Unfinished Tales

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

Narrated by: Timothy West, Samuel West

Length: 21 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

JRR Tolkien’s legacy of short stories which inhabit the realm of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, on audio for the first time.

Unfinished Tales is a collection of narratives ranging in time from the Elder Days of Middle-earth to the end of the War of the Ring and provides those who have read The Lord of the Rings with a whole collection of background and new stories from the 20th century’s most acclaimed popular author.

The book concentrates on the realm of Middle-earth and comprises such elements as Gandalf’s lively account of how it was that he came to send the Dwarves to the celebrated party at Bag-End, the emergence of the sea-god Ulmo before the eyes of Tuor on the coast of Beleriand and an exact description of the military organisation of the Riders of Rohan.

Unfinished Tales also contains the only story about the long ages of Numenor before its downfall and all that is known about such matters as the Five Wizards, the Palantiri and the legend of Amroth. The tales were collated and edited by JRR Tolkien’s son and literary heir, Christopher Tolkien, who provides a short commentary on each story, helping the listener to fill in the gaps and put each story into the context of the rest of his father’s writings.

©1980 The Tolkien Estate Limited and C.R. Tolkien (P)1980 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"Another monument to the incredible imagination of Tolkien." (Sunday Telegraph)

"Moments of mythic grandeur." (Sunday Times)

Classic

All of Tolkien’s work is a work of art. It is full of complexities of plot and in the characters that is rare even his unfinished tales that contradict some of the other texts of his at times are masterful. And with as much detail that he goes into it’s no wonder there are contradictions at times.

Great Detail for the LOTR Fanatic!

Very interesting narrative and abridgement on a variety of subjects and characters. Well worth your time if love all things Tolkien and I think audio is the perfect medium for this experience.

Deeper View of the Tolkien World

Unfinished Tales is a great resource if you have already read other Tolkien works. (I would say at least the Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and the Silmarillion.) There are so many great stories that shine light on events in the third age.

I love that there are two narrators for this book. One reads Tolkien’s parts and one reads Christopher’s notations, so it is clear when Christopher interjects a note.

Essential Tolkien

Unfinished Tales is essential reading for any true fan of Tolkien. Beautifully read by father and son in the voices of the characters and Tolkien's son, Christopher, who edited and published his notes and incomplete material.

What rings of power should have been

Amazon Prime’s Rings of Power is bad fan fiction compared to this delightful collection of tales of Middle-Earth. The Wests prove to be wonderfully adept at creating an audio journey worth taking from season to season an editorial, Christopher Tolkien and his famous father.

Shaken to the core!

I am reading this in conjunction with the Silmarillion. I have read Lord of the Rings at least a dozen times. This book made me realize that, no matter how well I know the Lord of the Rings, it is just a long, remarkably detailed tale, just a part of the overall story, on which the Unfinished Tales shed much light.

What I find the most profound is in the cases of revealed motives, predecessors, and previous history which illuminate decisions, characters, and priorities.

I am so thankful that Christopher Tolkien decided to go ahead and published this work.

Enlightening and Entertaining

Not for your average mainstream fans unless they are into this sort of thing. An enjoyable listen that fills in lots of gaps you may want to know more about and fills in some gaps you never knew you wanted filled.

So many extra tidbits for Tolkien fans!

My favorite chapter was the one about the palantiri, very cool to learn exactly where they all were located!

PLEASE DO THE HISTORY OF MIDDLE EARTH!!!

Timothy and Samuel West give outstanding performances with this reading. The roles they take in presenting the narrative and the editor's notes make it very easy to follow.

I deeply hope they consider repeating what they have done here with "The History of Middle Earth" volumes. None of these books have an existing audiobook on the market and I believe the Wests would do justice to the text.

I've heard it suggested on the Texas Tolkien Podcast that making a review such as this might garner a demand for having these texts done in audiobook format, so I'm simply here to lend my voice and say that there is definitely an audience for such a project. So please to whomever it may concern, take heed and consider bringing the rest of Tolkien's works to this format.

Voices brought clarity

Alternating voices portraying Christopher and JRR were pleasant and made a clear delineation between the manuscript and it's background.