Nearly everyone has either read the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, or has seen the movies. It's no longer only loved by Dungeons and Dragons loving hardcore fantasy fans. But The Silmarillion has kept that reputation of being for the superfan because of its exhaustive nature. There's good reason for it's reputation. This book has an insane level of detail about the History of Middle Earth, and the ancient Elves that we see on their way out in the original trilogy. If you haven't read it, you may remember a friend of yours in your younger days warning you of its dryness, or of it being "boring." Don't let that naysayer keep you from some of Tolkien's most imaginative world building. Give it a shot, and you'll find as much to love as the original trilogy.
The must-have companion to the epic masterpiece The Lord of the RingsThe Silmarillion is Tolkien's first book and his last. Long preceding in its origins The Lord of the Rings, it is the story of the First Age of Tolkien's world, the ancient drama to which characters in The Lord of the Rings look back, and in which some of them, such as Elrond and Galadriel, took part. The Silmarillion was begun in 1917, and Tolkien worked on it, changed it, and enlarged it throughout his life. Edited by his son, Christopher Tolkien, the book finally appeared four years after the author's death. Praise for The Silmarillion "Essential reading for Tolkien lovers and an important book."--Baltimore Sun "A creation of singular beauty . . . magnificent in its best moments."--The Washington Post "The tale of Middle-earth before and during the coming of the humans . . . richly filled with magic, heroic deed, and wonderful resonant names . . . a fantastic book in every sense of the word."--The Seattle Times