Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books

[Emphyrio]

Big time. I'm gonna go through Robin Hobb's fairly comprehensive collection after the Hugh Cook series I'm currently reading and then do a Tolkien re-read.

As an aside, anyone read the History of Middle Earth books? Is there enough there to keep interest or does it deal with real minutae that only scholars would really appreciate?

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

I can ask an expert friend for you.

[Emphyrio]

I thought you might actually have read them.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Never gone beyond the Silmarillion and a few passages here and there of Unfinished Tales, etc. Gotta leave something for retirement!

Here's what she says (credibility: librarian who organized the Festival in the Shire one year):

Ahh good question. OK so it's all the notes associated with the creation of middle earth. Like it's not a linear narrative of the actual history. It's the history of how it was written. Ya get me?

If they want to ease themselves in I'd recommend starting with vol 6 Return of the Shadow and continue reading vols 7 and 8. That's the history/ALL Tolkiens notes on the writing of LOTR. If they are familiar with Silmarillion they should start vol one Book of Lost Tales one. If they can deal with Silmarillion they can deal with History of Middle Earth.

If they aren't familiar with silmarillion but want something beyond LOTR and hobbit I recommend Unfinished Tales.

[They've got Silmarillion covered.]

They'd be well able for history of ME I'd say then.

[Emphyrio]

Cool, cool. Mucho appreciado. During the re-read I'll also get to the 2 (?) books after The Children of Hurin so it's nice to be able to read some new material in there too.

[Pedrito]

Massive fan of The Hobbit, Lotr and Silmarillion. The Children of Hurin I found a slog, though maybe it was my frame of mind. I'd be tempted at that recommendation above just to see what might transpire. Sounds heavy going though.

[Emphyrio]

I found, to my surprise, that The Children of Hurin was a  bit of a slog too. I just didn't connect with it as much as I expected.

The Silmarillion is perfect and the last book released, The Fall of Gondolin, I have very high hopes for. It's actually the only story from that age that I always wanted to know more about. It's very much in the middle of the first age stuff and LoTR but surely it must be one of the most important events in the whole Middle Earth history. I thought I'd only get insights to it in the appendices so I can't wait to get to that.

[Trev]

I used to read LOTR at least once a year for a long time, but for some reason I only went through Silmarillion once and never dived into his other stuff

Is their a list of how the books go in chronological order? Not when they were written  but starting with the early time of Middle Earth and moving forward?

[Carnage]

I'm gonna go through Robin Hobb's fairly comprehensive collection after the Hugh Cook series I'm currently reading and then do a Tolkien re-read.

I've read The Farseer, Liveship Traders and Tawny Man trilogies, just another 8 books in the series to pick up before reading the lot from scratch! I have her Soldier Son trilogy on the shelf, I might tackle that before diving back into that big series.

[Emphyrio]

I read the Farseer and Soldier Son trilogies ages ago. Gonna re-read The Farseer and continue that saga. There's a prequel book too so might actually start there. I'm hoping she doesn't add any more as there's enough there to keep me going a good while.

[Emphyrio]

I used to read LOTR at least once a year for a long time, but for some reason I only went through Silmarillion once and never dived into his other stuff

Is their a list of how the books go in chronological order? Not when they were written  but starting with the early time of Middle Earth and moving forward?

Start with The Silmarillion, then the Children of Hurin, Beren and Luthien, The Fall of Gondolin. While I haven't read the latter two, I think that takes you up to the end of the Second Age. Then The Hobbit and LoTR.

[Pedrito]

I started a Robin Hobb book and it seemed really cliché. I think it was the Assassin's Apprentice. Gave up after a hundred pages or so. Should I have stuck with it?

[Carnage]

I would. It's old school fantasy but there are a few nice twists and turns to hold the interest. I've read that trilogy twice and plan on doing so again when I tackle that series as a whole. The Liveship Traders trilogy (second in the series) is where I got on board (pun intended), there's a bit more to chew on there, but I'd read them in order, personally.

[Kunt 4 Life]

Could I be a dick and plug my own book(s)? It's an ebook so Kindle or ereader is the only way to get them. I just released the final part of my scfi trilogy this week, The Martian Maraud as well as a complete collection.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B084KWYPXN

[Kurt Cocaine]

Could I be a dick and plug my own book(s)? It's an ebook so Kindle or ereader is the only way to get them. I just released the final part of my scfi trilogy this week, The Martian Maraud as well as a complete collection.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B084KWYPXN

Michael 'kunt 4 life' Burnside 
Best of luck with the book(s) pal. Fantasy not my bag unfortunately.