Quidditch Through the Ages

By: J.K. Rowling, Kennilworthy Whisp

Narrated by: Andrew Lincoln

Length: 3 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's Summary

A perennial best-seller in the wizarding world and one of the most popular books in the Hogwarts School Library, Quidditch Through the Ages contains all you will ever need to know about the history, the rules - and the breaking of the rules - of the noble sport of Quidditch. Packed with fascinating facts, this definitive guide by the esteemed Quidditch writer Kennilworthy Whisp charts the game's history from its early origins in the medieval mists on Queerditch Marsh through to the modern-day sport loved by so many wizard and Muggle families around the world. With comprehensive coverage of famous Quidditch teams, the commonest fouls, the development of racing brooms, and much more, this is a must-have sporting bible for all Harry Potter fans and Quidditch lovers and players, whether the weekend amateur or the seasoned Chudley Cannons season-ticket holder. 

Narrated by Andrew Lincoln, this is the first audiobook edition of Whisp's book ever to be released. Andrew is a People's Choice Awards winner and a BAFTA nominated actor, best known for his role as Rick Grimes in the TV series The Walking Dead. His other film and television credits include Made in Dagenham, Strike Back and Love Actually. 

Bonus Content Included
This audio edition of Quidditch Through the Ages includes over an hour and a half of exclusive bonus content, narrated by Andrew Lincoln, Annette Badland and Imogen Church, featuring The History of the Quidditch World Cup, written by J.K. Rowling in 2014 for pottermore.com, now brought to life in audio for the first time. 

Explore some of the Daily Prophet's reports on the preliminary rounds of the 2014 Quidditch World Cup, also written by J.K. Rowling, via the voices of our two commentators, Ginny Potter (Imogen Church) and Rita Skeeter (Annette Badland). Feel like you're listening to a real-life Quidditch match with this unexpected duo as they report live on the Final of the 2014 Quidditch World Cup. 

15% of the proceeds* received by Pottermore Limited from this audiobook will be made available by the publisher to Comic Relief and Lumos Foundation for their work with children and young people to help them have a better life. 20% of these monies will be used by Comic Relief and 80% will be used by Lumos Foundation. 

Comic Relief is a registered charity in the UK with charity nos. 326568 (England/Wales) and SC039730 (Scotland). Lumos Foundation is a registered charity in the UK with no. 1112575. 

*Proceeds means the cash-price or cash-equivalent price less sales taxes.  

©2018 J.K. Rowling (P)2018 J.K. Rowling

A fantastic production!

Andrew Lincoln’s reading of this book was an absolute joy to listen to, but it was the beautifully dramatized 2014 Quidditch World Cup coverage that I enjoyed the most. As a long time member of Pottermore relished reading those Daily Prophet articles as they were posted back in 2014. To have this small chapter of the Harry Potter story finally produced in an audio format is something I thought I’d never see. Now if we could just get an audio adaptation of The Cursed Child.

17 of 19 people found this review helpful

Well worth a listen and entertaining to the last

Andrew Lincoln (aka Rick Grimes) does a fantastic and hilarious job of the individual voices of the "historical" characters as well as a smooth narrative throughout the book. When the history of the game, it's rules, and conception are finished, we get a hilarious Ginny Weasley and Rita Skeeter coverage of a world cup match. Special bonus for those of us Doctor Who fans when realization hit that Rita Skeeter is voiced by the lady Slitheen from the Christopher Eccleston season, Annette Badland. Overall, the narratives, the well timed sound effects, and the quirky story telling we've come to know and love make this an excellent, if short trip into the Wizarding World.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Very entertaining

I found the entire book extremely entertaining. It was very well narrated and is a nice addition to the Harry Potter books in story. When I found the most entertaining out of all of it was the 2014 Quidditch World Cup narrated by Ginny potter and Rita Skeeter. That part just made my day

8 of 11 people found this review helpful

Referees Had Been Known to Vanish

“Although people rarely died playing Quidditch, referees had been known to vanish and turn up months later in the Sahara Desert.”

Story: Quidditch Through the Ages is an entertaining history of the sport. You will cover the development of the sport, the introduction to rules, broom evolution and an overview of some of the Quidditch teams. Last, and certainly not least, is the thrilling reporting from the 2014 Quidditch World Cup!

Narration: The story is good, but the narration and production is what really makes this audiobook special. All of the narrators do a wonderful job at capturing their characters (or multiple characters) and the sound effects really add to the listening experience. At times, I legitimately jumped as I thought a bludger was coming my way!

Overall: Quidditch Through the Ages is a fun little book. I do wish that it was longer, but it does a good job at quenching the thirst for more Harry Potter information and history. The narration is fantastic and the production really comes to life! Some say the audio from the sound effects was loud at times, which is true, but for me that added to my experience. Is the sport as deafening as it came across in the narration? I could imagine so when you are flying around on nothing but a broom, while fans are screaming constantly and you are also trying not to take a hit. Seriously, I still fear a bludger from time-to-time throughout my day!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great story & narration, excessive sound effects

This was another great addition to the Harry Potter series. Andrew Lincoln was a surprisingly good narrator and I would like to hear further narration from him. The only negative observation I have for this book is the extremely excessive sound effects. They were so distracting for me that I needed to rewind in order to hear the narration over the sound effects. The book would have been solid five star listen where it not for the over the top sound effects.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Vocal Fry and Sound Effects, Oh My

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

The use of sound effects really takes away from the experience rather than enhance it. This was true with the Fantastic Beasts audio book as well. They were loud and annoying, at times even drowning out the narrator. Also, the narrator’s use of vocal fry left much to be desired. It’s unfortunate that such small details can have such a huge impact, as I could not recommend this audiobook to others and would offer a warning to those considering it. I would love to see this and the Fantastic Beasts audiobooks remixed without the sound effects, or at a minimum, with the sound effects much softer. I suppose the vocal fry would have been less annoying and perhaps not as grating without the loud, distracting, unnecessary added sound effects.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

my thoughts on quidditch Through the Ages

I loved the recounting of the 2014 quidditch World Cup at the end. I also like that they were supporting lumos and comic relief with this book, and I like what they're doing in these charities,. Furthermore I liked the book as a whole even the Quidditch information at the beginning, which of course every Harry Potter fan would buy just for the information at the beginning about Quidditch. so I'm glad I bought this book.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

A delight

Worth the listen, especially with Andrew Lincoln as the captivating narrator. It was nice to travel back to the Wizarding World.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Great book

I really hope J.K. keeps them coming I love the universe she has created for us

Genuinely Enjoyable and Really Well Preformed!

Having mostly known Andrew Lincoln from his role on “The Walking Dead” TV show, I knew he could do accents— but I had no idea he would be so good at doing voices! He was not simply reading, he was honestly entertaining and impressively engaging! Good delivery, accents (his Scottish and French ones come to mind most readily, though his regional UK ones are also fun), and points for his attempts at speaking actual bits of both French and German!
I also really enjoyed the additional content about the 2014 QWC; awesome additional details and stories, and always fun when one’s country makes it into the semi-finals!

Amazing! Wonderful! Absolutely incredible!

I can't even begin to tell you how much I enjoyed this. Andrew did a fantastic job, all the voices were spot on! And the world cup was unbelievable. Really enjoyable to listen to, and it really felt like I was there at the final! I very much enjoyed the Rita elements, which gave us little indications into Harry and families life post the battle of Hogwarts. Last year being the year he sends his youngest off to Hogwarts, I'm sure I'm not the only one wanting to know more about his life since, and the lives of everyone else. So I very much appreciated these hints and nods from Rita.

10 of 11 people found this review helpful

I just can't get enough and I'm 37!

Yet another great book from J.K and fantasticly read by Andrew Lincoln. especially enjoyed the match at the end!

5 of 7 people found this review helpful

Enjoyable listen but not perfect

A very good adaption of the book with a well read performance by Andrew Lincoln with the highlight of this production being the bonus World Cup content (especially Rita's "commentary" of the final.)

My only criticism of this being that having no way of showing us the fantastic illustrations that where present in the books I feel it looses a little bit of its charm.

4 of 6 people found this review helpful

could be better

While overall performance is flawless one could argue this sort of book fits much better as a video or voiced over animation of sort, like the one they used for social media adverts. Original print had after all multiple images to showcase important bits. Its also surprising they used a voice actress to cover for Ginny Potter "live commentary" when they could just as well use Bonnie Wright and get extra scores for recognisable voice and consistency in the media.

4 of 6 people found this review helpful

Great but has its problems

The story was great & the voice actors fantastic. But first problem for me was sound effects, far too loud often louder than the story so you miss bits. Second I don’t need to be told every 2 mins who is reporting & where from. It’s the same person same place... Got rather repetitive & annoying after the first 5/6 times.

5 of 8 people found this review helpful

Lincoln and Quidditch - a marriage made in heaven!

Lincoln narrated flawlessly, and the bonus content was amazing! 5 stars all round! Also, it was great to hear that that the Potter legacy lives on in Quidditch Through the Ages.

Brilliant, favourite part is the end commentary!

The only issue I had with this amazing performance is that the sound effects at times are too loud. I was listening whilst driving at night and the sudden very loud sound of a broom whooshing past made me jump so much I jolted the wheel. But it’s damn awesome!

An interesting concept

Let's face it, I don't need any convincing jump back in the world HP. This book itself had been mentioned, many times throughout the actual Harry Potter series. So it was nice to finally get to read it for myself. I wouldn't necessarily purchase it myself (redeemed it as part of a gift) but it was nice to jump back into this beautiful world again.

nice continuation

a nice addition to the Harry potter world. the bonus content was the most enjoyable and read with great animation.

Good listen for Harry Potter fans

This book is intended for Harry Potter fans. It's an easy listen and very well read.