The Fellowship of the Ring

J. R. R. Tolkien

Sep 2021 · The Lord of the Rings (narrated by Andy Serkis) Book 1 · HarperCollins · Narrated by Andy Serkis

About this audiobook

This brand-new unabridged audio book of The Fellowship of the Ring, the first part of J. R. R. Tolkien’s epic adventure, The Lord of the Rings, is read by the BAFTA award-winning actor, director and author, Andy Serkis.

In a sleepy village in the Shire, a young hobbit is entrusted with an immense task. He must make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ruling Ring of Power – the only thing that prevents the Dark Lord Sauron’s evil dominion.

Thus begins J. R. R. Tolkien’s classic tale of adventure, which continues in The Two Towers and The Return of the King.

Ratings and reviews

Andy Serkis is a fine actor but his reading of these books is just awful. His voice is too gravelly and the accents he does are uncomfortable parodies of the actors in the film versions. He is also tone deaf with no sense of rhythm so his 'singing' of the poems and songs in the book is appalling. I've loved the LOTR for years but I hate what he's done to it and I've had to uninstall these versions and buy it again with Rob Inglis narrating - much better

Not good at all. Terrible cadence - odd pauses in the middle of sentences all over the place which ruin the flow, odd accents (why a Liverpudlian accent in Gondor, a mixture of middle English, Scots and Devonshiire accents in the Shire??), most of the Men have deep gravelly, harsh, rough voices that are hard to listen to, and the Orcs are even worse. The singing is atrocious and always seems to drag on forever.

Unpopular opinion: I really didn't like this version, unfortunately. So much so, that I couldn't even get past the first chapter. I've read the books multiple times, love the movies, and love Andy Serkis, but - this audiobook is a *performance*, not a narration. In this audiobook, Andy Serkis' interpretation blocks the listener's option of having a personal experience. I gave up in the end, and shelled out for the Rob Inglis version instead, which was perfect (in my ears).

About the author

J.R.R.Tolkien (1892-1973) was a distinguished academic, though he is best known for writing The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion and The Children of Hurin, plus other stories and essays. His books have been translated into over 50 languages and have sold many millions of copies worldwide.