It's difficult to imagine a globe without The Lord of the Rings. J.R.R. Tolkien'south sprawling magnum opus popularized the fantasy genre, galvanized a counterculture movement, and snowballed into a global pop civilisation phenomenon. Peter Jackson's early on aughts film adaptations take only compounded the series' indelible popularity, inviting new fans into Tolkien'southward fantastical world by way of Academy Awards, timeless memes, and astounding filmmaking.
If yous oasis't read the series, how I envy you! Newcomers are in for an unforgettable reading experience; you lot'll always remember the beginning time you encountered these moving, masterfully imagined epics about the struggle between adept and evil, the delicate balance of death and immortality, and the addictive danger of power. But The Lord of the Rings is just the tip of the iceberg; Tolkien'southward Centre-earth legendarium encompasses thousands of years and dozens of other works, significant that if yous dive in, it may be quite a long time earlier you brand information technology there and dorsum again.
What'due south the best path for reading your way through, yous ask? It's a elementary question, but one bound to rile up Tolkien fans, who beloved and study the writer's works with serious devotion. I know because I'm ane of them. Yes, dear reader, you defenseless me—I've been a Tolkienite since age eight, when I got my hands on The Hobbit and it changed my little encephalon forever. I grew up in Tolkien's broad, wide globe in the way that other members of my generation grew up in Narnia or Hogwarts; these books are an enduring function of my heart and identity, and they tin can be for you, too. Below, I've charted a choose your ain adventure course through the lore, with get out points for the casual reader and bonus material for the newly converted Tolkienite. Which ane volition you be? Time to start reading and detect out. (And one time yous've finished, check out our maps to Dune and The Wheel of Time side by side.)
oneThe Hobbit
"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit." With this immortal line, the journey through Eye-earth begins. We recommend starting your run a risk with The Hobbit, Tolkien'due south beginning published foray into Middle-globe, before moving onto The Lord of the Rings proper. The Hobbit is a rollicking good read, and a superb identify to get your feet wet. This is the tale of Bilbo Baggins, a respectable, homebody hobbit (a race of short, hirsuite-footed people who live in underground homes). When an itinerant magician and a company of dwarves come up knocking, Bilbo is swept into their trek to the Lonely Mountain, where the dwarves intend to recapture their people's vast treasure from the dangerous dragon Smaug. The treacherous journey awakens Bilbo'due south thirst for adventure, places him in a host of thrillingly glutinous situations, and sends him packing with a mysterious magical ring…
twoThe Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings begins in earnest with The Fellowship of the Ring. When Bilbo Baggins all of a sudden disappears from his 111th birthday party, his honey ring falls into the hands of his young heir, Frodo Baggins. The wizard Gandalf confirms that this is the I Ring, lost by the Nighttime Lord Sauron long ago, and urges Frodo to spirit it to the elven stronghold of Rivendell. In Rivendell, the Fellowship of the Band assembles: ix walkers of dissimilar races, banded together on a quest to destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mordor, thus saving the world from an ancient, cosmic evil. The perilous journey across mountains, forests, and rivers tests them, endangers them, and ultimately divides them.
3The 2 Towers
The saga continues in The Two Towers, which sees the members of the Fellowship scattered to the winds. Following their capture past bloodthirsty orcs, Merry and Pippin disappear into foreboding Fangorn Forest, where they take up with sentient trees; meanwhile, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli reconnect with a changed Gandalf, so come to the aid of Rohan'south struggling people. Frodo and Sam, en route to Mordor, form an uneasy brotherhood with the wretched creature Gollum, who guides them to their destination while plotting to steal the ring. As this installment ends, the shadow of Sauron grows beyond the lands, while armies everywhere steel themselves for a climactic boxing.
4The Return of the Rex
The trilogy concludes thrillingly with The Return of the King. The forces of Gondor and Rohan foursquare off against Sauron's regular army in the ballsy Battle of Pelennor Fields, while Frodo falls dangerously under the sway of the ring'south dark magic during the hazardous journey through Mordor. It all comes down to the nail-biting Boxing of the Morannon, when Aragorn and his forces stage a last stand at the Black Gate of Mordor, and Frodo makes a seismic sacrifice to destroy the band once and for all. Ultimately, Aragorn steps into his destiny as King of Gondor and peace reigns, but readers coming to the series from the films will be disarmed by the hobbits' homecoming. Still in thrall to the evil Saruman, the Shire needs a champion, forcing the hobbits to mountain a rebellion in the fateful Scouring of the Shire. Frodo, beleaguered by the physical and psychological price of the ring, passes into the Undying Lands to notice peace, and harmony settles over Centre-earth.
5The Silmarillion
As epic as The Lord of the Rings may feel, the series spans just a fraction of Eye-earth's history. In The Silmarillion, his mythopoetic masterpiece, Tolkien takes united states back to the dawn of time, unspooling legends like the creation of the universe, the awakening of the elves, and the rising of Middle-earth's greatest villains. For fans of the Peter Jackson films, a shred of this material will seem familiar, as Galadriel's Fellowship of the Ring prologue recounts some of these stories (similar the forging of the Rings of Power). Dense with lore and lusciously imagined, The Silmarillion isn't for the faint of heart, but it rewards devoted report, shading in the millennia of history backside the core legendarium of Heart-globe. If you lot want to get upward to speed earlier Amazon's Lord of the Rings show debuts in September 2022, read The Silmarillion first, as the show is expected to dramatize parts of the book.
6Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-world
Here's where the rubber meets the route. If yous're confident yous've been brought up to speed on Center-earth by at present, feel costless to go out through the gift shop. If you're hooked on Tolkien and eager to keep exploring, come sit past me. Unfinished Tales consists of stories and essays Tolkien failed to complete in his lifetime, stitched together in a more coherent class by Christopher Tolkien, the author's son and literary executor. Some of these stories recount events from The Silmarillion, while others expand our knowledge of Middle-earth with boosted context, like a deep dive into the origins of wizards or a more detailed narrative of how Isildur lost the One Ring. Unfinished Tales volition likely prove to be another valuable resource for students of Amazon's Lord of the Rings evidence, as "A Description of the Island of Númenor" will come in handy when the show sets up shop in that fateful location.
7The Children of Húrin
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
The first of 3 standalone "bang-up tales" set up in Middle-earth'southward Start Age, The Children of Húrin is—yous guessed information technology—another unfinished manuscript salvaged past Christopher Tolkien. Long before the Ane Band was forged, a dandy warrior named Húrin dared to defy Morgoth, the Friction match-esque fallen god who terrorized Middle Earth in its early on millennia (and later trained a fearsome lieutenant in Sauron). As penalty for his disobedience, Húrin was immobilized on a mountaintop, where he paid the ultimate price: twenty-four hours in and day out, Morgoth forced him to sentinel the evils visited upon his children, culminating in their expiry and disappearance, likewise every bit some downright Oedipal tragedy. The Children of Húrin is heavy, by Tolkien's standards, but like other auxiliary tales, information technology rounds out The Silmarillion with lush additional detail.
8Beren and Lúthien
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Tolkien, you ol' softie. The 2d of the bully tales is the tragic romance of Beren, a mortal human being, and Lúthien, an immortal elf maiden. In order to win Lúthien'southward hand in spousal relationship from her disapproving begetter, Beren gear up to the monumental job of robbing Morgoth of a Silmaril (3 prized jewels of the elves, containing divine light). Together the couple achieved the task, only Beren died immediately later on, inspiring such grief in Lúthien that she as well laid down and died. In the halls of the gods, Lúthien shared an elegiac vocal with the god of death. Moved by her lamentation, he restored the couple to life, on the condition that they would both die a mortal death. This romantic fable is a foundational myth of The Silmarillion, too every bit a deliberate mirroring of the romance between Aragorn and Arwen—herself a descendent of Lúthien, who, like her ancestor, would marry a mortal man, choosing "both the sweet and the bitter." If y'all read only one of the cracking tales, make information technology this one.
9The Autumn of Gondolin
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
In the third and terminal book of the great tales, Tolkien sets his sights on Gondolin, a secret elven utopia betrayed and destroyed during the First Historic period. When Gondolin'due south location was betrayed to Morgoth, the vengeful god sent an army of orcs, balrogs, and dragons to siege the city. Gondolin'due south epic fall calls to mind the sack of Troy, and makes for riveting reading. Survivors of the disaster would become ancestors of both Elrond and Aragorn. The Fall of Gondolin isn't required reading, simply for Tolkien fans who particularly love his elvish lore, it'southward a slam dunk.
xThe History of Middle-world
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Subsequently Unfinished Tales was published to corking critical and commercial interest, Christopher Tolkien kept exploring his father'southward archive. He anthologized his findings into The History of Heart-earth, a downright massive twelve-volume series containing Tolkien'south vast droves of auxiliary lore, from stories to poems to song cycles. Some of these volumes aggrandize The Lord of the Rings, while others expand The Silmarillion. None are world-shattering, but for the Tolkien completionist, they're a welcome journey dorsum into Middle-earth, and an opportunity to consider familiar events from a fresh perspective.
11Tolkien: Maker of Eye-earth
Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
If you've made it this far and yous still can't get enough Tolkien, add Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth to your java tabular array rotation. This hefty tome explores the visual dimensions of Tolkien's oeuvre: illustrations, maps, letters, and manuscripts, all of information technology paired with essays tracing the mythological influences backside Tolkien's monumental creative endeavors. It's an fantabulous supplement to the books you know and love, too every bit a sumptuous collector'southward item whatsoever Tolkien fan would cherish.
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