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  • The Fellowship of the Ring

  • The Lord of the Rings, Book 1
  • By: J. R.R. Tolkien
  • Narrated by: Rob Inglis
  • Length: 19 hrs and 53 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (13,815 ratings)
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The Fellowship of the Ring cover art

The Fellowship of the Ring

By: J. R.R. Tolkien
Narrated by: Rob Inglis
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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)

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What listeners say about The Fellowship of the Ring

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
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    11,930
  • 4 Stars
    1,445
  • 3 Stars
    299
  • 2 Stars
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  • 1 Stars
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Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    9,264
  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
    553
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    131
  • 1 Stars
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Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

I am a 14 year old boy who has never really bothered to read Lord of the Rings before now. I have recently got audible and this was the first audiobook that I brought. I was not disappointed. It was very well read and the story was incredibly gripping. I really loved it and I hope that you will consider buying this book.

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307 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Superb production

Reviewing these books (the whole trilogy, not just the first volume), a classic work of the twentieth century, would be an impertinence I think. It's unlikely you'd consider buying the whole set if you don't already know and enjoy the story. If you admire it without reservation you're possibly unusual. In such a sweeping and varied epic there will inevitably be elements you respond to less than others; for me these would include characters such as Tom Bombadil, many of the songs, the master-servant relationship between some of the Hobbits and the rather stilted, pseudo-Biblical prose style of some of the later sections of The Return of the King. Those are purely subjective responses though; others may well enjoy those very aspects.

What impressed me most, after buying and listening to the complete work (over 52 hours) was the mastery of the reader, Rob Inglis. Other long stories have been ruined for me by a monotonous or weak reading. In a sense, Inglis is in competition with the BBC radio dramatisation (which I thought excellent and still return to)and more recently the three-film version (which I thought equally brilliant). Given that, his rendition is a delight, a tour de force in fact. He never lost my interest, seeming to command a completely convincing and extensive repertoire of character voices which managed to carry the narrative along with complete authority. Brilliant. Thank you, Mr Inglis..! (Out of curiosity I checked listener reviews of this production on Amazon's website and was astonished to find that some thought it dreadful. Interestingly there were no 'in-between' reviews, either 'superb' or 'awful'. I guess you'll just have to buy the first volume to decide what your own response is...)

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142 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great book, Needs re-recording

Great book, obviously. Only issue is the recording.
I can forgive the background hiss, and maybe even the volume changes, due to its age. But there are a couple of chapters where you can clearly hear conversations in the background...
And on a personal note I'm not overly keen on the voice acting Rob Inglis. Maybe one day a new recording will be done to truly do the story justice.

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134 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

The joy never fades

I first read the LOTR when I was 13, and on occasion I wish I had never read it. Not because it's a bad story, but because it's a world of wonder that I wish I could enter anew again. The depth of the tale, the breadth of the world created by Tolkien exists as a beautiful overlay for our own, creating a window into what the past might have been like as well as understanding how the present could be changed by the action of those with courage they were unaware they possessed. On top of that, it's a great story for anyone at any time. I read it regularly, with no expectations of seeing anything new but it's always there, waiting to be discovered. Take the time to listen to a tale of courage, betrayal, evil and triumph. And love.

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67 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

The Fellowship

A wonderful atmospheric recording of the first part of The Lord of the Rings. Rob Inglis' narration brings the characters to life. I think Tolkien would be pleased with this version of his book.

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49 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • m
  • 15-02-15

Superb narration and very relaxing

As I travel back and forward to work a 35 minute journey each way I found it to be very relaxing and passed the time in a very enjoyable way and made coming home from a stressful day a pleasure to look forward to and shortened the journey . I really enjoyed it

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45 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Timeless - and stunning.

As someone else says, it seems an impertinence to review these books - they have to be the most loved novels of the 20thC, across the world.



I originally bought the trilogy on i-Tunes, not realising they don't have a cloud for audiobooks. So when my computer crashed, I lost the lot, as my back up disks were also damaged in the intervening years, meaning I could only retrieve a section of the book. iTunes refused to restore the books for me - upsetting as it was my largest single investment in any audiobook. Hence joining Audible, and making LOTR my main goal for the first year of membership! I'd have joined Audible to buy these books, alone.



My autistic teenager has always struggled with reading, so having these on audiobook has been an absolute boon, to him. He listens to them constantly, and has no problem with the complex language, and subtle emotions.



Rob Inglis's reading is pitch perfect. The producers of the trilogy could not have chosen a better narrator. A faultless rendition of what is, for so many people, a book they return to over and over again, throughout their lives. Having lost them once, ("My precioussss!") I will treasure the Audible LOTR books, and value them as much as my definitive Harper Collins printed version.

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37 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Oh no! NOT another song...

Would you listen to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Volume 1 again? Why?

Yes, it is one of my all-time favourites. I had read the book, the full 3 volumes of the actual book, more than 20 times before leaving home to go to music college: I kept count. I'm 55 now and have read it a few more times in the intervening years. The audio-book version is a real godsend now that my eyes are starting to struggle.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Volume 1?

I remember virtually all of it, so I can't answer this question.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

In my opinion as a musician... He should NEVER, NEVER have been asked to 'SING'. I found his singing utterly unlistenable, excruciating, even embarrassing and everywhere they occurred completely ruinous of the otherwise excellent reading. If only he had just read the songs as poems, which is what ALL actual readers have to do, all would have been well. Tolkien's lyrics are, in any case, the weakest part of his work. Moreover, music defines and describes an emotional landscape more precisely than words alone, essentially forcing one particular and narrow context. So in this reading, everyone, even the elves, seem to be from Cecil Sharp's and Vaughan Williams' South/West Country. WHAT A DISASTER! All the songs should be re-recorded with him simply reading the poems. If that were done, the reading would be really excellent: and I mean REALLY excellent.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes actually, there are several places, particularly near the end that make me cry.

Any additional comments?

This apples, I am VERY sorry to say, to all three books. The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King.This review is my opinion, so no 'hate' responses please.

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33 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

great but some issues with quality

the reading itself is fine, if a little stiff in places. the narrator does a wonderful job with the songs. there are noticable background noises in sone places, better sound proofing should have been a priority for an audiobook recording.

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27 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

One 'Book' To Rule Them All!

WOW!! Absolutely superb! A truly amazing book, from start to finish. The Lord of the Rings movies, really don't even scratch the surface. This is, without doubt, a masterpiece. Excellently written, and narrated with style.

If you've watched the movies, and think you know what Lord of the Rings is about, think again. Get this book, and you will understand what I mean.

Absolutely brilliant!

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27 people found this helpful