Hana’s Reviews > Unfinished Tales of Númenor & Middle-Earth > Status Update

The Battles of the Fords of Isen:
This was fine, I guess. An extended fight scene was never going to be my favourite thing.

The Hunt for the Ring:
My main takeaway from this story is that Saruman is a Child.

The Quest for Erebor:
Tolkien was the master of retconning. Also, Gandalf’s speech to Thorin about not underestimating Hobbits was fantastic.

The History of Galadriel and Celeborn:
Wildly confusing, but brilliant. Such an interesting example of how Tolkien’s writing evolved over decades, and also made me admire Galadriel much more than I did after just what we get of her in The Silmarillion.
(Also, I am absolutely choosing to consider as true the version where these two come to Middle-Earth ahead of Feanor, even if it isn’t strictly canon…)

The Line of Elros: Kings of Númenor
Feels like something you’d find in a history textbook. Very little here that wouldn’t be more efficiently/digestibly conveyed by a detailed family tree (I think there is one in the print version?)

Aldarion and Erendis:
Fascinating, and so different to anything else Tolkien ever wrote. So many themes, so much incredible character and relationship work.

A Description of the Island of Númenor:
On one level this is just infodumpy worldbuilding, but the prose is beautiful and it has a fair bit of thematic relevance about Númenóreans society/the character of Men too

(Skipped Narn I Hîn Húrin because I’m about to read Children of Húrin next anyway, and as much as Túrin’s story is important/thematically resonant/etc., I don’t particularly want to spend that much time with him!)

Of Tuor and His Coming to Gondolin:
😍😍 Tuor is just such a hero.