I have only read Volumes I and II and was kind of bored. I assume the Plastic Squirrel will be along later to give you a better perspective on the series; he has read most of them.
Thread: IS HISTIRY OF MIDDLE-EARTH BOOKS ANY GOOD?
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Welcome to the Forum Hannum4.
I have only read Volumes I and II and was kind of bored. I assume the Plastic Squirrel will be along later to give you a better perspective on the series; he has read most of them.
I have only read Volumes I and II and was kind of bored. I assume the Plastic Squirrel will be along later to give you a better perspective on the series; he has read most of them.
Hi Hannum4. LT1 was the one I could never find, but if it's anything like LT2, then you'd get bored pretty fast. Don't get me wrong, the stories are nice, but I didn't like the storytellers gathering around the campfire stuff. Glad he left them out of Silm.
I liked The Shaping of ME and the Lost Road best. Haven't read any further volumes.
I liked The Shaping of ME and the Lost Road best. Haven't read any further volumes.
Do I really seem to have read most of them? Fantastic, what a blag! I've only got Lost Tales 2, Lays of Beleriand and the Lost Road. Never read any others either.
As to whether they're any good, it depends on how much of an obssessive fan you are, as they are just notes and early drafts for what would later become the major works. CT's annotations are overly long and dull, and you do have to read about 99999 different versions of Beren and Luthien and Turin etc. etc. But it's worth it to get into the mind of a genius, and try and work out what made him tick.
Hard going, but quite rewarding, would be my opinion. Good luck Hannum4!
As to whether they're any good, it depends on how much of an obssessive fan you are, as they are just notes and early drafts for what would later become the major works. CT's annotations are overly long and dull, and you do have to read about 99999 different versions of Beren and Luthien and Turin etc. etc. But it's worth it to get into the mind of a genius, and try and work out what made him tick.
Hard going, but quite rewarding, would be my opinion. Good luck Hannum4!
The Peoples of Middle Earth has a lot of back ground info on the various races and prominant characters in ME if such things interest you. Has anyone read Morgoth's Ring?
It's so difficult to get Morgoth's Ring! The first 5 volumes of HoME are easily available, but not the rest.
thaanks for all the welcomes. i just started reading LT 1 and i am bored out of my mind right now so i just hope it will get better as i go.
Keep on hoping..... btw, you can get all of them at bol.com.
I just read the Volume 5 (the only one). And it was worth while for the sake of the chapter 3 of the "Lost road", with the description of the garden of Elendil in Numenor.
It's a long while since I read something new of Tolkien's works and it was simply a delight! I WAS there - I have seen it! And the place is so beautiful.. almost so beautiful as Lothlorien... the same mixture of beauty and sadness and the feeling that all that beauty is already doomed, already "lost"...
Just a few pages but GREAT prose!
It's a long while since I read something new of Tolkien's works and it was simply a delight! I WAS there - I have seen it! And the place is so beautiful.. almost so beautiful as Lothlorien... the same mixture of beauty and sadness and the feeling that all that beauty is already doomed, already "lost"...
Just a few pages but GREAT prose!
yeh, i really love anything with elves and the beauty of forests and stuff-- cant wait to read all volumes 1-12
Just tried to order Morgoth's Ring at my fav. bookshop. They said they cant get it in until October! 
I just have to read: "Laws and Customs among the Eldar".
I just have to read: "Laws and Customs among the Eldar".
Hi to everybody,
for my part I am not a native english speaker and read LotR and the Hobbit twice in english. From the start I was overwhelmed by the way Tolkien intelligently uses his words and creates a world right before your Eyes. After finishing the two I was up to the HoME to delve even deeper in his world.
I started with Lost Tales 1 and I noticed the difference in his writing right from the start. Probably due to the fact that the HoME is set up of different notes and drafts there is no real plot and characters to follow.
On my second try I found that leaving out CT’s annotations was much more fun and I could follow the story quite well. Once you get over the beginning with the coming of the eldar and you get to know Melkor a little bit it becomes really fascinating and worth reading.
I can just motivate everybody to read or at least scan through HoME to get a bigger picture of Middle-Earth and the history it is build on.
cheers
Eaglearrow
for my part I am not a native english speaker and read LotR and the Hobbit twice in english. From the start I was overwhelmed by the way Tolkien intelligently uses his words and creates a world right before your Eyes. After finishing the two I was up to the HoME to delve even deeper in his world.
I started with Lost Tales 1 and I noticed the difference in his writing right from the start. Probably due to the fact that the HoME is set up of different notes and drafts there is no real plot and characters to follow.
On my second try I found that leaving out CT’s annotations was much more fun and I could follow the story quite well. Once you get over the beginning with the coming of the eldar and you get to know Melkor a little bit it becomes really fascinating and worth reading.
I can just motivate everybody to read or at least scan through HoME to get a bigger picture of Middle-Earth and the history it is build on.
cheers
Eaglearrow
Welcome to the forum Eaglearrow.
Maybe that is what I need do to read it, skip CT's annotations, thanks.
Maybe that is what I need do to read it, skip CT's annotations, thanks.
I have not read lost tales 1, but I have read lost tales 2. When I was reading about Turin, I would go through the Turin tales in UT as well, and that helped a lot. I have the first four books in the HoMe series, but have only read Lost Tales 2. I have also ordered the next 2 book as well . Next pay day I will order more, but I still need to finish the Silm. That is slow going because i am always on this **** website, that I love too much.
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That is slow going because i am always on this **** website, that I love too much.
That is slow going because i am always on this **** website, that I love too much.
I hear you, Mel! I'm supposed to re-read my HoME books too, but I'd rather spend my precious weekend time here with you guys.
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Just tried to order Morgoth's Ring at my fav. bookshop. They said they cant get it in until October!
Just tried to order Morgoth's Ring at my fav. bookshop. They said they cant get it in until October!
Any news on that, Allyssa? I still can't get it anywhere.
Man, it has been a while since I made a post to this thread. I now have more of the HoME series, up through book IX Sauron Defeated. Which just got here today. I have been ordering books every 2 weeks for about the last 3 months or so. lolrr I finished the Silm a while back ago. I posted it somewhere, just not sure where at the moment. I am currently about 1/2 through Lost Tales 1. So far I am really enjoying it. I had to take a break from Tolkien related books for a bit. Too much thinking. I needed an easy read or 2. rrWoohooo!!! My 600th post!!!! 
I have HOME in 2 parts and have only just started reading the first part. It doesn't flow as well as the other books but then I didn't expect it to and the annotations can be confusing. However, the detail is wonderful and it supplements the other books even knowing so much was changed between these notes and the Sil/LOTR.
It is probably the slowest I've read a book in decades but worth every minute.
It is probably the slowest I've read a book in decades but worth every minute.
I'm pretty indignant about HOME being boring. HOME is really cool! I've got Morgoth's Ring and it is AMAZING! especially the debate of Finrod and Andreth part. The Shaping of ME was also great. It throws a lot of light on what the world was like before Quenta Silmarillion and it's interesting to learn about the Valar. the Books of Lost Tales were a bit boring, though I still say they are worth a flip-through. And the Lays of Beleriand!!! OMG they were just fantastic and I got absolutely lost in Tolkien's fancy words.
I only have the peoples of middle earth and i did not find it boring, not at all
yeah, Thorgill, u're damn right, it isn't boring, but not everyone thinks like we do, we're an endangered species... I've got Unfinished tales, by the way 
Plodding through book 5 of the history, which i have nearly finished. Looking forward to the next few books seeing as they are to with lotr. Heavy going though but interesting !
