Read this first back when I was a fairly small child. I didn't remember, or more likely didn't realize at the time, just how much melancholy was bound up in the passing of the Age, especially apparent in the interludes with the Elves. It's also not as descriptive as I remembered. Though it is extremely slow, the pages are taken up by detailed accounts of the journey rather than the surroundings. Still plenty of time spent placing happenings precisely on a map, not to worry.

I think it was also greatly benefited by reading The Silmarillion, Children of Húrin, and portions of Unfinished Tales and the appendices to Return of the King, using the Chronological Tolkien timeline. It gives a depth to the history that, despite the best efforts of the characters, can only be communicated somewhat in the songs and tales of a much later Age.