If you want to do a truly chronological read of the Middle-earth series, T is where you need to start—but be warned, it’s an infamously tough read. Originally rejected by Tolkien’s publisher for being too obscure and dense, this collection of stories was finally published posthumously in 1967, after being edited by his son Christopher Tolkien. T tells a number of epic tales set in Middle-earth and surrounding regions, all of which deal with the fight between good and evil.

The first of three “great tales” set during the First Age of Middle-earth, B follows the romance between a mortal man, Beren, and an immortal Elf, Lúthien. If this sounds familiar, the parallel is intentional—in L, Aragorn and Arwen are direct descendants of Beren and Lúthien, and their star-crossed fates are aligned.

The second “great tale” set during Middle-earth’s First Age, T is often considered to be one of Tolkien’s darkest stories. The book follows Túrin and Niënor Turambar, and their desperate attempts to fight against fate after their family is cursed by the Dark Lord Morgoth.

The third and final “great tale” of Middle-earth’s First Age, T is an epic historical story following the battle between Morgoth, the Dark Lord, and the holy warrior Ulmo.

Like many of the early entries on this list, U was published posthumously after extensive work by J.R.R. Tolkien’s son, Christopher Tolkien. This collection of short stories and essays fills in a lot of gaps and provides plenty of context for events we’ll later see in T and L—Gandalf features heavily, as do the Riders of Rohan and the Nazgûl.

Milking this 300-page book into a movie trilogy was arguably a terrible idea, but don’t let that put you off going back to the original text, which is a delight. The first of Tolkien’s books to be published, T centers on Bilbo Baggins, an ordinary hobbit sent on an extraordinary mission to help a group of dwarves recover their stolen treasure from a dragon. But along the way, Bilbo happens upon a mysterious ring, and decides to take it home. Because what’s the worst that could happen…?

The first novel in the L trilogy has echoes of T: Gandalf enlists Bilbo’s nephew, Frodo Baggins, to take on the unenviable task of destroying the cursed ring that his uncle brought home, before the dark lord Sauron can use it to enslave Middle-earth. A fellowship of heroes gradually assembles around Frodo, including three of his faithful hobbit friends, an elf, a dwarf, and two men whose fates are tied to the crumbling kingdom of Gondor.

The fellowship is splintered in the second Lord of the Rings installment: Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are drawn into a battle to defend the kingdom of Rohan. Frodo and Sam begin their treacherous journey to Mount Doom, now with the twisted creature Gollum in tow. And Merry and Pippin… spend a lot of time with some talking trees.

The L trilogy wraps up with a sweeping and emotional final chapter, as Gandalf and Aragorn lead the charge against Sauron’s army, while Frodo and Sam are physically and psychologically tested by their quest to destroy the One Ring.