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Which book is better?
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Author:  LordoftheBrownRing [ Tue Feb 24, 2015 9:56 am ]
Post subject:  Which book is better?
I'm going to be taking a 9+ hour international flight soon and I have the Silmarillion and unfinished Tales of Middle Earth and Numenor or whatever it's called.

I'd like to ask which you guys like more and why and in each book who you come to learn more about.

Am I correct in thinking one is Numenor Rohan and men and the Silmarillion is more about Elves?
Author:  Dikey [ Tue Feb 24, 2015 10:29 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Which book is better?
Yes, you are corrected, but reductive. There are also istari, the quest for erebor and other stuff. Even Khamul gets mentioned, if I remember correctly. Galadriel and Celeborn are there too.

I prefer Unfinished Tales
Author:  Paradigm [ Tue Feb 24, 2015 12:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Which book is better?
I like Unfinished Tales as it's easier to dip in and out of, and covers a wide range of stuff that plugs some gaps in the main books and is just generally interesting. I found parts of the Silmarillion a bit dry, if I'm honest.

I'd also recommend Christopher Tolkien's 'The Children of Hurin', it's based on a section of Unfinished Tales but hugely fleshed out from JRRT's original notes. It's a little darker in places than LotR, but a great read, and has a dragon that makes Smaug look like a bit of a tiddler.
Author:  LordoftheBrownRing [ Tue Feb 24, 2015 1:55 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Which book is better?
I like the darker stuff. As for that book, can you say concisely what its all about?
Author:  Paradigm [ Tue Feb 24, 2015 2:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Which book is better?
From the publisher:

Quote:
About the Book

It is a legendary time long before The Lord of the Rings, and Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwells in the vast fortress of Angband in the North; and within the shadow of the fear of Angband, and the war waged by Morgoth against the Elves, the fates of Túrin and his sister Niënor will be tragically entwined.

Their brief and passionate lives are dominated by the elemental hatred that Morgoth bears them as the children of Húrin, the man who dared to defy him to his face. Against them Morgoth sends his most formidable servant, Glaurung, a powerful spirit in the form of a huge wingless dragon of fire, in an attempt to fulfil the curse of Morgoth, and destroy the children of Húrin.

Begun by J.R.R. Tolkien at the end of the First World War, The Children of Húrin became the dominant story in his later work on Middle-earth. But he could not bring it to a final and finished form. In this book Christopher Tolkien has constructed, after long study of the manuscripts, a coherent narrative without any editorial invention.


Like I say, parts of it are rather dark and a lot more 'down to earth' than LotR/The Hobbit are in places, and the character is very much at the fore. Just don't read the section of the same name in Unfinished Tales if you plan to read it, as it spoils the (rather brilliant) ending.
Author:  LordoftheBrownRing [ Tue Feb 24, 2015 3:30 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Which book is better?
Oh awesome. Sound good man, and thanks for all the advice!
Author:  orc-archer [ Tue Feb 24, 2015 5:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Which book is better?
I second Children of Hurin, its a lot easier to read than The Silmarillion and contains a single story instead of short ones like Unfinished Tales.
Author:  Lhosseth [ Tue Feb 24, 2015 6:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Which book is better?
I'm going with Children of Hurin too. It's a well-rounded story, which can really be read as a story where you should see the Silmarillion rather as a collection of myths (with a lot, and I mean a lot of of different characters who seem all the same at first. there's an index in it and you're gonna need it).
Children of Hurin was compiled with the intent to make a story for the Silmarillion more accessible for readers too. It's quite a dark tale, I'd call it rather the opposite of the Hobbit book.

The Silmarillion is about the first age, and a smaller part about the second age, where Unfinished Tales covers things about the 1st, s2nd, and 3rd age, along with a lot of extra stuff. There is some nice extra stuff about things brought up in LOTR as well.

Just keep in mind, the Middle-Earth in Children of Hurin and the Silmarillion is set in a different place than in LOTR, (at the end of the Silmarillion, this becomes clear how, but I'm not spoiling things here). If you're like me really into maps, don't let this confuse you.

I would in any way suggestion reading the Silmarillion before you start with Unfinished Tales. There are quite a few parts in UT that presume at least some knowledge from the Silm.
Author:  LordoftheBrownRing [ Tue Feb 24, 2015 6:56 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Which book is better?
Well guys I dont have the Children of Huron yet, but thanks for the info.

Of the two I posted are we still saying unfinished tales it seems?
Author:  valpas [ Tue Feb 24, 2015 9:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Which book is better?
If you haven't read Silmarillion, I think it's better to start from it. As Paradigm said, Unfinished Tales is plugging some gaps in the other books' stories, but if you haven't read Silmarillion, the First Age stories might not make much sense.

On the other hand, you can easily skip the first third of Unfinished Tales and go directly to Second and Third age parts, which are quite enjoyable without knowing the Silmarillion background. Unfinished Tales is not really a novel that has a coherent plot from start to finish; it's a collection of shorter stories and essays that don't have to be read in chronological order. But I still think you would enjoy it more after reading Silmarillion. :-)

-- Pasi
Author:  Draugluin [ Tue Feb 24, 2015 10:30 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Which book is better?
Silmarillion is the best to start with. It's part of the actual Middle-Earth canon, whereas Unfinished Tales is just there to explain what Tolkien was thinking when he wrote Silmarillion (to the best of my knowledge, I haven't read it because I can't find it and because it isn't technically official). It is a hard read, but you can use that to your advantage: about 9 hours in should be where you get to the parts that Children of Hurin covers, so if you take your time and read thoroughly, and if you stop by a book store where ever you go, you can pick up the Children of Hurin for the return flight. While Silmarillion is very much like a textbook, it is a very enjoyable one. After you read Silmarillion, you can go through Unfinished Tales to fill in any blanks that you might have.
Author:  LordoftheBrownRing [ Wed Feb 25, 2015 10:36 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Which book is better?
Ill probably order it and have it at my house when I get back. Im in Holland and its unlikely without traveling far Ill be able to find it.

Thanks though guys. I guess the Silmarillion gets the nod.

Ill probably write back in here when I start. But hey, keep the comments going if youd like guys. The more background I get the more excited Ill be.
Author:  Harfoot [ Wed Feb 25, 2015 7:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Which book is better?
good luck with the Silmarillion, i have tried to read it a few times but i just can't get into it, its written differently to LOTR/Hobbit. The last time i got 3 quaters of the way through and gave up.

I found Children of Hurin nice to read, I think its because Christpoher Tolkien re-wrote a lot of it from notes in a more LOTR style of writing.

Which ever you choose i hope you enjoy it.
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