Whats the correct order to read J R R's milddle earth books?

Question

i've just this se ond finished the hobbit after putting it off for years, now i have found out theres a new tolkien book out! Called 'the children of hurin' ! Where on earth did that spring from!? I've never heard of it mentioned before; anyway i bought that and i have the silmarillion ready as well as the fellowship of the ring. Which should i read next please?

Answer 1

Hi there.
The guys already answering are correct - although the history of middle earth and associated realms does pop backwards and forwards in time, the best way to read the books is actually in the order printed - Hobbit, Fellowship, Two Towers, Return of the King, Silmarillion. That way you get the best stories and writing first, then the lesser works (from Silmarillion onwards) at least have the benefit of filling in some of the background to the main books.
Two further notes -
First, Return of the King is short of story but has lots and lots of appendices - these are well worth reading, lots of nuggets of good stuff buried in there.
Second, Silmarillion opening chapters are as dry as dust and pretty appalling - persevere, the good stuff is further in and worth the effort to get there.
Mostly though, enjoy! I wish I was new to it all again, I am pretty envious of the joys ahead of you.
Good luck, Steve.

Answer 2

Chronologically, the Silmarillion is first (history including the creation of the Ring), then the Hobbit (when the Ring is found again), then the Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, Return of The King).

But the best reading order would be:

The Hobbit
Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
Return of The King

Then The Silmarillion, that way you find out everything in the right order.

Children of Hurin is something that Tolkien's son created out of his fathers notes. I think you should read that afterwards, as it is not 'canon' (ie not part of the author's original works).

There are many other Middle Earth books as you can see from this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Earth#Middle-earth_works_by_Tolkien , but the above ones are the ones important to the story of the Ring.

Tolkien's son did write some of the Children of Hurin based on his fathers drafts. But he only edited Silmarillion, he did not write any of it. Have a look at all of the Wikipedia entries for the books listed in the above link, it will give the history of every book.

Answer 3

The Silmarillion represents the source of Tolkien's later work and follows the events of the First Age of Middle Earth. The Lord of the Rings took place in the Third Age.

The Children of Hurin is a stand alone story

The "Rings" books however should be read in order:
1. The Hobbit
2. The fellowship of the ring
3. The two towers
4. The return of the king

Also if you enjoy those books there is another really good series (Trilogy) by Stephen R. Donaldson called "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant". There is a second Chronilcles as well. Pick them up at your local library.

Answer 4

1. The Silmarillion (good luck)
2. The Children of Hurin
3. The Hobbit
4. The Fellowship of the Ring
5. The Two Towers
6. The Return of the King (was originally going to be called the War of the Ring)

Happy to have been of service!

Answer 5

Definitely first The Lord of the Rings first. It's the easiest to read after the Hobbit. Already in The Lord of the Rings, you can see there is a lot of backstory, but you can get through the book without knowing anything about Middle-Earth in the beginning.

Then, the Silmarillion. This is definitely a hard book to read, but it's worth it; the "myths" are beautiful and tragic.

Children of Hurin is expanding further upon the legend of Turin Turambar in the Silmarillion, so read that after the Silmarillion.

Answer 6

It might depend on your age. I'd start younger readers with "The Hobbit," but at the age of 16 I read "The Lord of the Rings" (which, by the way, is NOT a trilogy but a single work sometimes published in three volumes) first and picked up "The Hobbit" later. ("The Silmarillion" had not yet been published then.) For older teens and adults, I recommend starting with LotR because "The Hobbit" may not appeal to their tastes without understanding the larger scope of the sequel. It was, after all, intended as a children's book, though it contains some bits intended to entertain an adult who might be reading it to a child. In any case, I would read those two (in one order or another) and move on to "The Silmarillion" if the material still suits your taste. (Whether or not you enjoy the story portions in the appendices of LotR is a good basis for deciding.) Someone a while ago on YA mentioned having trouble getting started on "The Silmarillion," by the way; I recommend skipping the first two bits (Ainulindale and Valaquenta) and jumping into the real story if you seem to be bogging down at the beginning. I do not recommend "The Children of Hurin" unless and until you have gotten very serious about trying to sop up all versions. It was very little improvement on the shortened form of the same story in "The Silmarillion."

Answer 7

The Fellowship of the RIng
The Two Towers
The Return of the King.

The Children of Hurin which was just published by Tolkien's son, was an unfinished work that had been discovered last year or the year before. Christopher Tokien finished the work much like what he didi with The Sillmarillion.

Answer 8

"The Hobbit" was quite rightly the first novel to read as it recounts the finding of the ring by Bilbo Baggins. Next you should read "The Fellowship of the Ring" followed by "The Two Towers" and finally The Return of the King" For an absolutely wonderful experience watch the DVDs in the same order (available on ebay)

Answer 9

The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
The Return of the King

The Silmarillion
The Children of Hurin

The first three of these books are actually three volumes of one big book. Tolkien intended this series to be one big book entitled The Lord of the Rings. However, its easier to read them if they are seperated. Good luck on your Tolkien reading!

Answer 10

The bulk of Tolkien's writing concerns what he called 'The Third Age' which is largely covered in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. They are best read in that specific order as the chronology is quite straightforward. If you read the Lord of the Rings you will begin to notice a centuries old history behind it. Names are mentioned, places of old are passed, and old songs are sung.
The Silmarrilion covers much of the early period from the 'creation' to previous dark lords. Its quite heavy going and a bit biblical in tone. If you read all of the above, you should have a pretty good knowledge of his works, enough at least to decide whether you want to pursue further, though they are all subsiduary to his master works.