60 Books Like The Silmarillion

I would have thought to list another book here, and for sure, there are truly many books to be read that could easily be listed here, and despite that, this is listing Tolkien’s works for a third time; the truth simply stands in my library that his works are simply that great. 

So far be it that the renowned book of The Lord of the Rings be not included. I had been introduced to Tolkien and fantasy’s more serious nature by my dad and grandfather with readings of The Hobbit, and by it, I was already enamored with the world of Middle-earth, as Bilbo was my hero.

I loved the classic animated cartoon adaptations back then by Rankin and Bass, and Bakshi, which at the time was my main exposure to The Lord of the Rings, along with commentaries from my dad, until I finally read it at the time… show more.

This may be considered an odd choice on the surface, given the true events of the Trojan War. This was also another I initially struggled with. Nevertheless, despite the factual elements, it’s viewed as one of the earliest epic fantasies in Western literature, along with The Odyssey, which came after.

Centered on just a few days of the ten-year siege of Troy, the lives of humans and their gods are intricately linked. It is one of the earliest examples of pathos with much sympathy actually lying with the enemies, the Trojans, a people based in Asia Minor, and their allies from all over the region. Outside the gods, it also references monsters such as Bellerophon, the Gorgon, and centaurs, with the gods often used as a plot device to refract the emotions and flaws of the characters.

The world-building is vivid and rich in dactylic hexameter, a rhythmic style.… show more.

This was the first fantasy book that made me afraid for its characters and helped me understand that fantasy is allowed to feel realistic.

Up until this point, the types of books I was reading were very paint-by-numbers, but here the stakes felt real because no one was safe... not even the ones who seemed typical fantasy rules were untouchable.

What stuck with me wasn’t the true-to-form fantasy bits (dragons/battles), but how human the characters felt. In this world, loyalty is a death sentence... love is dangerous, and power always comes with a price.

I love this series of three short novels enough to have read it more times than I can count. The language of the novel is simple and evocative. I love the main character, a young wizard who starts out as proud, angry and arrogant, but becomes deeply compassionate when his hubris leads him to make a tragic and evil use of magic.

I could feel myself grabbed by the world of the novel, a world of men and dragons, of islands dotted in an endless sea, of powerful mages who interfere at their peril with the precarious balance of the world between good and evil. 

This is a four-book series, and once I read the first one, I had to read the rest! Robin Hobb’s version of dragons is unique and imaginative, unlike the dragons in any other book I’ve read.

I immersed myself in her detailed, creative world. This series offered me an escape unlike any other. 

As a proud Ravenclaw, I would be remiss if I didn’t include Harry Potter in this list. But why The Goblet of Fire? Honestly, because that was my favorite book in the series. Well, Order of the Phoenix could have had that title, but someone had to go and kill Sirius Black. 

Though Tolkien’s Middle-earth was a centerpiece of fantasy for me, Lewis’ Narnia offset and balanced the more serious grave nature of Middle-earth with its more light-hearted adventures told through the eyes of children, where it feels like a fairy tale as everything in its world is simply extraordinary. 

The Chronicles of Narnia’s symbolism strikes me as being straightforward in its Christian allegory, which I find quite relatable. The aspect of being as children following the will of “our Heavenly Father” (in their case, walking in Aslan’s guidance) in what is truly a beautiful and imperfect world resonates so well with me, as it is a beautiful picture.

Its fairy tale style fantasy as a magical world just brings out the beauty of fantasy when its storytelling is kept simple. A simple beauty from levity, I love in contrast to the sorrowful beauty of Middle-earth that affects me on a… show more.

It would be the most extreme of criminal acts for this beloved book not to be my ‘list topper!’ Reading this book instilled an instant love of good fantasy storytelling in me early on. It defines the fantasy genre, exemplifying the absolute best extremes in great world-building, characters, and epic storytelling.

Tolkien set the high bar I strive for in all areas in my own writing with one of the most memorable stories in one of the most unforgettable worlds of all time … and he managed to pull it all off within the context of a single book! No matter how many times I go back and re-read this one, I find something new to cherish, and you will too!

This book took me to places that I never knew existed.

Once I began to read the book, I was drawn into a land of beauty and realism that I could literally see as I read the story. I learned so much about the strengths and weaknesses of a human being. It made me examine my own inner self.

I saw terrible things happening to deep and intense people in the story, and I saw them react in the best and the worst ways. The beauty and pain that Donaldson put into this book were far more than I had expected or been ready to face myself.

While yes, this is another work of Tolkien and this story is covered in the already mentioned The Silmarillion, this book expands in greater detail in the much closer look from the eyes of one Turin, son of Hurin.

I love how this book took an already tragic yet beloved story and fed my appetite with all of the particulars involved therein. The Children of Hurin is such a tragic story of poetic justice, curse, and irony. The main character is as equally frustrating as he is pitiable, and I see him as being quite relatable as any common, fallible human being.

And therein, its work of poetry is rich with matters that can be very relatable to the reader. These matters include lessons to learn, lessons of virtue and anti-virtue, lessons of vice, lessons of pride and its fall, what happens when we approach evil directly without having… show more.