Readers of this review should not mistake my displeasure for any lack of regard for the book itself. This is entirely on the narrator.

The Lord of the Rings has been a touchstone for me ever since I was ten. Tolkien's love of language and the world of immense detail he created frame a story that stans on its own for excellence.

Absolutely not! I'm sure Mr. Inglis' talents would work for some British lit, in fact he might well do a smash-up job on Alice or something like that, but his delivery is altogether inappropriate for this story. And oh God, someone should have prevented him from trying to sing Tolkien's songs.

Hmmm, almost anger. I love the entirety of Tolkien's Middle Earth and all the stories therein. There is a music in his poetry and a poetry in his music that requires care to bring across in a spoken performance. Rob Inglis left this poetic music writhing in shame on the ground, its petticoats torn, stockings awry and generally in a state of violated disrepair that I could not abide.

J. R. R. Tolkien was a linguist and a lover of the sound of language. If one listens to the music that is in Elvish when properly spoken, one cannot doubt that to be read aloud was one purpose for the writings of his tales of Middle Earth. I applaud Audible for bringing an attempt to do this into its collection, but I cannot describe in strong enough terms how disappointing this effort is in ruining the rhythm of the language and rendering the whole thing into a children's farce, note I say farce, not tale. One must love this material deeply in order to do it justice, as shown by the Peter Jackson film adaptations. I do not feel the love here.

The audio version is better to listen to than the print version. :) I do prefer to listen to the audio description of the landscape much more than I like to read about them. Overall, both audio and print are wonderful - this is "Lord of the Rings" we're talking about.

I love the introduction and development of the characters in The Fellowship of the Ring.

I loved Tom Bombadill, quirky, fun, wise. Additionally, I have noted the subtle more sophisticated and elevated tone Inglis uses with Aragorn so I enjoy his characterization there as well.

Oh yes.

The time commitment of re-reading all the Tolkien books is significant - it's really wonderful to be able to listen to the books during the long commute and enjoy them again and again.

A book with a great story, characters and narration. We have been waiting for it to be on Audible for a long time.

at the time

ganalf the wisord

great voice great story teller

many

I have been a Hobbit fan for well over fourty years

I have read this book many times. This time I listened to it being read by Rob Inglis. The source is Audible Books. I listened as a fan and can report that Mr. Inglis does a fairly good job. While he does his best to give the various charcters a distinct voice, it is sometimes a little difficult to imagine an elf with an English accent. In spite of that, he pulls it off well enough. I especially appreciate his handling of the poems and songs. To my mind the chants, poems, and songs are as important to the story as the dialogue or narrative.

Tolkien is a painter who uses words to create images in the mind, and you can watch as the tapestry is made. Hearing it just enhances the effect. It is better, I feel, to experience his stories in this way (in your mind) than to rely on any movies vision. Middle Earth lives clearest in your own imagination, unfettered by someone elses vision.

Yes, it is captivating and exhilirating. So much fun to listen to. I have had many driveway moments...where I sit in my car listening to the book on my 'droid phone, to get to a 'good place to stop'.

The Hobbit, and Watership Down recently listened to as well. But this is just as captivating as The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo.

Not possible, too long.

If you are a lover of LOTR and The Hobit, you will love just sitting back and listening to the stories being read to you. The narrator is fantastic and even sings Bilbo's songs. I love these unabridged audio books!

What a pleasure to listen to. Robt. Inglis is a superb reader, masterfully changing between characters to give full listening experience. A must have.

Medium-paced, Balanced, Interesting

The Hobbit - a bit dry in patches, but overall a great introduction to the LOTR story and solid foundation to build the story up.

I liked that Rob Inglis attempted to sing all of the songs, even if they weren't great. I disliked his tempo and I could hear him breathing. I had the entire story on 2X speed most of the time.

No.

None.

Rob Inglis is very good. The Book (Story) itself is beyond reproach. The performance is extremely good. Even the songs sounded like they might have in a far off time somewhere quite removed from our world.