At least get this to read the Third Age content. First and Second Age stuff is good if you enjoyed The Simiarilion. But for fans of LOTR or Hobbit exclusively, Third Age will be a good time.

قصه‌های تا تمام در نسخه‌ی انگلیسی اصلی ۴۱۵ صفحه هست در حالی که این ترجمه ۲۱۶ صفحه و تا اونجایی که من دیدم تمام مطالب اون کتاب اینجا نیست حالا چرا نمیدونم ولی دیدم جدیدا نشر روزنه این کتاب رو مجددا با شکل جدید و صفحات بیشتر چاپ کرده که احتمالا اون کامل باشه و پیشنهاد میکنم اون رو تهیه کنید. در هر حال این کتاب اکثرش در مورد نومه‌نور سرزمین انسانهاست و توضیحاتی راجع به اسامی و چگونگی و تعداد سال و سن پادشاهان اونجا و به طور مفصل تر در مورد یکی از اونها آلداریون و همسرش ارندیس آورده. و بعد از اون هم در مورد گالادریل مفصل صحبت کرده. جذابیتش در حد کتابهای دیگه نیست ولی اطلاعاتش جالبه و بهتره بعد از هابیت و ارباب حلقه‌ها و سیلماریلیون خونده بشه.ه

I've read through Tolkien's major works many, many times at this point. The Silmarillion is one of my favorite books. I say that because I truly enjoyed this. I wouldn't recommend others pick this one up until having steeped themselves in the major, finished works first. But if you've already done that and are looking for more--this is really good to satisfy the thirst for something else.

Ako ste veliki fan Tolkiena ovdje se puno toga zanimljivog moze pronaci, ali ako vam je ovo prvi doticaj sa njim...
No uglavnom, knjigu vrijedi procitat, isto tako ju imati u kolekciji, medjutim zao mi je sto je ovdje skoro ubacena cijela knjiga koja je vec izasla kod nas Hurinova djeca, moglo se popuniti prostor sa necim drugim.
E sad, sta mene kopka, da li su ovo stvarno Tolkienovi spisi? Ili je njegov sin to lijepo sve osmislio (iako jako dobro), jer tu ima detalja nekih koji su u filmovima bili ubaceni, a iskreno sumnjam da je za film bilo proucavano toliko u detalje, mozda bi i puno bolji ispao.
Nekako sve odgadjam uzet knjige o Berenu i Luthien i Fall of Gondolin jer ako ce se i tu ponavljat stvari koje sam u Silmarillionu citao onda mi je mozda trenutno gubitak vremena.
No Tolkien je vjecan, i eto nakon ove knjige me puklo pa po ne znam koji put citam Gospodara...i opet cu

Όχι απλά αξίζει να διαβαστεί, επιβάλλεται για τους λάτρεις. Είναι γεμάτο πληροφορίες που ήξερες ότι ήθελες, όπως μια ανάλυση για τους Ιστάρι και μια διήγηση για την πτώση του Ισίλντουρ, αλλά και που δεν ήξερες ότι υπάρχουν για να θέλεις (εγώ προσωπικά τουλάχιστον), όπως οι ακριβείς επαφές του Θόριν με τον Γκάνταλφ πριν ξεκινήσει η αποστολή στο Έρεμπορ και γιατί προέκυψε το συμβόλαιο με τον Μπίλμπο ως κλέφτη.
Δεν είναι ελαφρύ ανάγνωσμα, αλλά πιάστε το οπωσδήποτε!

Such a fun book. I loved all the cut content in this. Especially the third age stuff. It's such a bummer that he never finished so much.

n  “The Edain remain mortal Men, Aldarion, great though they be: and we cannot dwell in the time that is to come, lest we lose our now for a phantom of our own design.”n

This was so good!! It definitely helps that I have LOTR brainrot right now, or else I probably wouldn't have found half of the information in this so interesting. I've been meaning to read this for so long, and I'm so happy I finally have. I really enjoyed how the book was structured, and particularly the audiobook. You had one voice actor reading the main bits, representing Tolkien Sr., and then another voice actor reading the appendices and footnotes throughout the book, representing Christopher Tolkien, who edited this. It almost made it feel interactive, and kinda cosy, like listening to a conversation. And the editing voice of Tolkien Jr. is invaluable, getting to hear his insight on his father's notes, some of the things Sr. had intended, some of the things Jr. had to suss out or revise. 

It was very useful (for me, at least) that most of the book is sorted in chronological order, with stories from the First Age and onwards. And all the actual content was really interesting. Often irritating but ah well, what'll you do. I WAS a little disappointed that there wasn't more information about the Eastern and Southern cultures, but maybe that'll come up in other books about the history of Middle Earth. Some of the tidbits we did get about Easterlings was disappointingly flat and no different from what we've already gotten: they're dark-skinned and evil and/or susceptible to being made to do evil. Revolutionary, Tolkien. Every time someone described them as being little better than orcs, my eye started to twitch.

Anyway, there was a lot of stuff I DID like. Túrin, that idiot, is my favourite character, so I was more than happy to reread an earlier version of the Children of Húrin, with editorial notes. I've always wanted to read more about Númenor, and the tale of the Mariner's Wife delighted me in many ways. It was a tragedy, and a little frustrating, but really cool to get insight into Númenórean society and culture, more than I've gotten from previous books. Also some new information about some of the ruling Númenórean queens! I want to read a thousand stories are strong, powerful, but embittered Ancalimë. Galadriel's backstory, as convoluted as it was with the many possibilities and contradictions, was really fascinating to read. Helped to make her more of a person. I almost LIKE that we have different narratives and possibilities. Some of the passages made it sound like her involvement in the defence of Alqualondë was actually martial, which I kind of love?? To think of a younger Galadriel, who fought with arms. I also loved the tidbits we got of warrior women in other cultures, and the sections about Drúedain were so cool. Boromir was mentioned like once and I screamed with happiness. And I really appreciated getting more backstory about the events of the Hobbit, Gandalf and Thorin meeting, the thoughts of the Council, etc. Makes some stuff in the Hobbit movies make more sense. 

Listened to the audiobook as read by Timothy West and Samuel West, and as I said, it was a great way to experience this. Very engaging. I'm glad I finally read this! I can remember there being some parts of the worldbuilding that I didn't like, but overall, this was so good. Lots for my brain to chew on.

2.5 rounded down

I love Tolkien. I love Middle Earth. But unfortunately this book was not what I expected.

I went into this book fully anticipating half written stories. That didn’t bother me. However I also went into this believing it was a book written for Tolkien and Middle Earth fiction fans, and found that it was less a book for those seeking good fiction, and more of a book for Tolkien researchers or biographers.

Most of the stories in this book are variants of stories already contained in The Silmarillion or in the Appendices of The Return of the King. So it is a strong possibility that a given reader has read most of these already. The stories here also often are told with copious notes and commentary and even told numerous times with subtle variants each time. The history of Tolkien’s thoughts on various iterations is told or hypothesized on throughout, and as a reader who just wanted to enjoy a few new Middle Earth tales, even if they were half told, I was sorely disappointed with all the biographical and technical jargon (including all kinds of linguistic entomology of Tolkien’s made up words). While some of this was surely interesting (including some background on races of peoples never mentioned in his previous releases, the origin of the Ishtari, and other details on beloved characters), most of it was an incredible slog through differing story details that Tolkien was experimenting with or differing versions of Middle Earth names for people, places, and things that Tolkien was determining the correct philology for.

All this said, I can only recommend this for the most die hard of all Tolkien fans - and even at that, maybe only the last 25% or so (which deals with the time period during The Lord of the Rings).

*Guy who consciously bought and read a book called Unfinished Tales* hmm... these tales feel a little unfinished...

Same as The Silmarillion really, lots of good stuff in here but the nature of how it's constructed means it's often dry and artless. I'm glad I read them and I could see myself dipping into specific sections again, but these are really just valiant attempts to substitute for what could have been if Tolkien had managed to fulfil all of his insane ambitions.

“A small oversight; but it proved fatal.
Small oversights often do.”

Some of the best Tolkien I’ve read thus far. The short stories of the First and Second Age were phenomenal. It also provided a lot of interesting background lore that is very relevant to our favorite Third Age stories. It was a bit consistent however, which is why it’s only getting 4 stars from me.

I've read quite a few parts of this previously, either due to individual curiosity about specific topics (such as the Quest of Erebor, Istari, Palantiri) or as part of other works (Narn i Hin Hurin – most of which is incorporated in The Children of Hurin), but I had not until now sat down and read all the various tales in order. Already a big fan of Tolkien, as a whole I quite enjoyed the collection, especially since Christopher Tolkien's notes and analysis are kept at a minimum compared when compared with the various volumes of HoME.

Of the tales I had not read previously, I most enjoyed that of Aldarion and Erendis, as well as brief story of the Druedain, perhaps because I knew the least about them already.

Highly recommended for anyone who has already read The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.

Unbelievably engaging read. Probably enjoyed reading this more than the Silmarillion, even though it's not even close to being cohesive or complete.