What Order Should I Read the Books

[Dylan]

My dad gave me a few books by Tolkien for Christmas, and I plan on getting the rest for my birthday in March. What order should I read them in?

[darthspielberg]

Read The Hobbit first, the LOTR, then the rest

[JEDI_THE_WHITE]

Originally posted by darthspielberg
Read The Hobbit first, the LOTR, then the rest

Agreed.

That's alot of reading, but fun reading none the less.

[darthspielberg]

I wish i had all those books, I only own LOTR and The Tolkien Reader. and Tolkien and the Great war but that doesn't count

[adt100]

The Hobbit, LOTR, then the rest in the order you wrote out.

[Dylan]

Originally posted by darthspielberg
I wish i had all those books, I only own LOTR and The Tolkien Reader. and Tolkien and the Great war but that doesn't count

You can get most of them pretty cheaply in paperback editions from amazon, at lease through Volume 5 of the CHoME. I set the links up for my dad so all he had to do was enter his credit card # :D .

Hobbit & LOTR Box Set = $21 (http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0345340426/002-9163140-0256820?%5Fencoding=UTF8&coliid=I3FAFDHPAQLMJ1&colid=1RGX5YF5WZZ8S)
Tolkien Fantasy Tales Box Set - Silmarillion/Tolkien Reader/Unfinished Tales/Sir Gawain = $19 (http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0345466462/002-9163140-0256820?%5Fencoding=UTF8&coliid=I721IBYBHFLFP&colid=1RGX5YF5WZZ8S)
History of Middle Earth, Volume 1-5 Box Set = $23 (http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0345466454/002-9163140-0256820?%5Fencoding=UTF8&coliid=I35OYX14QRLMFQ&colid=1RGX5YF5WZZ8S)

[evenstar]

Even thought the Silmarillion is meant to provide info on the coming of LOTR, Its easier to start with LOTR and the Hobbit first. plus the Silmarillion goes into alot more depth and some people dont like it.
Actually, anyone know what to read after Unfinished Tales?

[The_Manipulator]

Yes. Absolutly! Hobbit first, then LOTR then I think Silmarillon and then the rest!

[MagsXGill29]

whoa, too many books. I'll stick with the LOTR 3.

[Baadshah]

i would read none, and just wait for the movies to be made :)

[Aztec]

Read The Hobbit, LOTR + the Appendices. I read the Silmarillioin and thought that the LOTR Appendices covered everything worth while in it.

I wish Tolkien would have written a LOTR prequel narrative which documented Sauron's rise, the forging of the rings, the first darkness, the Last Alliance, and Isildur's fall. That would have been awesome to learn more about.

[LegolasIsntSexy]

Originally posted by darthspielberg
I wish i had all those books, I only own LOTR and The Tolkien Reader. and Tolkien and the Great war but that doesn't count

How is Tolkien and the Great War? i had to pick up a biography for english and i picked that up, is it any good?

[PsychoMike]

read The Hobbit then LOTR followed by The Silmarillion, unfinished tales, anything else, Finish with the histories of Middle-Earth.

[darthspielberg]

I haven't read it yet. It looks good!

Hey! Maybe that is what i can base my first major hollywood film on!

[PsYkOoOoO]

i'll only recommend the hobbit LOTR and silmarillion..thats all you need to read in order to understand the world of middle earth...if you want to get into detail then read the rest...read it this way:The Hobbit,LOTR,Silmarillion

because thats the order of the level of difficulty...the hobbit was written for children..so its an easy read..LOTR is all right...other than some slow draggy parts..and as for silmarillion its very exciting but a tough read..you might want to leave it to the last..

[Mirokai]

I would recommend even if some people don't like the idea to read in this order:
The Silmarillion
The Hobbit
LOTR + Appendices...then the rest.
This way you will understand the universe of Tolkien better than in you read it "the easy way"(The Hobbit,LOTR,Silmarillion)

[king_of_hetzer]

Read:

History of Middle Earth 6-12
Two Towers
The Hobbit
The Silmarillion
The Return of the King
History of Middle Earth 1-5
Unfinished Tales
Fellowship of the Ring

that is the master order

[adt100]

Originally posted by king_of_hetzer
Read:

History of Middle Earth 6-12
Two Towers
The Hobbit
The Silmarillion
The Return of the King
History of Middle Earth 1-5
Unfinished Tales
Fellowship of the Ring

that is the master order

No, that's a completely ridiculous and incomprehensible order (IMO of course). :rolleyes:

[Rizor]

I haven't gotten too far into the books. I'm at the same place in The Silmirillion that I was a month ago. But I never knew what the History of Middle-Earth and Book of Lost Tales were or what they contain. Can anyone clear this up for me? Thanks.

[FrankTheBunny]

I say just read the Hobbit, LOTR and the Silmarillion in that order. That's the way I did it.

And someone earlier said something about Tolkien writing a prequel to LOTR about Sauron's rise. It's called the Akallabeth in the Silmarillion. It's all about Numenor and how Sauron deceived the men of Numenor, and Sauron's rise in the Second Age.