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

The complete, unabridged audiobook of The Fellowship of the Ring.

Continuing the story begun in The Hobbit, this is the first part of Tolkien’s epic masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, available as a complete and unabridged audiobook.

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)

Great story, great reader

I read LOTR ages ago and have gotten lazy to read it again. Rob is an excellent reader and his singing of the songs is superb. Tolkien was a fantastic writer. Definitely worth to listen again.

Truly amazing.

Amazing book, even better narrator.
I would give Rob Inglis 7 stars if I could.

Stay for the long run!

Being a first time listener who is only familiar with the films, I had my doubts hearing the many songs and poems sung by the Hobbits and their company in the early hours of the book. I was more than pleasantly surprised with how captivating the story got after we meet Aragorn. The story rolls on and the many hours went by way too quick. I finished listening to this audiobook within a week, and plan on jumping directly into the Two Towers.

The books truly give so much more of Middle Earth and it truly establishes a world that I now know as if I lived there for many years myself.
World building by Tolkien is unmatched in any way. The wonderful Rob Inglis did a fantastic job translating it’s magic into this audiobook.

Start listening and stay for the long run. It’s worth it.

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.

If you struggled with the book, try this!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Lord of the Rings to be better than the print version?

The audio book is not better, it is different. The narrator has the skill to bring a book I struggled to read in print into vivid and exciting life. He does not act the books, he 'narrates' them extremely well, telling the story with rhythm and pace, while giving each character in the book an individual voice.

Any additional comments?

If, like me, you really struggled with the Lord of the Rings in print, then try a volume of this read by Rob Inglis, this may be the avenue into the Tolkien world you are looking for.

Nice

Finally, I completed the story. I really like it. I read the chinese translation version of the book in advance, and that really help me to involve into this audio version. the narrator is talented at storytelling, which gives me an wonderful hearing experience.

Simply Delightful

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, I would recommend this audiobook to a friend. The Lord of the Rings books are a 'must read' for everyone. They give a brilliant example of how fiction books should be written, with a solid and vastly explorable background and history.

What does Rob Inglis bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Although I found it strange at first that a random person I had never heard of in my life would be reading a book to me, there is no other person I would rather read me The Fellowship of the Ring than Rob Inglis. The songs were by far the best experience for me. If I were reading the book myself I would not have even known where to begin when it came to the songs. Rob singing them for me was a delight.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, it was not. To my liking the book is a long book. If i was bored or wanted to listen while doing something else I would slip on my headphones and pick straight up from where I last left off.

Any additional comments?

The Lord of the Rings trilogy are books I've been wanting to read for a long time. Unfortunately I find it incredibly hard to pick up a book and read it. I have never been an avid reader despite the fact that I love stories. As a child I loved having books read to me. When I found Audible I straight away loved it. Having a book read to me is amazing. All I have to do is listen.

loved it

memorable experience
loved Rob Inglis' naeorating
truly great loved it and would recomend for annyone i looooovvvedddd it will read to myself agai

So many songs

Excellent book but I forgot how many songs were in it. It seems the JRR was attempting an art within an art.

Classic.

What a good listen. pure and simple. JRRT is a story teller for all time.