The Return of the King vs The Silmarillion: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Middle Earth, Elves, English Fantasy fiction, Fantasy, Fiction
The Return of the King
“Pippin looked out from the shelter of Gandalf's cloak.”
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THE RETURN OF THE KING, which brings to a close the great epic of war and adventure begun in The Fellowship of the Ring and continued in The Two Towers, is the third and final part of J. R. R. Tolkien's masterpiece,…
The Silmarillion
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A number-one New York Times bestseller when it was originally published, The Silmarillion is the core of J.R.R. Tolkien's imaginative writing, a work whose origins stretch back to a time long before The Hobbit.
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate The Return of the King highest: The Return of the King 4.6 · The Silmarillion 4.0.
- The Silmarillion is the quickest read — about 6 hours vs 11 for The Return of the King.
- The Return of the King has the widest readership — 1084551 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| The Return of the King | The Silmarillion | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.6 (1084551) | 4.0 (17402) |
| Hardcover | 4.6 (1896) | 5.0 (1) |
| Google Books | 5.0 (24) | 4.5 (18) |
| Apple Books | 5.0 (280) | 4.5 (331) |
Reception
| The Return of the King | The Silmarillion | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 1084551 | 17402 |
| Editions | 285 | 156 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 435394 | 301760 |
| Reading it now | — | 2 |
| Written reviews | 28222 | 17402 |
| Wikipedia attention | 8777 | 41743 |
| Pages | 603 | 374 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: The Return of the King or The Silmarillion?
The Return of the King has the higher combined reader rating across sources (The Return of the King 4.6/5, The Silmarillion 4.0/5).
Which is shorter to read: The Return of the King or The Silmarillion?
The Silmarillion is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The Silmarillion (374 pages, ≈ 6 h 56 m); The Return of the King (603 pages, ≈ 11 h 10 m).
Which is harder to read: The Return of the King or The Silmarillion?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — The Return of the King: Challenging; The Silmarillion: Moderate.
Have both books been made into films?
The Return of the King: 5 film adaptations; The Silmarillion: no film adaptation on record.