Horror's Greatest Hits
Cármen Veloso asked this question about The Hobbit, or There and Back Again:
My friends, I have on my shelf The story of Kullervo, The silmarillion, The children of Húrin, The hobbit, the trilogy of The lord of the rings and Unfinished tales of Númenor and Middle-Earth. In what order should I read them? Am I missing any book in the series?
Bart The decision is of course still yours to make but let's see:

"Kullervo" has nothing to do with the world of Middle Earth, it's part of the Finnish epos…moreThe decision is of course still yours to make but let's see:

"Kullervo" has nothing to do with the world of Middle Earth, it's part of the Finnish epos "Kalevala", so just set this one aside for now.
The Hobbit is a nice simple story, a kind of fairy tale if you look at it on its own. Inside the history of Middle Earth it comes before The Lord Of The Rings so it would make sense to start out with The Hobbit. But it's a children's story after all, so you might want to start with the "real deal" which is The Lord of The Rings and read The Hobbit afterwards as a kind of "prequel".
The Unfinished Tales were written long before both of those books as part of the lore Tolkien created for the World of Middle Earth. Same thing with the tale of The Children of Hurin. Characters in The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings sometimes mention those tales, but even for them it is all ancient history already.

So my advice - read The Ring Trilogy or The Hobbit first and if you like it, keep reading all those other books published posthumously, starting with The Silmarillion.(less)
flag
More questions about The Hobbit, or There and Back Again…
Image for The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
by J.R.R. Tolkien
Rate this book
Clear rating
1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars

About Goodreads Q&A

Ask and answer questions about books!

You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.

See Featured Authors Answering Questions

Learn more