The Silmarillion, Volume 1

This sweeping saga of the origins of Middle Earth, from its creation to the beginning of the Hobbit.
This first volume Read By Martin Shaw, where his rich voice evokes the mystery and splendour of an age long past, of Elves, Dwarfs and Men with tales of great Dragons and things even worse by far, Of Morgoth, Saurons dark master, Matched against the races of the great Gods of the west.
He makes The Master Story Weaver -Tolkien?s Work breathe and come alive. Where with eyes closed one can hear the whispering trees and gently running streams of the beginning of time in the realm of Middle Earth.
I can?t recommend this Audio book enough, for diehard fans of Tolkien and those who want to know how Middle Earth and Elves came into being.
I agree it can be hard going, but ultimately well worth the effort and then some.
So come on take the plunge and welcome to the world of Tolkien.

Yes it's difficult to understand at first, but it is an amazing book with stories within it that make LOTR seem like a tea party. If you really liked LOTR you should get this.

Don't get this expecting a novel - you'll be disappointed. It is more like a oral-history, semi-reference resource for many of the events that have happened in the ages of world of Tolkien prior to the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings - even the creation of the world and the warring of the gods prior to the existence of any other life. There are only two parts that come close to a fully coherent story and those are the tale of Beren and Luthien and the tale of Hurin and his son Turin (now expanded and published as a novel in its own right). It's fantastic if you're curious about the world beyond The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and even lends a good deal more shades to both. It's just not novelistic in style.

For those who appreciate Tolkien's writings, this audiobook version of The Silmarillion compliments and relays the story in a very pleasing way.

The scale of this story is just huge. Makes LOTR seem like a minor incident in the history of middle earth. Thoroughly enjoyable and brilliantly narrated by Martin Shaw (which can't have been easy considering some of the character names and placenames). Love, Hate, War, Treachery, its all here on an epic scale. I definitely recommend this for any LOTR fan.

If you like tolkien this is a required listen. Anyone else could be forgiven for passing on it.

I couldnt read the book - tried a few times but it didnt work for me. This audio, however, is brilliant. He is a great narrator and Tolkien's great literary work shines. I paid £11.99 for volume 1 from audible which I think is too expensive but that isnt the fault of the audio book. If you love Lord of the Rings you will love this. If you just 'like' Lord of the rings then you may find this a bit too intense. As for me, I am just really grateful that this great work has been made accessible for me. Cheers.

Martin Shaw deserves a medal for doing this.

The Silmarillion is the work of a genius. It's a tough but rewarding read but I'm not sure it's a perfect fit with an audio format.

As you can imagine, names and places are thrown at the reader like confetti and at times it is virtually impossible to remember if we're meeting a new character or an old one under a different name.

Some of the stories are brilliant and memorable - others are footnotes and too complicated to be enjoyable.

If you are a Tolkien fiend then this is a must, if you enjoyed the movies but haven't read the book, give this one a miss.

When i first started this audiobook i just couldnt get to grips with it. Its just rambles on and you find it difficult to get with any story line whatsoever. I also gave up after 2 hours but then went ahead and listened to the rest on the recomendation of the first review. It does get better but if you buy this be prepared for a long slog and have patience to get witht he story.

I admire Martin Shaw for having the staying power to read the whole of this book. Other than this I can't think of much to say in its recommendation. There is no well formed plot and characters as you find in other Tolkein books. Instead it seems to be a long rambling narrative on Middle Earth. I gave up after 2 hours of hoping that something interesting might happen. Not recommended, unless you are really interested in finding out the backgroud to other stories about Middle Earth.