The Lord of the Rings

[Mailliw73 he/him]

I am going to begin reading the TLotR series and am wondering if it is better to start with the hobbit or the first book of the actual trilogy?

[FlashWrogan he/him]

The Hobbit is aimed at a younger audience, is faster paced, and easier to get through. That said, though there are a few things that pertain to the trilogy, LotR can be read without any knowledge of The Hobbit.

It comes down to whether you want to start with an easy read, or the heavy stuff. I wouldn't say reading one particularly enriches the other.

[Tamzin Ashevai she/her]

Here's a bit of history about J.R.R. Tolkein via Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien.  The author was a visionary!  To this day, I remain amazed that he wrote just what he did at the time in which he did.  However, there was this.  First and foremost, I'm a reader.  Never, will I ever, post a reply if I've not read (or, in some cases, watched) an issue's specifics.  Therefore, I've naught left to say this night.

Edited May 6, 2013 by Tamzin Ashevai

[Observer]

Probably better to start with the Hobbit and have a little background knowledge on how things got to be as they are, but you don't really have to.