Which volumes of HoME would you recommend? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

skip spence · 02-06-2008, 09:55 AM

During the past years I've rediscovered Tolkien and reread The Lord of the Rings , The Hobbit, The Silmarillion and Unfinished tales (the latter for the first but certainly not the last time).

I loved these books as a kid and find that I appriciate them even more now as an adult. The prose is just fantastic and I'm in awe of the depth and beauty of Tolkien's tales and of the one man universe in his head.

Now I'm hungry for more and have finally started to look at the History Of Middle Earth series, which I earlier though of as the domain of the Tolkien ultra nerds. Guess I am a Tolkien ultra nerd -

.

Previously I've read parts of the two 'Lost Tales' books, having picked them up at the library. Didn't enjoy them so much as I found them to be 'primitive' and too different to Tolkiens later legendarium. As stand alone stories they are nice, but I can't really get over how different the stories and the characters are here compared to later versions, with a more developed 'historical' background.

A few month ago I picked up "Morgoth's Ring" and I really enjoyed it. It included lots of 'new' material that felt fully compatible to my mental image of ME and enriched my enjoyment and understanding of it.

Some parts of 'Myths Transformed' certainly didn't feel compatible to the ME I've got in my head but others parts did, and at any rate, it was an interesting read.

Well, I'm rambling on too much. What I really want to know is, which volumes should I pick up next?

I'm not really interested in the fictional languages. Nor am I'm I interested in long poems as I'm a prose man. I'm not really interested in discarded drafts of familiar passages of published works either, unless the drafts give a different perspective or a longer and more detailed version of the events, like in "Morgoth's Ring".

What I want is to read something I haven't read before, that doesn't conflict too badly with the published works such as LoTR or Silmarillion.

So, any advice? Which volume is for me?

02-06-2008, 09:55 AM	#1
skip spence shadow of a doubt Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Back on the streets Posts: 1,125	Which volumes of HoME would you recommend? During the past years I've rediscovered Tolkien and reread The Lord of the Rings , The Hobbit, The Silmarillion and Unfinished tales (the latter for the first but certainly not the last time). I loved these books as a kid and find that I appriciate them even more now as an adult. The prose is just fantastic and I'm in awe of the depth and beauty of Tolkien's tales and of the one man universe in his head. Now I'm hungry for more and have finally started to look at the History Of Middle Earth series, which I earlier though of as the domain of the Tolkien ultra nerds. Guess I am a Tolkien ultra nerd -. Previously I've read parts of the two 'Lost Tales' books, having picked them up at the library. Didn't enjoy them so much as I found them to be 'primitive' and too different to Tolkiens later legendarium. As stand alone stories they are nice, but I can't really get over how different the stories and the characters are here compared to later versions, with a more developed 'historical' background. A few month ago I picked up "Morgoth's Ring" and I really enjoyed it. It included lots of 'new' material that felt fully compatible to my mental image of ME and enriched my enjoyment and understanding of it. Some parts of 'Myths Transformed' certainly didn't feel compatible to the ME I've got in my head but others parts did, and at any rate, it was an interesting read. Well, I'm rambling on too much. What I really want to know is, which volumes should I pick up next? I'm not really interested in the fictional languages. Nor am I'm I interested in long poems as I'm a prose man. I'm not really interested in discarded drafts of familiar passages of published works either, unless the drafts give a different perspective or a longer and more detailed version of the events, like in "Morgoth's Ring". What I want is to read something I haven't read before, that doesn't conflict too badly with the published works such as LoTR or Silmarillion. So, any advice? Which volume is for me? Last edited by skip spence; 02-06-2008 at 10:01 AM.