The Silmarillion

By: J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien

Narrated by: Andy Serkis

Length: 19 hrs and 24 mins

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

TIPS when reading this book:

This is undoubtedly an incredible book, and is a book I would say is a must read if you’re a fan of Tolkien. However, I do have some tips for you if you’re listening rather then reading it. The actually hard copy book comes with a map so it’s fun to be reading and flip back and forth between the pages and map to see where he’s describing. Obviously that’s more difficult if you’re listening to it. I would recommend looking a map up on your phone or online of Beleriand and when he starts describing a place to go look for it. It makes the read more enjoyable and you’re not just over whelmed by these random places. My other tip is if you’re wondering who someone is, then look them up online, because the further the story goes it’s cool to see who’s connected to who.

Overall, in the end once we get to the third age it’s sweet to see who Elrond comes from and it makes you realize how old Galadriel and Cirdan actually are, and what they’ve both been through. It’s freaking awesome!

Also, Andy’s performance was was great as usual! Hope this helps

Masterpiece, an Oscar Worthy Performance

I have been through 50+ audiobooks at this point and this is far and away the best, by a wide margin.

Andy Serkis lends himself to every single character, perspective, and simply master the poetic nature of the story better than anyone before. This is a man all time performance of an otherwise difficult or inaccessible piece of fantasy told at the level and in the tone of pure myth. Non-fantasy fans will enjoy this as much as avid readers of the genre for the performance alone.

The Silmarillion is a history of middle earth and it’s heavenly origin that was shaped and reshaped over the course of Tolkien’s own life, and put into digestible form by his son. It is not told explicitly as a linear story following several major characters, but over the course different eras, major characters rise and fall, without failing in continuity or prose. It gives the universe that Tolkien imagined a sense of depth and expansiveness still imitated but never accomplished by modern fantasy authors.

Treat yo’self to this reading by Andy Serkis immediately.

Amazing

Andy Serkis is an amazing narrator.
Hundreds of characters in this massive
Middle Earth pre-history each are given a unique voice by Andy’s genius as an actor and narrator. The Silmarillion isn’t written like Tolkien’s Hobbit and Lord of the Rings and can be quite dry at times.
Andy brings the Middle Earth mythology to life and makes it fascinating to listen to.

Excellent narration of a great book

There are other narrations of this book by other readers, but Serkis’ performance is magnificent. Once started it is difficult to stop as he pulls you into the story. His renditions of the characters is excellent, and particularly evident when conveying a character with strong emotion. I really enjoyed his portrayal of Glaurung the dragon.
The Silmarillion itself is a great book, but has a very different tone from Tolkien’s other works. It can be a bit daunting at first but we’ll worth putting in some time to understand the underlying timeline and themes.

Mostly Superb

An amazing Compilation of Stories for those LOTR fans who feel they need some extra juicy lore. It drags on in some parts but overall it was quite and enjoyable experience. Andy Serkis did a killer job narrating this one.

Amazing piece of literature

Having been a fan of Lord of the Rings for 20 years, and trying to give The Silmarillion a try several times, the audiobook helps extremely with the names, places etc.

Andy Serkis does an extremely good job with the performance.

Everything I was looking for

I’ve always been a big fan of the films and have wanted to know about the origin of this universe. This audiobook helped provide the critical information and painted a beautiful picture for the beginning of the Lord of the rings universe. This audiobook has inspired me to look deeper into the lore.

Andy Serkis doesn't seem to understand Tolkien's Elves

The Silmirillion is one of my favorite stories. The formation of Middle Earth, the early tales of Middle Earth and the origins of Tolkien's world. The story is great and very enjoyable.

The problem with this version is Andy Serkis. He is an excellent reader and his version of LOTR is really great. But, Serkis seems to not understand that Tolkien's Elves are fair in all regards. Serkis reads them like they are Orcs, gruff and grumbling voices. The majority of this story is focused on the Elves of Middle Earth.

For this reason, I cannot recommend this version of the Silmirillion.

Excellent voice actor!

Andy Serkis brings all the ages of Arda to life, along with its joys, sorrows, triumphs, and defeats.

Amazing work by Serkis

This story was brought to life so much more for me with Andy Serkis reading it and this is my 3rd time through. All of Tolkien’s books that Andy has read are improved by his skill. This story is very deep and makes me wish Tolkien had lived 100 more year to continue creating Middle Earth.