Books like

Books like The Silmarillion

12 books with a reading profile close to The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien. Deep; a demanding read.

1

Le Morte d'Arthur: King Arthur and the Legends of the Round Table

by Thomas Malory

Also deep · dense, literary

Thomas Malory compiled and reimagined disparate French and English sources to create this definitive narrative of the Arthurian cycle.
2

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

by Gawain Poet

Also deep · dense, literary

At Camelot's New Year feast, a huge green knight rides in and offers a challenge: anyone may strike him with an axe, if he can return the blow in a year and a day.
3

Beren and Lúthien

by J.R.R. Tolkien

Also deep · dense, classic literature

Tolkien wrote the story of Beren and Lúthien around 1917, and it lies at the center of his mythology.
4

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

by Burton Raffel

Also deep · literary, classic literature

At a New Year’s feast in Camelot, a giant green stranger interrupts the festivities to challenge King Arthur’s knights to a lethal exchange of blows.
5

Beowulf

by Unknown

Also deep · dense, literary

Beowulf is an Old English epic poem centered on a Geatish warrior who travels to Denmark to assist King Hrothgar.
6

Unfinished Tales

by J.R.R. Tolkien

Also deep · dense, classic literature

Edited and published posthumously by Christopher Tolkien, this collection preserves narrative fragments and historical essays that expand the chronology of Middle-earth.
7

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

by Susanna Clarke

Also deep · dense, literary

In 1806, English magic is a dead subject confined to dry histories until Gilbert Norrell reveals his ability to animate the statues of York Cathedral.
8

Twelfth Night

by William Shakespeare

Also deep · dense, literary

After a shipwrecks near the coast of Illyria, Viola believes her twin brother Sebastian is dead.
9

Richard II

by William Shakespeare

Also deep · dense, literary

King Richard II believes his authority originates from divine right, yet his erratic leadership and the seizure of John of Gaunt’s estate trigger a political crisis.
10

Babel

by R.F. Kuang

Also deep · dense, literary

Set in 1830s Oxford, the story follows Robin Swift, a Cantonese orphan trained to work within Babel, the university’s prestigious Institute of Translation.
11

Obras completas

by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Also deep · dense, literary

This 1841 collection compiles the literary output of Miguel de Cervantes, centering on the adventures of Alonso Quijano, a country gentleman who adopts the persona of Don Quixote.
12

The Canterbury Tales

by Geoffrey Chaucer

Also deep · dense, literary

Geoffrey Chaucer’s poem presents a fictional storytelling competition among thirty pilgrims traveling from London to the shrine of Thomas Becket.

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