Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien

27 reviews

seanml's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

The Silmarillion is a majestic, winding journey through imagination. Tolkien's visions come to life in a fully realized world filled with grace, beauty, and an encroaching sadness. It is the time of the elves, and though immortal, their time rises and wanes with elegance. 9/10.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Genocide, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, and War

helenafaustina's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Wow... what an adventure. I loved this whole book, especially the beginning with the creation of Eä. Everything about this was so musical and lovely. The rise and fall of the good and the bad people, watching the characters you already knew be born, and understanding all the lore... and getting lost in the index of names (heh), was a beautiful experience. It's a fun, fictional history book, and one that LotR lovers don't want to miss!

I would not recommend this to someone new to Middle-earth, as it is pretty heavy writing. I think it would only be enjoyable by fans. Like how Lord of the Rings is one level up from The Hobbit, The Silmarillion is a level up from Lord of the Rings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Moderate: Incest and Fire/Fire injury

godraed's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It's a work that defies description, a collection of various stories presented as the mythic history of Middle-Earth. It's grand in scope, magisterial in prose, an a marvel to behold. It is Tolkien's darkest work but also contains wonderful pieces of hope that set the stage for his later works. A must-read for any fan of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings.

This review is for the hardcover edition, which has two maps and contains illustrations from the author. It is an absolutely beautiful edition and looks wonderful on the bookshelf.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, and War

Moderate: Incest, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Deportation

seforaflorian's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

madamenovelist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racism

judassilver's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Incest, Racism, Slavery, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

Minor: Child death, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

pejms's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, War, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

Minor: Emotional abuse, Incest, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

This recounts the history of an entire fantasy world, and all the hardships that its people go through. There is a lot that happens, a whole lot.

amabilis's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Incest, Rape, and Murder

aisabel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Genocide, Incest, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

divine529's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

Tolkien is an absolute genius and I will forever be astonished by him and his work. 

This is a difficult book for me to review because it's a book that's near and dear to me in many ways, but it's also very difficult to review. 

For those of you who are familiar with Tolkien's more famous works like "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" and who are yearning to know more about Middle Earth - how it came to be, it's history, the creation of all of it - this is for you. 

This primarily walks us through the events of the First Age of Middle Earth with glimpses into events in the Second Age and Third Age (where the events of LotR and The Hobbit take place). It's rich, detailed and pulls you into a world that's familiar, yet full of many many layers that add to everything. 

A few caveats before going in: (1) this book is best read at a slower pace. There's so much detail and rich storytelling that to rush through this would mean you'd miss a lot of things. This was a reread for me, and it nearly took me two years to finish (due to several factors). (2) If the edition you read doesn't have the letter from Tolkien to Waldman, please do everything you can to find a place to read it (you can find it online in various places). If your edition does have the letter, don't skip it. I know it's tempting, but trust me, it has a lot of important information in it. 

All in all, this is a book I love and cherish and will continue to revisit many times. 

A note on the TW/CWs: hese are tricky because the scope of the book is so vast there are a lot, and yet they're not super detailed while also being present (it's complicated), but some of the more prevalent ones are listed below. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail