the same historical background and characters, but the books are not sequels to each other in the small sense; rather, they are independent stories that take place at different chronicles; hence, the readers are not forced to purchase all of them to be able to enjoy the content of each.
The historical background is mainly divided into 4 Ages: The First Age, The Second Age, The Third Age, and The Fourth Age.
The Silmarillion mainly covers the First Age and the Second Age, and ends with the end of the Third Age, of which the ending is accounted in detail in The Lord of the Rings. The Hobbit takes place some time in the latter Third Age, just before where The Lord of the Rings unfolds. The Lord of the Rings is the climax and also the conclusion of the entire history cycle, covering a little of the Fourth Age.
The world is called Arda and is divided generally into two major lands with a sundering sea in between; the western realm is called Valinor, and the eastern realm is called Middle-earth, where The Lord of the Rings takes place in.
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The Silmarillion is a medieval romance narrating the earlier and essential history of Middle-earth, from the creation of Arda, and the earliest battles between the good and the evil, and the history of the major races and their mutuality.
Heoric deeds and tragic tales with fated love stories written in the old grand style make up The Silmarillion most satisfying and a majestic tragedy that is even ranked higher than The Lord of the Rings by many readers.
But this book is also known to be a difficult read, even for adults or English-speakers; therefore, readers who enjoy The Lord of the Rings might not necessarily like this book; chiefly for 3 reasons:
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This book is written in historical narrative with very little conversation, which makes it somewhat like a history book. The reading process could be quite boring at the beginning.
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Though the length of the main text is no more than 380 pages, the index itself is about 170 pages. And to understand the main text, readers will need to flip over to the index, and then flip back to the main text -- very often. As a result, the flow of reading is often very slow that those who are used to speed-reading would have to adjust their state of mind beforehand.
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The manner of English employed in the book is also highly archaic with a lot of rare and obsolete words. Readers who are usually accustomed to modern English would especially find this book hard to begin with.
The book is also considered to be Tolkien's favorite, or "in his heart", during his lifetime. He had always wanted to see it published, but this wish never was realized until after his death.
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The Hobbit, also known as the prelude to The Lord of the Rings, is a lighthearted travel adventure of a hobbit and a wizard accompanied by 13 dwarves on a quest to defeat a dragon; but half way just when the company were sleeping in the middle of the night, they were ambushed, suffering great loss; and soon after the incident, the magic ring that had been lost for more than 2,900 years was found once again -- only this time it falls into the hands of Bilbo, the clueless hobbit...
Readers of The Lord of the Rings are not required to read The Hobbit first, because the important connection and history between the books are given in summary in The Lord of the Rings. Several figures of significance in the book also reappear in the sequel.
Fan readers of fantasy fiction usually will like The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings; but even if those who are not fond of fantasy, they might still find Tolkien's books enjoyable. That is because Tolkien's books possess certain quality and depth that will appeal to readers of all ages.
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The Lord of the Rings is the climax and also the finale of the entire history. The book has roughly 1,200 pages and is usually divided into three parts: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. It is also considered the finest work of fantasy fiction.
The plot begins 60 years after where The Hobbit ends, with old Bilbo retiring, leaving his assets to Frodo, including that magic Ring. Several years after Bilbo's retirement, the Dark Lord Sauron is finally aware of the whereabouts of the Ring, and begins to seek it.
And to prevent the world from being conquered by Sauron, the 9 companions must now find their way through the perils to destroy the Ring...
Tolkien spent 12 years writing The Lord of the Rings, considering every word and phrase, revising and rewriting until he was satisfied that the chapters would meet his standard.
He had also input a lot of his love for languages, of which the traces are found among the poems, especially the names that he had carefully devised; the pronounciations are usually elegant, and the names often have second meanings, such as Frodo, Samwise, Galadriel, Nazgûl, Rivendell, and Lothlórien...etc.
The manner of the unfolding of the plot is also rather philosophical, though readers can still fully enjoy the book without understanding them; moreover, it does not contain too many stereotyped elements or allegory. The Balance of Power of each character is also delicately put: no single character outshines the others, nor is anyone overwhelmingly beloved by more readers; instead, this is a great romance that is achieved together by all the littleness and greatness considered by Tolkien.
Imbibed in The Lord of the Rings also are the many basic elements, such as humor, thrill, sacrifice, love, and friendship...etc. But more importantly are the 4 major definitions that Tolkien deemed necessary for a successful fantasy tale: Fantasy, Recovery, Escape, and Consolation.
The Lord of the Rings is unlike any other ordinary fantasy fiction, and it is certainly not a children's book. Rather, it is a work combining the art of languages and of world wisdom.
Its charm comes not only from those lovable hobbits, but also from the only key to the mystical world of Middle-earth: The Silmarillion. Combining the adventure style of The Hobbit with The Silmarillion, plus more than 60 poems and songs throughout The Lord of the Rings, what the readers experience is a taste of the essence of a finely brewed fantasy romance.
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