The Silmarillion

J. R. R. Tolkien

Oct 2015 · HarperCollins · Narrated by Martin Shaw

About this audiobook

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.

Ratings and reviews

I concur with other reviewers who have had problems with this audiobook's playback. The book is wonderful but the audio file on the Google Play app doesn't show a progress bar. In addition, when you press pause, then play again, it reverts back to the beginning of the whatever chapter you're on. It has ruined my hopes of listening to this audiobook on this platform, which is a shame because The Children of Húrin (read by Christopher Lee) was wonderfully done on Google Play. What a waste of money. Is there a way to listen in a browser? I have tried but i'm not sure there is a way anymore.

Great audiobook, but there is a Google Play Books error with this book where the mobile app does not have progress bars for the Ainulindalë, Valaquenta, Akallabêth, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age chapters. Also, rewinding or fast-forwarding during these chapters causes the respective chapter to completely restart or skip to the next. Everything works normally with the web browser version of Google Play Books with these chapters, so I'll have to listen to these chapters there.

There's something wrong with the audio file. Many times it jumps around, sometimes the narrator starts on two different sentences at the same time on the left and right channel. Not very impressed by Google Play Books..

About the author

J R R Tolkien (1892-1973) was a distinguished academic, though he is best known for writing The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, plus other stories and essays. His books have been translated into over 40 languages and have sold many millions of copies world wide.