Movie: The Hobbit - Battle of the Five Armies

[Sam]

I also enjoy LOTR more (although Fellowship can be a laborious read*),

Yes, the part before they got to Bree and stuck with the barrow wights was a hard slog.

I've never read Silmarillion.

It's a bit dry, like reading a textbook. If you want something in that vein but more 'enjoyable', you could try The Children of Húrin by Tolkien's son Christopher (who based the work off his father's original manuscripts without any 'inventive editorial input' ).

[Autocon]

How many midle earth books are there?

[BigTransformerTrev]

I also want to re-read the Silmarillion.

It's a bit dry, like reading a textbook. If you want something in that vein but more 'enjoyable', you could try The Children of Húrin by Tolkien's son Christopher (who based the work off his father's original manuscripts without any 'inventive editorial input' ).

I couldn't hack reading The Silmarillion. Got through it once, vowed to never open it again

[Sam]

How many midle earth books are there?

If you include the ones only Tolkien wrote during his lifetime, four titles:

1. The Hobbit
2. The Lord of the Rings (three books, but Tolkien originally envisioned them as "one" book)
3. The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
4. Bilbo's Last Song (poem)

If you include ones his son Christopher and others published after his death, from his manuscripts, fourteen titles:

- The Book of Lost Tales 1 (1983)
- The Book of Lost Tales 2 (1984)
- The Lays of Beleriand (1985)
- The Shaping of Middle-earth (1986)
- The Lost Road and Other Writings (1987)
- The Return of the Shadow (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.1) (1988)
- The Treason of Isengard (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.2) (1989)
- The War of the Ring (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.3) (1990)
- Sauron Defeated (includes The History of The Lord of the Rings v.4) (1992)
- Morgoth's Ring (The Later Silmarillion v.1) (1993)
- The War of the Jewels (The Later Silmarillion v.2) (1994)
- The Peoples of Middle-earth (1996)
- The Silmarillion
- Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth

Eighteen titles in total. If anyone notices any I've left out, please feel free to correct / add to it.

[Sam]

I couldn't hack reading The Silmarillion. Got through it once, vowed to never open it again

It's not exactly the most accessible piece of fiction.