What order should I read the books in ?

Bagelz741·6/4/2020 in General

Thinking of getting them all from the library when they open ...

ARoyalPrincess·6/5/2020

Read The Hobbit first. IMHO, it's not the best of Tolkien's works but it is the perfect introduction into the world of Middle-earth, and it sets up The Lord of the Rings nicely. After The Hobbit, read LOTR. If you've finished LOTR and are still hungry for more, and have stomach for a lot of background and lore, I highly recommend reading The Silmarillion (be warned that many readers find The Silmarillion rather confusing. 🙂) I hope this helps, and happy reading!

Bagelz741·6/5/2020

Thanks so much ! :) @Evangelinethefirefly @ARoyalPrincess

A random Drúedain·6/5/2020

There are two ways to read Tolkiens works. Here is the first way: The Hobbit, then The Lord of the Rings trilogy, then The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (if you like poetry), The Silmarillion, The Great Tales Trilogy (which is three books, The Children of Hurin, Beren and Luthien), and finally Unfinished Tales. If you like some less complicated works by Tolkien I would recommend reading Tolkiens books this way: The Hobbit, The History of the Hobbit, Roverandom, and Tales from the Perilous Realm.

ArwenUdomiel·6/6/2020

@Bagelz741, good luck on starting to read Tolkien's books! Here is what I believe to be the most logical order to read them in:

The Hobbit

Like ARoyalPrincess mentioned, I also believe it's not the best of Tolkien's books. It's more childish and whimsical than the later books, but it's still a nice adventure. It's also not very long so I would recommend reading it as it gives you important information and an introduction to Middle-earth going into Lord of the Rings.

The Lord of the Rings

This is the biggest one, but also the best! It's an incredible book and I think you'll enjoy it very much; it is rather long though, but just take your time and enjoy it. It's so worth it!

The Silmarillion

If you read the Lord of the Rings and you're not really interested in knowing anymore about Middle-earth then what you already know, you should probably stop here after LOTR and start re-reading it. 😊 But if you have any interest in delving into more of Tolkien's detailed world, this is an amazing book that mainly focuses on the stories of the Elves and events in the years before Lord of the Rings. Despite the fact that it's rather dense and has a lot of information packed in, I enjoyed it so much. There're many wonderful tales, amazing characters, places, backstories and explanations of things just mentioned in Lord of the Rings. When you finish it you really have a deeper appreciation and understanding of the richness of Middle Earth. And you don't really have to be a Tolkien fanatic to enjoy it 😊, it's very interesting and not a dry history at all, but just requires some dedication.

The Great Tales

These are three wonderful books are briefly covered in three chapters from The Silmarillion. The corresponding chapters in The Silmarillion are like summaries to the books, which go into greater detail making it a full story. These amazing stories are definitely worth reading!

The Unfinished Tales

Unfinished Tales is a great book to read next! It's basically a collection of short stories, drafts, and additional information about events in The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. It's a bit rougher than The Silmarillion since it is mostly unedited and some stories are incomplete. Although in some places it contradicts The Silmarillion, the majority of the book is compatible with the rest of The Lord of the Rings and is definitely worth reading!

Those are the main books of Middle-earth, here is a video that outlines the reading order. I believe it's more or less the same as my list, with a few more titles added on.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fXeC6AUEWtc

Middle-earth Books Reading Order - Building a WorldYouTube

Have a great time reading! Hope this helps you!

(Edited by ArwenUdomiel)

Bagelz741·6/7/2020

@A random Drúedain @ArwenUdomiel , I have just started reading The Hobbit a few days ago and I am around 90 pages in. I just want to say another massive thank you for the information ! Whilst reading I find myself imagining scenes from the Hobbit movies though ...

ARoyalPrincess·6/7/2020

@ArwenUdomiel Did you by any chance find out about that video after I used it in another post here? ;)

ArwenUdomiel·6/8/2020

@Bagelz741, your welcome! So glad you're starting The Hobbit, enjoy! @ARoyalPrincess, actually I didn't. Which post was that? I don't remember. 😊 I just know about the Men of the West channel and I recalled they had a video on reading order, so I edited it into my answer. Do you watch his videos?

ARoyalPrincess·6/8/2020

@ArwenUdomiel I actually don't know which specific post that was anymore, but it was another post relating to how to read the Tolkien's books. YES, I love watching Yoystan's videos! It is also a great way to keep all the lore fresh in my mind at all times. XD

ArwenUdomiel·6/8/2020

I know! If it weren't for his videos I would forget a lot of those LOTR facts.😊

HouseOfFinwe·6/29/2020

*Clears throat*

1. The Hobbit

2. The Fellowship of the Ring

3. The Two Towers

4. The Return of the King

5. The Silmarillion *

6. Children of Hurin

7. Beren and Luthien

8. The Fall of Gondolin

9. Tales from the Perilous Realm

10. Unfinished Tales

11. The Book of Lost Tales 1 **

12. The Book of Lost Tales 2 **

13. The Lays of Beleriand **

14. The Lost Road and other Writings **

15. The Shaping of Middle Earth **

16. The Return of the Shadow **

17. The Treason of Isengard **

18. The War of the Ring **

19. Sauron Defeated **

20. Morgoth's Ring **

21. The War of the Jewels **

22. The Peoples of Middle Earth **

23. The Letters of J.R.R Tolkien

* Regarded as the most important and often read plenty of times over the years and usually read lots of times before reading 11-22 (also my personal fave)

** Histories of Middle Earth and people usually just slowly chip away at them while focusing on others

This is just my opinion and you can actually read them in whatever order you like.

What do you think?