I've heard many people say that it "reads like the Bible", or like a history book: there aren't any "viewpoint characters", or really any recurring characters a

I've heard many people say that it "reads like the Bible", or like a history book: there aren't any "viewpoint characters", or really any recurring characters at all (especially if inscrutable angelic beings don't count). Certainly if you're expecting another story in the style of The Lord of the Rings, you'll be disappointed. Personally, I loved the book, but I was hungry for all the "lore" about Middle-earth and its history that I could find. I think most people would really prefer a self-contained story. Oh, and for the record, an underlying reason for many people disliking The Silmarillion may be that Tolkien never really finished it. I have a little bit of a writeup of the story behind that on my Tolkien FAQ site: http://tolkien.slimy.com/faq/External.html#SilmChanges http://tolkien.slimy.com/faq/External.html#SilmChanges