![\"J.R.R.](\"http:\/\/www.thisblogrules.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/11.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Maybe you\u2019ve recently watched (or re-watched) The Lord of the Rings. <\/em>Maybe you\u2019ve recently stumbled upon one of the less considerably popular works of the author. Regardless of what it is, you\u2019re here \u2013 and that that can only mean one thing. J.R.R. Tolkien got you under his wraps, and you want to give his literature a shot. Many people do that, it\u2019s understandable. Tolkien is one of the most influential authors in history, and he was the man who had shaped up one of literature\u2019s greatest series of all time. But pretty much everyone has the same question, \u201cWhere do I begin?\u201d<\/p>\n Without even counting the extensive works developed for the world of Middle-Earth, there are plenty of books to pick from. For instance, imagine you\u2019re trying to get into Star Wars <\/em>or Doctor Who <\/em>for the first time. There\u2019s such a long history behind both of those titles, and there are so many things that have been created under their brands that it can take forever trying to catch up to everything. In this case, there is only one thing you can do: prioritize. Start with the basics, continue reading, and if you feel like you\u2019ve had enough, you can stop there knowing that you\u2019ve had a taste of what was most important.<\/p>\n In this article, we\u2019ll break down a big chunk of the J.R.R. Tolkien books, and we\u2019ll offer you an insight of where to start.<\/p>\n The Hobbit <\/em>is the definite starting point. Despite the fact that the adaptation was turned into a trilogy, there is only one book \u2013 and it\u2019s not lengthy, either. The book is in many ways a prequel to The Lord of the Rings, <\/em>with many important elements being later tied into the storyline of the latter. It gives Bilbo a solid background, presents an intimidating appearance from Gollum, and it explains how exactly the \u201cone ring to rule them all\u201d ended up in Bilbo\u2019s pocket.<\/p>\n All these considered, The Hobbit <\/em>is also a fantastic standalone story. Written as a children\u2019s book, it\u2019s the very definition of a wonderful adventure \u2013 a hobbit, a wizard, a group of dwarves, a mountain full of gold, and the dragon sitting on top of it all.<\/p>\n When making the transition from The Hobbit <\/em>to The Lord of the Rings, <\/em>take note of the change in tone. The Hobbit <\/em>may have been written for children, but not the same can be said about the latter. It\u2019s essentially one big story split in three volumes: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, <\/em>and The Return of the King. <\/em>It\u2019s just like the movies. In fact, the films stayed as loyal to the source material as an adaptation could. One small word of warning, though \u2013 prepare yourself for entire pages of detailed landscape description, walking, and more landscape descriptions.<\/p>\n The three books are exactly what the movies were. They all begin when the movies do and also end at the same point. But, naturally, the books go into great details that couldn\u2019t have been captured by the movies. The tale about a fellowship of humans, hobbits, elves, and dwarves trying to hurl a ring into Mount Doom will always be charming, especially with a better outline around the story.<\/p>\n Most people already know about The Hobbit <\/em>and The Lord of the Rings, <\/em>but this is where most of the confusion comes from. Tolkien crafted a whole world around the two previously mentioned books. He invented Arda\u2019s history, geography, culture, civilizations, and even went as far as to develop the famous Elvish language.<\/p>\n The Legendarium is a collection of J.R.R. Tolkien books which contains pretty much every work that\u2019s an extension of the Middle-Earth universe.<\/p>\n The first one of these works is The Silmarillion, <\/em>which is a collection of mythopoeic works published post-mortem by Tolkien\u2019s son. The book provides detailed information regarding the universe of Ea, host of all the lands that the events of The Hobbit <\/em>and The Lord of the Rings <\/em>take place on. In a sense, it\u2019s almost like reading a giant fantasy history book, so before diving into this reading, you might want to make sure that you\u2019d actually like it. To do so, read first the Appendices of The Lord of the Rings <\/em>and if they prove to be your cup of tea, then The Silmarillion <\/em>is your cup of tea.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re still curious about the universe but would rather not go so in-depth with it, The Children of Hurin <\/em>is a great alternative. Also finished, polished, and published by Tolkien\u2019s son, it provides a new narrative with plenty of intriguing information about the universe that fosters Middle-Earth.<\/p>\n If you want more, The History of Middle-Earth <\/em>is a twelve-volume extensive collection, also part of Tolkien\u2019s Legendarium. This series basically exhibits step-by-step Tolkien\u2019s creation process, using presentations and manuscripts as its backbone.<\/p>\n The first two volumes, The Book of Lost Tales Part 1 <\/em>and The Book of Lost Tales Part 2, <\/em>present the writer\u2019s first go at developing the mythology of his universe. It can be considered a prototype for The Silmarillion, <\/em>with a lot of its content being later rewritten in other circumstances.<\/p>\n The Shaping of Middle-Earth <\/em>and The Lost Road and Other Writings <\/em>picked up the drafted ideas from the first two volumes, reshaping them considerably more maturely. Volume V, the one latter mentioned, contains a lot of linguistic information.<\/p>\n \u00a0The following four volumes (The Return of the Shadow, The Treason of Isengard, The War of the Ring, and Sauron Defeated<\/em>) are the ones that focus on the history of the writing and development of The Lord of the Rings. <\/em>The rest of the volumes cover miscellaneous things, including the final outline of The Silmarillion <\/em>and the writing process for the Appendices of The Lord of the Rings. <\/em><\/p>\n Tolkien also wrote many short stories that are definitely worth giving a read too if you\u2019re interested. He created several poems, some included titles being The Adventures of Tom Bombadil <\/em>and Bilbo\u2019s Last Song, <\/em>which is supposedly written by Bilbo himself on his journey to the Havens. There are also many children\u2019s stories and academic writings, but I\u2019d say that, for now, there is enough material to work with.<\/p>\n Image sources: 1<\/a>, 2<\/a>, 3<\/a>, 4<\/a>, 5<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Maybe you\u2019ve recently watched (or re-watched) The Lord of the Rings. Maybe you\u2019ve recently stumbled upon one of the less considerably popular works of the author. Regardless of what it is, you\u2019re here \u2013 and that that can only mean one thing. J.R.R. Tolkien got you under his wraps, and you want to give his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":30257,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[8219,8218,5086,8220,5087],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thisblogrules.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/31.jpg","yoast_head":"\n![\"J.R.R.](\"http:\/\/www.thisblogrules.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/21.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe Hobbit<\/h2>\n
![\"J.R.R.](\"http:\/\/www.thisblogrules.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/31.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe Lord of the Rings<\/h2>\n
![\"J.R.R.](\"http:\/\/www.thisblogrules.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/41.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe Legendarium<\/h2>\n
![\"J.R.R.](\"http:\/\/www.thisblogrules.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/51.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe History of Middle-Earth<\/h2>\n
Short Works<\/h2>\n
![1<\/a>,](\"https:\/\/coffeecoffeecoffee.files.wordpress.com\/2014\/01\/tolkien-books-2.jpg\"){kind=link}
![2<\/a>,](\"http:\/\/all4desktop.com\/data_images\/original\/4142645-the-hobbit-the-battle-of-the-five-armies-movie.jpg\"){kind=link}
![3<\/a>,](\"https:\/\/i.kinja-img.com\/gawker-media\/image\/upload\/gd8ljenaeahpn0wslmlz.jpg\"){kind=link}
![4<\/a>,](\"http:\/\/vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net\/thegioitolkien\/images\/3\/3e\/Elves_leave_middle_earth_by_araniart-d3aff8y.jpg\/revision\/latest\/scale-to-width-down\/670?cb=20130204102338\"){kind=link}
![5<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Maybe you\u2019ve recently watched (or re-watched) The Lord of the Rings. Maybe you\u2019ve recently stumbled upon one of the less considerably popular works of the author. Regardless of what it is, you\u2019re here \u2013 and that that can only mean one thing. J.R.R. Tolkien got you under his wraps, and you want to give his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":30257,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[8219,8218,5086,8220,5087],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thisblogrules.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/31.jpg","yoast_head":"\nIn What Order Should You Read The J.R.R. Tolkien Books? 2023 | This Blog Rules<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In this article, we\u2019ll break down a big chunk of the J.R.R. 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