The Silmarillion Edition Illustrated By J.R.R. Tolkien Gets Its Biggest Deal For Prime Day 2023

For the first time since the original publication in 1977, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion got an edition that's illustrated in color. What's more, the paintings and drawings that complement the text come from Tolkien himself. Given the massive success of The Lord of The Rings Illustrated Edition, it's no surprise that The Silmarillion got similar treatment from HarperCollins, and the book has never been cheaper thanks to Prime Day 2023. 

In addition to Tolkien's art, The new The Silmarillion Illustrated Edition features text printed in two colors along with an introductory letter written by Tolkien in 1951 that "provides a brilliant exposition of the earlier Ages". The hardcover The Silmarillion Illustrated Edition is available right here on Amazon now for $26.04 as a 24-hour Prime Day deal. That's an all-time low price by around $4. Note that The Lord of the Rings Illustrated Edition is also massively discounted on Amazon for Prime Day. 

Tolkien began work on the stories featured in The Silmarillion during WWI, and continued to work on it long after The Lord of the Rings trilogy had been published. After Tolkien's death in 1973, his son Christopher Tolkien edited and compiled these works into the book we know today.

The new illustrated edition also came at a time when interest in J.R.R. Tolkien's work heated up after the debut of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series on Amazon Prime Video (which recently wrapped up filming for its second season). The series is set thousands of years before The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, during Middle-earth's Second Age. It begins during a time of relative peace following the defeat of Morgoth, Sauron's master. The series chronicles the lives and adventures of its ensemble cast and promises to visit the Misty Mountains, the forest elf-capital of Lindon, and the shores of the island kingdom of Númenor. Note that a new book entitled The Fall of Númenor collects stories that inspired the series. 

The first season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is streaming  Amazon Prime Video now. A description for The Silmarillion can be found below.

"The Silmarillion is the history of the rebellion of Fëanor and his kindred against the gods, their exile from Valinor and return to Middle-earth, and their war, hopeless despite all the heroism, against the great Enemy. It is the ancient drama to which the characters in The Lord of the Rings look back, and in whose events some of them such as Elrond and Galadriel took part."

"The book also includes several shorter works: the Ainulindalë, a myth of the Creation, and the Valaquenta, in which the nature and powers of each of the gods is described. The Akallabêth recounts the downfall of the great island kingdom of Númenor at the end of the Second Age, and Of the Rings of Power tells of the great events at the end of the Third Age, as narrated in The Lord of the Rings."

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