- Book: The Silmarillion
- Author: JRR Tolkien
- Publisher: George Allen & Unwin
- Published: 1977
Part history, part Bible for Tolkien’s mythos, the Silmarillion was published after his death after being edited by his son and a young Guy Gavriel Kay. It’s quite hard to describe what the Silmarillion is in terms of other books in the fantasy genre. It isn’t really a short story collection, though it also sort of is. If you’ve read any of the Norse Prose Edda you might have a bit more of an idea, although that too is not a perfect analogue.
It is a book for Lore nerds more than a casual reader (at the risk of sounding pretentious). If you are a die-hard Tolkien fan you will likely have already read it. But if you read & generally liked the books but found them a bit wordy, or for some inexplicable reason weren’t a fan of Tom Bombadil, you might find the Silmarillion to be more of that side of Tolkien. For my part, I think it is an amazing bit of work, & I wish there were more books like it based in other author’s worlds. GRRM is doing something vaguely similar I guess with his Fire & Blood, but that’s much more of a history book than the quasi-religious nature of the Silmarillion.
This is a second edition of the original UK version of the book that belongs to my dad.
- Beer: Dagmal
- Brewery: Tring Brewery Co.
- Style: Breakfast Stout
- Strength: 5%
Is ‘Breakfast’ stout a thing? I can say for sure that I would not want to drink this with breakfast. There is a very distinct bitter, coffee taste. A strong cold brew espresso. That is about as far as the breakfast drink vibe goes though. It is definitely a beer & no beer before midday is still a mantra I stick to.
So assuming you were going to drink this at a ‘responsible’ time, it is a thoroughly drinkable milk stout. Dark, rich, malty goodness.
Burch's Books and Beers 