



The Fellowship of the Ring(Lord of the Rings)
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4.7 • 1.9K Ratings
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
An unlikely hero. A perilous quest. The greatest adventure ever told.
In a quiet village in the Shire, young Frodo is about to receive a gift that will change his life forever.
Thought lost centuries ago, it is the One Ring, an object of terrifying power once used by the Dark Lord to enslave Middle-earth. Now darkness is rising, and Frodo must travel deep into the Dark Lord’s realm, to the one place the Ring can be destroyed: Mount Doom.
The journey will test Frodo’s courage, his friendships and his heart. Because the Ring corrupts all who bear it—can Frodo destroy it, or will it destroy him?
'The English-speaking world is divided into those who have read The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and those who are going to read them.'—Sunday Times
This brand-new unabridged recording is narrated by the acclaimed actor, director and author, Andy Serkis.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendary Lord of the Rings trilogy is the tale by which all other elves-and-wizards stories are measured. And who better to narrate it than the most memorable voice in the movie adaptations: Andy Serkis, who gives an unforgettable performance as the creepy, conflicted Gollum. In the series’ first installment, Serkis displays a gift for inhabiting all of Tolkien’s characters, from the august wizard Gandalf to the plucky hobbit Frodo to the rest of the gang that joins their quest to save Middle-earth from an unfathomable evil. Even when he’s simply narrating Frodo and company’s quest in the third person, Serkis uses a rich, dramatic tone that makes every detail of the saga resonate. This audiobook is an awesome to experience a great epic.
Customer Reviews
Angry Gandalf!
Why does Andy have to make Gandalf so angry?! Love everything else about this audiobook and series in general though!
Great book, sketchy production.
Andy Serkis is a masterful narrator and the myriad voices he uses are distinct and reliable. This gives an immense depth to the storytelling.
That said, this publisher’s production of all of the LOTR books (including The Hobbit) in this four-part series is lacking. The chapter numbers don’t line up with the actual book chapters, taking the various dedications, forwards, and other pre-book materials to be their own numbered chapters. This means that I am unable to listen and know what chapter I’m actually listening to. In addition, every chapter that is read ends several seconds before the timer ends for that chapter. That means anytime you begin a new chapter you have to wait seconds to minutes before the actual chapter begins.
Finally, and quite annoyingly, the producers jarring voice saying “the end“ is its own chapter and comes a mere 2 1/2 seconds after Serkis is done.
After the final words of a good book are read, I think many (most?) listeners find it desirable to sit quietly for a just few seconds and allow the “echoes” to fade away in our minds. To me there’s nothing better than finishing a satisfying book, then taking a deep breath and smiling about it. The producer ruined that by stepping in way too early and in a “voice made for print….“
While rhetorical chapters issue may be an “Apple issue,” I’ve not seen this particular behavior before and there are many complaints here. Someone needs to fix this. This behavior is annoying and has been a minor blight on my enjoyment of this wonderfully narrated story. Predictably, Apple Support has no feedback mechanism for this and no way to determine whether this is “normal behavior,” or is a peculiar quirk of this production.
Andy Serkis is a fantastic narrator!
Many people have recorded the reading of these iconic Lord Of The Rings books, and it’s my opinion that Andy Serkis has done the best reading so far. He has a rich baritone voice with a wonderful command of the different characters.
I only have one small negative criticism. I like to fall asleep listening to audiobooks and Andy”s reading of Fellowship is lovely… until the crew of Hobbits make their way to a town called Bree. The Black Riders find them there and at one point in chapter fifteen all of a sudden the volume doubles with one of Brees inhabitants screaming “fire”!!! Which totally freaks me out of sleep while reaching for the volume button of Apple’s Books App. Not joking.
This is where I constructively ask for the folks who edited this story’s recording to find this one part and to TURN IT DOWN!