The Lord of the Rings

The Fellowship of the Ring: The Ring Sets Out

By: J. R.R. Tolkien

Narrated by: Rob Inglis

Length: 19 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Continuing the story begun in The Hobbit, this is the first part of Tolkien’s epic masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings.

Sauron, the Dark Lord, has gathered to him all the Rings of Power – the means by which he intends to rule Middle-earth. All he lacks in his plans for dominion is the One Ring – the ring that rules them all – which has fallen into the hands of the hobbit, Bilbo Baggins.

In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as his elderly cousin Bilbo entrusts the Ring to his care. Frodo must leave his home and make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.

©2025 Paul Delaney (P)2025 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"An extraordinary book. It deals with a stupendous theme. It leads us through a succession of strange and astonishing episodes, some of them magnificent." ( The Observer)
"Among the greatest works of imaginative fiction of the twentieth century." ( Sunday Telegraph)

Fantastic

So good to get to this thrilling Adventure again after so many years. I recommend it for every Tolkien enthusiast.

Very nice but a bit too theatrical reading

Rob reads clearly and with feeling which is very nice, but I do wish he'd have read this less theatrically. It sounds too much like he's reading to little children. This is not a children's book, so this should be read with adult listeners in mind. Perhaps his thinking was that this is an epic fantasy adventure story set in medieval world and that's why he goes for the theatrics. I'm not saying his reading style doesn't work, just that I personally would have preferred a different approach. I am still enjoying this well, have listened to all three books within a week or so. Also, Rob's reading is less theatrical than Andy Serkis' reading sounds like judging by the samples. So, if you share my feelings and you don't need the voice of movie-Gollumn I'd advice you to buy these versions narrated by Rob. Rob's Gollumn voice is alright. Completely different but okay.

It's been over 20 years since I read the book myself but I'm fairly sure nothing has been cut out, as in these are truly unabridged. At least Rob sounds like he never got bored or tired of it, his reading quality is consistent at least most of the way through. (I'm currently well into Return of the King.)

Overall, would recommend. Just not perfect for my taste. :)

Well done but undone by greed

Rob Inglis does a very good job of narrating. Personally I could do without the singing and I would rather he simply read the songs but no complaints overall. You can hear every word very clearly and he reads with feeling so you don't feel as though he's just going through the motions.

My only complaints are:

1. In common with most Tolkien fans I think the book is too short.
2. The publisher and/or Audible are guilty of greed by dividing the book into 6 credits. This is not in the spirit of the contract that I have with Audible. Lord of the Rings is one book and should be one credit. It could arguably be divided into three books but certainly not six! Shame on you!

A lovely telling of this tale

I enjoyed the narrator very much. The story itself has very interesting characters and moves along so well you hardly notice your time going by. It's very easy to get lost in this world.

Awesome book

Too British accent and too old a recording, sometimes is hard to hear for a non native English speakers

The Classic performed well

Never had to pacience to read, but this audioperformance captured my Imagination. Love it & Allways will

A must read for fantasy fans

Epic fantasy
This is the book so many fantasy authors has taken as the standard

It's a must read ! Epic story

amazing

a thrilling read and ver entertaining, definitely worth listening to, I strongly recommend this audio book

Wonderful

The best book I have ever listened to, all astani shall enjoy it as thoroughly as I have.

Third time, and still getting better

This is my third time listening to Rob Inglis' performance of this book, and I enjoyed it more than I did the first two times. I seem to get nearer and nearer the edge of my seat each time as I listen to Rob's reading and exciting portrayal of each character. Professor Tolkien listened to Rob's performances when he was still alive and approved of them. Rob composed some of the music for the songs, and Tolkien composed some of it himself. Mr. Inglis' reading of The Fellowship and the other parts of LOTR is a must if you enjoy listening to books. I do not recommend listening to it any faster than 1.3x or so as it loses the poetic quality Tolkien wrote with. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.