i did it some years ago...

... there's nothing to do, i hate tolkien's literary style, i find it so... simple... "fake"...

good stories, nothing else

I read it, its the beggining of everything in the LoTR world. It has a lot of things/stories similar to the greek mitology and bible in the first chapters. Its kind boring in the first 100 pages, like people said a lot of names. But after that you can relate some of the charachters to the LOTR series then it gets more interesting.

omfg its so pointless...........

yes it was the first story before the hobbit

vouch, i have it too and still want to read it

it truelly is, if you really want to see such political standing of everyone and the do-nots and dos of their actions. It basically gives character within the vague description of "dwarven ; elven ; halfling ; etc."

It starts off really slow, but if you get into it, you'll find it's one of his better works.
I personally enjoyed it, and like others said, it's not an easy read.

the lord of the rings is the story of the second age of middle earth. the 3rd age starting at the end of the series.

The simarillion tells the story of the first age. it reads just like the bible.

but if you can make it through it. it is quite a good story.