The Lord of the Rings
This is the perfect introduction to one of the most famous fantasy series of all time. It is of course the prequel to the all-conquering Lord of the Rings books, where they are aimed at a slightly older audience, The Hobbit is very much written for younger children. You probably already know this, but just in case, the story follows the adventure of Bilbo Baggins, a most respectable Hobbit, and the least likely fellow to sign up to steal a dragon’s treasure. That is what he does though and the story follows his endeavour from Hobbit hole to Dragon’s lair with plenty of time for mishaps, captures and close escapes along the way. A great standalone book which sets the scene nicely to carry on with the Lord of the Rings if desired.
- The Hobbit (1937) – Amazon – Book Depository
The original epic fantasy tale and the benchmark by which fantasy was judged for many years following its publication, LOTR is a far more mature work than its predecessor. Frodo Baggins has inherited his Uncle Bilbo’s magic ring, and with it a load of hassle. Turns out that the ring actually belongs to a rather unpleasant fellow called Sauron, he’s one of those possessive types and wants his ring back at any cost, he’s got hordes of disposable minions at his control to achieve this goal, oh, and once he’s got it back he’s going to use it to destroy all peace and happiness in Middle Earth. Good news though, Sauron has poured so much of his power into the ring that all Frodo has to do is destroy the ring and that will basically end the threat of Sauron forever. Bad news, the only way to destroy the ring is to chuck it into Mount Doom, a volcano, which just happens to be in Mordor, Sauron’s stronghold, defended by the aforementioned hordes of minions. It all makes for a rather good story though.
- The Fellowship of the Ring (1954) – Amazon – Book Depository
- The Two Towers (1954) – Amazon – Book Depository
- The Return of the King (1955) – Amazon – Book Depository
Posthumous Releases
History of Middle Earth
- The Book of Lost Tales (1983) – Amazon – Book Depository
- The Book of Lost Tales, Part Two (1984) – Amazon – Book Depository
- The Lays of Beleriand (1985) – Amazon – Book Depository
- The Shaping of Middle Earth (1986) – Amazon – Book Depository
- The Lost Road and Other Writings (1987) – Amazon – Book Depository
- The Return of the Shadow (1988) – Amazon – Book Depository
- The Treason of Isengard (1989) – Amazon – Book Depository
- The War of the Ring (1990) – Amazon – Book Depository
- Sauron Defeated (1992) – Amazon – Book Depository
- Morgoth’s Ring (1993) – Amazon – Book Depository
- The War of the Jewels (1994) – Amazon – Book Depository
Other Works
- The Silmarrilion (1977) – Amazon – Book Depository
- The Children of Hurin (2007) – Amazon – Book Depository
- The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun (2009) – Amazon – Book Depository
- The Story of Kullervo (2015) – Amazon – Book Depository
- Beren and Luthien (2017) – Amazon – Book Depository
- The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun (2017) – Amazon – Book Depository
- The Fall of Gondolin (2018) – Amazon – Book Depository