The Silmarillion vs Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Middle Earth, English Fantasy fiction, Short Stories, Fantasy fiction, Fiction
The Silmarillion
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.
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Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth
Unfinished Tales is a collection of narratives ranging in time from the Elder Days of Middle-earth to the end of the War of the Ring, and provides those who have read The Lord of the Rings with a whole collection of…
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- The Silmarillion is the quickest read — about 6 hours vs 9 for Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth.
- Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth has the widest readership — 45725 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| The Silmarillion | Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.0 (17402) | 4.0 (45725) |
| Hardcover | 5.0 (1) | 3.9 (152) |
| Google Books | 4.5 (18) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (331) | 4.0 (24) |
Reception
| The Silmarillion | Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 17402 | 45725 |
| Editions | 156 | 62 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 301760 | 60559 |
| Reading it now | 2 | 5572 |
| Written reviews | 17402 | 1748 |
| Wikipedia attention | 41743 | 6429 |
| Pages | 374 | 512 |