What book are you reading?

[Gregoshi]

I've read Unfinished Tales (wish I could remember where I put my copy), The Children of Hurin and Volumes 1-4 of The History of Middle-Earth - volume 5 I have and is next to read. The History books are a tough read due to their nature though - incomplete or fragments of stories and multiple versions thereof. Still my favourite place to visit in all of fiction though.

[Gilrandir]

I've read Unfinished Tales (wish I could remember where I put my copy), The Children of Hurin and Volumes 1-4 of The History of Middle-Earth - volume 5 I have and is next to read. The History books are a tough read due to their nature though - incomplete or fragments of stories and multiple versions thereof. Still my favourite place to visit in all of fiction though.

You tell me! My PhD thesis was about Tolkien's legendarium.
"The history of Middle-earth" should not be viewed as a consistent book, but rather as a story of how THE STORY developed and grew in the creator's mind. The volumes you mentioned are the early stages of The Silmarillion development, then come those that deal with The Lord of the Rings, then those about The Silmarillion evolution after LotR was published. But if you are interested in characters and peoples of Middle-earth, I would recommend volume 12. I also like The atlas of Middle-earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad. She is a professional geographer and geologist, so she scientifically approaches the terrain described by JRR.

[Gregoshi]

My PhD thesis was about Tolkien's legendarium.

I bow before your Greatness!

I'll definitely check out volume 12 and the atlas. Thanks for the recommendations. It is much appreciated!

[Gilrandir]

I bow before your Greatness!

I'll definitely check out volume 12 and the atlas. Thanks for the recommendations. It is much appreciated!

You are welcome. To tell the truth, I didn't acquire any History of Middle-earth volumes connected with the LotR. To me the book is a kind of magic and I don't want the spell to disappear when I know how it is made.

[a completely inoffensive name]

Very busy this quarter, but I am working my way through The Power Makers​ by Maury Klein

[Gilrandir]

I'll definitely check out volume 12 and the atlas.

Forgot to mention: volume 12 contains the sketch of a new book JRR was contemplating (or rather asked to give it a try) which was to be a sequel of LotR.

[Gilrandir]

Forgot to mention: volume 12 contains the sketch of a new book JRR was contemplating (or rather asked to give it a try) which was to be a sequel of LotR.

Speaking of sequels, a guy in Russia called Nik Perumov wrote what he considers to be a sequel of LotR. I must admit that he carried it on pretty well, perhaps focusing too much on the martial element of it and offered some interesting ideas adding to the conceptual background of the story. Still, the book can't rival the original one.

[HopAlongBunny]

Just picked up Clearing the Plains http://www.canadashistory.ca/Books/L...s-of-Starvatio.
The book consolidates the scattered narrative of Canada's history of isolation, starvation and disease as tools of public policy. After a long and thorough discussion of the natural process of disease introduction in virgin soil, the author embarks on an analysis of gov't use of these levers as conscious policy choices; never actually called genocide by the author, the facts make a pretty clear case.

I recommend it to anyone interested in Native History or the history of settlement in Western Canada.

[Neric]

Halfway through "Raising Steam" by Terry Pratchett and really enjoying it. Especially since I didn't liked the previous title, "Snuff" as much as the other Discworld novels.