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The Silmarillion

By: J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien
Narrated by: Andy Serkis
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Publisher's Summary

The forerunner to The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion tells the earlier history of Middle-earth, recounting the events of the First and Second Ages, and introducing some of the key characters, such as Galadriel, Elrond, Elendil and the Dark Lord, Sauron.

The tales of The Silmarillion are set in an age when Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in Middle-earth, and the High Elves made war upon him for the recovery of the Silmarils, the jewels containing the pure light of Valinor.

Included on the recording are several shorter works. The Ainulindalë is a myth of the Creation and in the Valaquenta the nature and powers of each of the gods is described. The Akallabêth recounts the downfall of the great island kingdom of Númenor at the end of the Second Age, and Of the Rings of Power tells of the great events at the end of the Third Age, as narrated in The Lord of the Rings.

This brand-new unabridged recording is read by the acclaimed actor, director and author, Andy Serkis.

©1977 The Tolkien Estate Limited and C.R. Tolkien (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers

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 Silmarillion

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Book Review 21 (2024) - 5/5 - 'The Silmarillion

I picked the special hardcover edition of The Silmarillion up on our Disney Cruise to Hobart late last year. To be honest, I wasn't aware there even was a forerunner to the timeless, 'The Lord of the Rings', but given it was the last one in the shop and Benji picked it out (knocked it off the shelf), I felt compelled to buy it.

I apologise in advance if I get my geek on as Fantasy Fiction is a rare but guilty pleasure of mine.
For those unsure what Silmarillion even are (As I was) they were three perfect jewels, fashioned by our protagonist and elf, Feanor, most gifted of his time. But the first of the Dark Lords, Morgoth, precursor to Sauron, stole these jewels and set them in his iron crown he himself fashioned. And yes, you guessed it, he held it in an impregnable fortress in an area not dissimilar to Mordor, called Angband.

The book covers 10,000 of history preceding The Lord of The Rings called The First & Second Ages. Following the arc of Joseph Campbell's classic Hero's Journey and Quest, our elven narrator Feanor and his kindred wage a war, hopeless despite all the heroism, against an ancient enemy to get back what was lost.

What I found most interesting, was the book also included several shorter works, like the esoteric Ainulindale, which is the creation mythos of Middle Earth that bears many similarities to Judeo-Christian texts. "There was Eru, The One...and he made the first of the Ainur, The Holy Ones...that were the offspring of his thought."

Like the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien first told his stories to his children at bed-time, and while he could not publish the Silmarillion in his lifetime, as it was a moveable feast, his son Christopher took up the mantle. He poured over his father's old manuscripts and notes and put together his father's great vision to publishable form, thus completing arguably the literary achievement of a generation.

The special edition is quite noteworthy as it presents anew many of Tolkien's illustrations, paintings and hand-written notes which reveal the beauty and breathtaking grandeur of J.R.R. Tolkien's world of Middle Earth. A nice little Easter egg is a letter written by Tolkien in 1951 which provides a brilliant exposition of The Silmarillion as a whole and ealrier ages.

What I've always found fascinating is writers are always told to "write what you know", so it begs the question, how did Tolkien and other fiction writers like George R.R. Martin, Terry Pratchett et. al create these elaborate and rich worlds so different to our own?

Perhaps it's better not to know, and leave the alchemy of the written word to work it's magic.

Happy reading

CPH

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Otherworldly

Tolkien in this compendium displays his almost half a century devotion to developing a world so grandiose it takes one’s breath away. The way he and his son have developed and arranged the Silmarillion leads the reader to almost believe Tolkien possesses a knowledge of such a place and is merely reporting on what he has seen. With creatures great and small within Middle Earth, Tolkien yet provides the most subtle and seemingly irrelevant details which further pulls what would be esoteric fantasy into existence in the mind of his readers. Lastly, I cannot help but marvel at Tolkiens literary genius and restraint when deciding at times to leave origins and details within his world a mystery, birthing a voracious hunger in readers to discover evermore, the world of Ilúvatar.

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Amazing

Amazing book.
Andy Serkis is the perfect narrator.
The Silmarillion is packed with lore. Recommend reading with a map and family trees open to make it easier to follow.

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The stories within this book are unmatched…

The epic single combat duel between the High King Fingolfin and the Dark Lord was insane… Could only imagine what it would have looked/ felt like.
And the tale of Baren and Lúthien moved me unlike any other love story I’ve experienced.
Masterful.

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The Silmarillion

Omg, this was wonderful, I love it in book form but really came to life as an audible book

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Perfect match of voice to the epic of Tolkien!

You can truly tell Serkis is enamoured with the world of Tolkien. The pronounciations are great, and Serkis puts his heart into it. As for the content itself, what can you say that will do the works of Tolkien justice...

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phenomenal

I read the book twice already. I don't recommend this as a first Silmarillion experience as the amount of names and places and events is just overwhelming. once you are acquainted with the Silmarillion, listen to the master Serkis narrating what I consider the most fascinating work of Tolkien. this was just so epic and incredible. hearing the names pronounced correctly is also a great plus.

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What a fantastic deep dive into a loved story

I’m a huge LOTR and Hobbit fan. I wish I could have read this first . Just much more depth to loved characters, fantastic hero’s of old and bone chilling horrors of the darkest malice. The fact Golem reads it to you is the absolute cherry on top! Andy Serkis u the man!

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What a phenomenonal creation

Tolkien really did create his own mythology, a true master of fantasy storytelling. Read perfectly by Andy Serkis, what an absolute delight 😊

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I love tolkins work

All the story's in this book are great , my favourite is baren and luthien and the children of hurin

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