The Silmarillion. John R. R. Tolkien

This book - the legendary harbinger of The Lord of the Rings - offers a complete mythological history of the masterfully imagined, but so realistic world of Middle-earth.

A slender and interconnected codex, which tells of the epic struggle between good and evil, consists of separate works: Ainulindale - the myth of the Creation of the world, the emergence of Evil and the causes of the Fall; Valakventa - a picture of the hierarchy of divine powers, a description of their character and role in Creation; Quenta Silmarillion - the story of the rebellion of Feanor and his family against the gods, the expulsion of the rebels from Valinor and their return to Middle-earth, as well as the hopeless, despite the sacrificial courage, war with the great Enemy for the Silmarils - perfect jewels, which Feanor made, and Morgoth stole; Akallabeth tells the story of the fall of the great island kingdom of Númenor at the end of the Second Age, while The Lord of the Rings provides a brief overview of the great events of the Third Age, primarily the course of the War of the Ring.