A total war type RTS or action adventure game based on the era and battles against Morgoth would be cool.

Im not an expert on Tolkien (only read the Hobbit and LotR back in middle school so its been a while) but Morgoth is in the Similarian right?

Also why were elves so OP? Their only "weakness" was that they are tied by destiny while man is free to create his own fate but men seem really underpowered in comparison (physically weaker, limited lifespan even its in the hundreds of years, maybe most corruptible). Dwarfs also get a raw deal given the fact that as a race, they should be pretty powerful. Strong warriors, cant be corrupted by the rings (at least in the movies), and expert craftsmen. Everyone loves the elves though.

The Silmarillion, yes. And also Children of Hurin, Beren & Luthien (where Sauron also plays a part) and Fall of Gondolin - all three published as standalone books, though they cover the events already described, in less detail, in the Silmarillion.

You're thinking of it like it's a game setting, and supposed to be "balanced" :D You could just as well ask why bears are so OP compared to mice.

Also, mortality was never meant to be a "weakness". Not being forever tied to this world was just as much a blessing as a curse - remember that elves are tied to this world forever. Even if they should be killed, their "afterlife" is still a place within the bounds of this creation, and when eventually it will end, so will they. Men have but a short time here, but “In sorrow we must go, but not in despair. Behold! we are not bound for ever to the circles of the world, and beyond them is more than memory.”

Also, think of the Hobbits. They are the least "powerful" of all. Physically, or politically or militarily, they are the smallest of the small. And they don't care one bit. They are happier and better off than any other race in Middle-Earth. And when push comes to shove they are capable of deeds that destroy the mightiest evil. And that's, largely, the point. Power is illusory, lust for power self destructive. Immortality is no happiness.

Edit: oh, and dwarves did get corrupted by the rings, made greedier, more jealous etc. they just could not be controlled like men and turned into wraiths, because they are so immensly stubborn :D

I did say twice that's how *I* view it, and that it was unlikely to be what Tolkien meant.

At least it justifies why the Eagles didn't just drop the Ring into Mount Doom.

Cool. I didnt know how many other books there were. I think I read that Silmarillion was unfinished and his son had to finish it?

Oh, I thought the dwarves are not corruptible or couldnt be controlled, hence why Sauron focused on destroying them since they were a potential impediment to his plans to conquer Middle Earth. I guess that also means there is an afterlife for men that they can go to while Elves are stuck?

Yeah, hobbits seem to be the happiest. Eat 6 meals a day, dont seem to have issues beyond neighbors being nosy (like first world problems) and seem to have a decent life just smoking pipeweed lol.

Yes. Same for all the ones I mentioned. Children of Hurin exists as a complete novel and probably is the most "approachable" for more casual readers who would just like more of the epic fantasy like LotR (though much darker and tragic). Beren & Luthien and Fall of Gondolin are collections of various iterations of each story from the finished early versions (that would hardly fit with the final shape of his legendarium) to unifinished but much more polished later versions.

It's worth remembering that in Hobbit and Lord of the Rings we pretty much only encounter dwarves from the House of Durin, probably the most noble of the dwarves, and there were six other ancient "fathers of the dwarves".

In general "Of the people of Middle-earth, Dwarves are the most resistant to corruption and influence of Morgoth and later Sauron. The seven rings of Power of the dwarves did not turn them to evil, but it did amplify their greed and lust for gold. It is said that very few wilfully served the side of darkness".

Pretty much. The fate (or fates) of the mortal races are deliberately kept unclear in the books, other than there is some afterlife beyond this world for them, but anything more was hidden even from the Valar ("gods") who dwelt within the boundries of the world.

I don't have the time to read fiction anymore and probably won't read many of the Fantasy/Sci-fi classics so it is a case of blissful ignorance for me (GoT, Witcher, LoTR, Dune... you name it, I'm sure they are great, but life is short and I don't have the time anymore to read countless bricks that won't translate in useful knowledge, save for saying with authority the movies/series don't live up to the books... nothing condensed in 2 weeks worth of content will do justice to something you invested 6 months of your life reading).

I read the first 4-5 WoT novel when I was a teenager and I thought the season 1 on Amazon was fine (I recognized a lot of what I read, though I missed the ending from book 1 where the Eye is used to decimate an army of monsters, that would have been epic to watch and more believable than a handful of source users, no matter how powerful, achieving the same without a sa'angreal... they OPed channeling quite a bit there, but anyways, nothing is perfect). It wasn't GoT season 1-4 good, but I'm reasonably certain the Wheel of Time books aren't "Song of Ice and Fire" good, so...

Of course I don't like it, but that doesn't mean I don't respect it.
We agree on this thing.

All these books are compilations from drafts, which normally have many different versions. Christopher Tolkien ( the son ) had researched them for decades and written numerous books based on this source material.

He had admitted, that sometimes had put events in wrong order or misinterpreted facts. Therefore, the same stories in distinct books can be more or less different.

Silmarillion is the first and most popular work. It covers the largest scale of events, but stories are cut very short. Many readers consider it to be rather history and lore book, however there are normal story arcs, dialogues and action.

Children of Húrin is the only one complete and consistent full-length novel. It has very interesting plot, deeply inspired by the Karelian mythology.

Other books are not that polished and don't provide the entire story-line. The majority of readers would not be really interested in such literature.

If you are into "making of" materials, I recommend to read selected stories from the History of Middle-earth. However, it will be as much a research work, as it is an entertainment.

It provides the initial version of the setting lore ( more interesting in my opinion, and more detailed than Silmarillion ), possible plans for its transformation to our real world, the first chapters of canceled novels ( including one set in Númenor and another being sequel to Lord of the Rings ) and other prominent drafts for curious readers. ;)

I think they will make a mediocre TV series at best. This will either have no effect or increase the popularity of LOTR, in general, and likely introduce new viewers/readers to the stories.

I have no qualms with major studios producing new TV shows or 10 sequels to popular titles. They must make lots of $$$ from them. Reusing a tried-and-true formula with minimal modification is likely low risk/high reward compared to producing new stories. Personally, I wouldn't watch a new LOTR series but I'm sure I'm in the minority. I didn't enjoy the Hobbit movies but they still took in a billion dollars. (Why watch an 8hr trilogy when you can read the book in 6hrs?)

Each new entry to once-great stories/trilogies seems like progressively diluted versions of the original(s). Star Wars, Jurassic Park, etc.. How many times do we need to see a spherical space station explode or more gnarly versions of a T-Rex?. If anything, I find myself looking to the past for better media. The NPR Star Wars audio dramas are terrific. The Jurassic Park book is phenomenal. And the 1978 LOTR animation film is prettay, prettay... pretty good.

Old people don't like stale media, but young people don't know any better - it's fresh to them. Clearly, I've become an old man. (Jeez, did I even answer the posted question?)