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The Fall of Númenor

By: J.R.R. Tolkien, Brian Sibley - editor
Narrated by: Samuel West, Brian Sibley
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Publisher's Summary

J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings on the Second Age of Middle-earth, collected for the first time in one volume.

J.R.R. Tolkien famously described the Second Age of Middle-earth as a ‘dark age, and not very much of its history is (or need be) told’. And for many years readers would need to be content with the tantalizing glimpses of it found within the pages of The Lord of the Rings and its appendices, including the forging of the Rings of Power, the building of the Barad-dûr and the rise of Sauron.

It was not until Christopher Tolkien published The Silmarillion after his father’s death that a fuller story could be told. Although much of the book’s content concerned the First Age of Middle-earth, there were at its close two key works that revealed the tumultuous events concerning the rise and fall of the island of Númenor. Raised out of the Great Sea and gifted to the Men of Middle-earth as a reward for aiding the angelic Valar and the Elves in the defeat and capture of the Dark Lord Morgoth, the kingdom became a seat of influence and wealth; but as the Númenóreans’ power increased, the seed of their downfall would inevitably be sown, culminating in the Last Alliance of Elves and Men.

Even greater insight into the Second Age would be revealed in subsequent publications, first in Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-Earth, then expanded upon in Christopher Tolkien’s magisterial twelve-volume The History of Middle-Earth, in which he presented and discussed a wealth of further tales written by his father, many in draft form.

Now, adhering to the timeline of ‘The Tale of Years’ in the appendices to The Lord of the Rings, editor Brian Sibley has assembled into one comprehensive volume a new chronicle of the Second Age of Middle-earth, told substantially in the words of J.R.R. Tolkien from the various published texts.

©2022 The Tolkien Estate Limited, The Tolkien Trust and the estate of C.R. Tolkien, Brian Sibley (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

Critic Reviews

"How, given little over half a century of work, did one man become the creative equivalent of a people?" (The Guardian)

"Demanding to be compared with English mythologies…at times rises to the greatness of true myth." (Financial Times)

"A creation of singular beauty…magnificent in its best moments." (Washington Post)

What listeners say about The Fall of Númenor

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  • Ben
  • 07-02-2023

Mostly a rehash of other books

While it is good to combine previous works into one book for the subject this is mostly just a reproduction of the Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales. It would have been better to put this into a comprehensive narrative.

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Incredible

Fantastic story putting all of the significant events in the second age in one volume is such a wonderful way of telling this story that will hopefully be more well known after this performance. Having Samuel West narrate the actual stories, with Brian Sibley reading the notes and Christopher Tolkien parts provides a clear and distinct transition as to which parts were written by Tolkien and which parts were added by Christopher Tolkien.

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    4 out of 5 stars

More a Sourcebook than a novel

I mistakenly thought this was a cohesive narrative when I got this - a story set around The Fall - but this is part exploration of Tolkien's intention and process for Numenor, partly his son's work to piece bits together, and then the actual text itself and comparative analysis of versions and inconsistencies. If you're a Tolkien fan, then this will be great, and the story itself is obviously classic from the Silmarillion and other books, which you do get here.
Overall I expected something different, but was not disappointed!

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Exceptional, insightful captivating

The storyline is incredible (and gives much needed background to the 2022 tv show by Amazon) however it is the commentary, discussions and referenced to the revisions to the history and characters that makes this stand out. It is an exquisite compilation of disparate sources and I highly recommend to any Tolkein fan particularly as a refresher after reading Unfinished Tales and The Silmarillion (this book expands upon those sections relevant to Numenor).

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Not a story

Disappointed it wasn’t in more of a story format. It was a collection of notes well curated to share information. Very much a background of the numenor.

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