We listened to this as we drove across country back in 2003. Listening, rather than reading, gave it a real mythic quality, and driving through Utah while hearing about the creation of Middle Earth, really worked together.

If you like The Lord of the Rings and think you can handle the sheer immensity of this, I highly recommend it.

A must-read for any Lord of the Rings fan, and in some ways - especially scope, depth, and sheer epicness -The Silmarillion is better than the trilogy. This is my second reading of the book, and every time, I’m left with a profound appreciation of the work that Tolkien poured into his vast mythology. Now I’m thinking about whether to read Unfinished Tales.

I tried and failed with this one years ago. Inspired by my latest viewing of “The Return of the King” I’m back at it and am really enjoying it. Favourite quote thus far: “But of bliss and glad life there is little to be said, before it ends; as works fair and wonderful, while they still endure for eyes to see, are their own record and only when they are in peril or broken for ever do they pass into song.”

Perhaps even better than the Lord of the Rings trilogy, if that is possible.

Completed March, 2001