The central books are listed here. The appereance of the cover varies a lot. You can find a collection of covers right here. Have a wonderful journey!

A great book for starters. It is easy to read and many may say it's a childrensbook. Anyway it's a must-read. In the hobbit we are introduced to the world of Middle-earth. In the Shire we meet a strange small folk. They are the hobbits. They're a small happy folk living in harmony and most does not want to know of the world outside. Still there are some that do and go off on quests.

We get to know Bilbo Baggins, and he is a highly respected hobbit. One day a wizard comes by his house. His name was Gandalf and he had plans for this little hobbit.

Bilbo never thought he would ever do anything unexpected like wander off at an adventure, but somehow he gets in the company of a group of dwarves. Then they all go on a quest. The dwarves has been robbed all they own including their home by the terrible dragon Smaug. The road is not easy and they get in to several problems underway. During their trip Bilbo is guided by fate to find a special object which will have a very signifficance to the future of all Middle-earth.

Probably the most extensive fantasy novel ever created. It's a real fantasy classic. The Lord of the Rings is Tolkien's most known works and is the first real fantasy as we know it today. It has a very ancient-like, epic aura and there's an incredible amount of work behind it, something that really was a life's work. To some it's almost like a bible. The whole novel is about one thousand pages and may be a bit much to fresh readers. The Hobbit is a good start and also make a nice intro to the characters in The Lord of the Rings. Lately the book has also been brought to the screen in three movies, and it's really well made. I recommend you see the film, though it might be a good idea to read the books first as it gives you a much better insight. You can also get the novel book in three volumes, named the same as the movies; "Fellowship of the Ring", "Two Towers" and "The Return of the King".

The plot is quite basic though. The fight against evil. The hobbit Bilbo, as introduced in The Hobbit, found a spiecial ring on his quest, a ring of great power. He is unaware of this and so is the wizard Gandalf. The wizard get's suspicious though and finds out the thruth about it. It is in fact the ring of the terrible, evil, demon Sauron which is bound to it with his soul. Gandalf manages to get Bilbo to leave the ring behind to his nephew, Frodo Baggins. He hears from Gandalf that evil powers are after the ring. Frodo sets off with the ring. Underway, they are witnesses to the evil growing in the world. With the help of some strange ranger, they get to Rivendell, a home to elves, to discuss what is to be done with the ring. We follow them on their quest to destroy evil once and for all. The road is not easy and all seems hopeless more than once, but of course Goodness triumphs.