Yep.
It's really cool, though, if you have the patience. Lots of names are thrown at you at once. I will not lie, sometimes I had to put the book down to review the terms and names before I moved on to the next story. There is a very broad story arc as the 1st and 2nd ages of Middle Earth are chronicled in the tales. Parts of the 3rd age are covered in the appendices. The glossary of names in the appendix was extremely helpful. It kind of reads like a mix between a history book and a narrative account and I think it was designed to read that way. So there are parts that are sketchy with the details, and the narrative style changes. I like history books that are structured that way, so I didn't mind this. There is also the Book of lost tales, parts I and II, but I haven't read those yet and I don't think it has the same scope as the Silmarillion.
I actually didn't enjoy the Hobbit as much as the others. It was still a good read, but I think I made the mistake of reading it after the LOTRs and the Silmarillion and it was anti-climactic compared with the other books.
llj
But that might have just been that age I read it at.
