The Silmarillion - Softcover

Tolkien, J. R. R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007284241 ISBN 13: 9780007284245

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2008

Synopsis

For the first time in paperback, a fully illustrated edition of The Silmarillion, with colour plates by the celebrated artist Ted Nasmith – designed to match the rest of the Tolkien series.

J R R Tolkien’s SILMARILLION is the core work of the Middle-earth canon. It is in this complex and often neglected masterpiece that the entire cosmology for the background for THE HOBBIT and, particularly, THE LORD OF THE RINGS is documented.

This new paperback volume contains fabulous tales of heroes and monsters, and the history of the Silmarils – the magical jewels produced by Feanor, most gifted Lord of the Elves; it tells of the creation of Middle-earth, and the coming of Men into the world; it chronicles the early epic battles between good and evil, forces of light and dark, which foreshadow the great conflict with Sauron, the Dark Lord, in THE LORD OF THE RINGS.

These tales of Middle-earth were published posthumously in 1977. Tolkien worked on THE SILMARILLION all his life – long before THE HOBBIT or LORD OF THE RINGS – and his son and literary executor Christopher Tolkien edited the material he left behind into its current form.

Complete with a series of full-colour paintings by acclaimed Tolkien artist Ted Nasmith, this sumptuous new edition allows the stories within to really come alive - from the creation of the world and the Tale of Beren and Luthien to the Fall of Numenor and the End of the First Age.

About this title

Review:

JRR Tolkien is best known for The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings but those who thought these two wonderful adventures marked the height of his imagination have many more delights to come. The Silmarillion represents the source of Tolkien's later work and follows the events of the First Age of Middle Earth. For information, The Lord Of The Rings concerns the end of the Third Age.

The Silmarillion is a gloriously realised story of rebellion, exile, war and the heroism of elves and men. But to gain an insight into the staggering complexity of Tolkien's world, however, the shorter works also included are must-reads. Dealing with the myth of creation, the nature of the Gods, the fall of Númenor and the Rings of Power, they paint a vivid picture not only of Middle Earth but also of the author's soaring imagination.

Tolkien was born of English parents in Bloemfontein, South Africa, in 1892 and died in England in 1973. He worked on The Silmarillion from as early as 1917 but the work was not published until after his death. This edition, richly illustrated by Ted Nasmith, is both collector's item and source of reference and fascination for every follower of Tolkien. --James Barclay

Review:

‘How, given little over half a century of work, did one man become the creative equivalent of a people?’ The Guardian

‘Demanding to be compared with English mythologies... at times rises to the greatness of true myth’ Financial Times

‘A creation myth of singular beauty... magnificent in its best moments’ Washington Post

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0007284241
• ISBN 13: 9780007284245
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 416
• Illustrator: Nasmith Ted