Ready to go on a brand-new adventure to Middle Earth? Well, you’re in luck because HarperCollins has announced a new book by J.R.R. Tolkien titled The Fall of Númenor. In the new literary work, fantasy fans will get to read a collection of stories set in the Second Age of Middle-earth – thousands of years before the events of The Lord of the Rings, and the time period where Amazon Prime Video’s upcoming TV series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, is set.
Using ‘The Tale of Years’ in the appendices to the legendary 1954 fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings, editor Brian Sibley collected texts and writings from Tolkien himself, and formed a cohesive chronicle of the Second Age of Middle-earth. In the book, we get to read references to the forging of the Rings of Power, the rise of the big baddie of the franchise Sauron, and the fall of the kingdom Númenor – which was the greatest civilisation of Men.
All those collected stories paint a pretty clear picture about where Prime Video’s The Rings of Power series will be going narratively in the future. And it is exciting to learn that fans can now prepare themselves for the show with a full companion book detailing the inspiration for the upcoming story by their side.
“Since the first publication of The Silmarillion forty-five years ago, I have passionately followed Christopher Tolkien’s meticulous curation and scholarship in publishing a formidable history of his father’s writings on Middle-earth,” Sibley said (via Comicbook.com). “I am honoured to be adding to that authoritative library with The Fall of Númenor. ”
“I hope that, in drawing together many of the threads from the tales of the Second Age into a single work, readers will discover – or rediscover – the rich tapestry of characters and events that are a prelude to the drama of the War of the Ring as is told in The Lord of the Rings.”
Pre-orders for The Fall of Númenor are live on Amazon, and a set release date for the novel is currently scheduled for November 2022. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will arrive on Amazon Prime video come September 2.