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  • The Silmarillion

  • Written by: J. R. R. Tolkien
  • Narrated by: Martin Shaw
  • Length: 14 hrs and 49 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (50 ratings)

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The Silmarillion

Written by: J. R. R. Tolkien
Narrated by: Martin Shaw
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Publisher's Summary

The forerunner to The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion tells the earlier history of Middle-earth, recounting the events of the First and Second Ages, and introducing some of the key characters, such as Galadriel, Elrond, Elendil and the Dark Lord, Sauron.

The tales of The Silmarillion are set in an age when Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in Middle-Earth, and the High Elves made war upon him for the recovery of the Silmarils, the jewels containing the pure light of Valinor.

Included in the book are several shorter works. The Ainulindale is a myth of the Creation and in the Valaquenta the nature and powers of each of the gods is described. The Akallabeth recounts the downfall of the great island kingdom of Númenor at the end of the Second Age and Of the Rings of Power tells of the great events at the end of the Third Age, as narrated in The Lord of the Rings.

©1977 The Tolkien Estate Limited and C.R. Tolkien (P)1977 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
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Critic Reviews

"How, given little over half a century of work, did one man become the creative equivalent of a people?" ( The Guardian)
"Demanding to be compared with English mythologies...at times rises to the greatness of true myth." ( Financial Times)
"A creation of singular beauty...magnificent in its best moments." ( Washington Post)
"A grim, tragic, brooding and beautiful book, shot through with heroism and hope... its power is almost that of mysticism." ( Toronto Globe & Mail)

What listeners say about The Silmarillion

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

difficult read but with focus you can do it and enjoy in the process :)

when a writer is given full freedom to write however he wishes, and allows his mind to run wild, you get silmarillion :) it wasn't an easy read, takes lot of focus and grit to go thru the book. somehow did it cos this is the origins of lotr. JRR Tolkien was definitely a genius of his age and i believe he still is :)

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Magnificent world, great narration

The Silmarillion is J R R Tolkien's vision for his imagined world, it is a collection of myths in the secondary world he created. An unparalleled feat, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
It is not a novel, it is a compendium of myths.
Narration by Martin Shaw was really good.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent narration and perfect background music!

The narration is excellent. And the background music in places sets up the ambiance perfectly.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

This is a great book.

The story is good. Immersive. The author however drags the plot at some parts. The story is great non the less.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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A Great Mythos that demands complete focus

Silmarillion is the story of gods and the creation of the world of the LOTR Universe, but other than that there is very little to connect it with LoTR.

It stands as its own a story of pure imagination and hope. One of the very best. Albeit not written in the most conducive of ways, and many may indeed find it hard to follow, but when you do understand it there's not many more books that would captivate you more. It creates a world of its own from scratch and fills it with mind numbing detail.

As for the audiobook, I encountered no glitches and Martin Shaw delivers very well.

Highly recommended.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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excellent narration , filled the gaps of lotr

the story is slow to begin, throwing alot of names and is unfamiliar. but as the story goes on and few of the familiar names show up , it's easier to follow , more gripping and compelling . alot of history covered in the first age of elves as compared to three books on third age but doesn't diminish depth of narration . I regret not having gotten to it before . makes me love and understand lotr more . maps are a must to follow the story and understand the chain of events . it would be kind if audible attached a map to follow in this narration .

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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First in text, now in audio

I had read the Silmarillion many years ago in written text. While the fond memory of that book remained, I had forgotten much of it, and struggled to remember what parts of the Rings of Power show on Amazon Prime was in the book. This audiobook was a perfect re-read of the original. Thank you!!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The story is amazing but..

Too many names. Too many characters to keep track of with those weird names. I mean I'm a fan of LOTR and that's what brings me to finish this but it's a lot of hard work at times.

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