Coming this June, HarperCollins is set to release a new unabridged audiobook of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion. As The Bookseller reported, the audiobook is going to be edited by Christopher Tolkien and narrated by the BAFTA award-winning actor, director, and author Andy Serkis.
Andy Serkis gained recognition for his remarkable #Hobbitathon in 2020, where he undertook a live, uninterrupted reading of The Hobbit lasting 11 hours, aiming to raise funds for Covid-19 relief. Building on this success, Serkis went on to record a new audiobook of The Hobbit and followed it up with a recording of The Lord of the Rings in the subsequent year. In these recordings, he showcased his versatility by speaking in over 10 of Tolkien’s invented languages and giving voice to more than 100 different characters.
“The Silmarillion was always going to be a hard mountain to climb, and therefore perhaps the most rewarding,” said Serkis. “I was seriously daunted. Whereas the narrative structure and characters of both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings provide the narrator with an immense propulsion, The Silmarillion is like reading an extraordinary, ancient bible, with its own creation mythology spanning many ages, written over many years. But once in the flow of Tolkien’s poetic imagination, and limitless authority of his universe, there were passages that I found myself completely mesmerised by as I was reading, and it became a thrillingly wild and magical experience. I can only hope the listener feels the same way.”
Both audiobooks became major successes, topping the audio bestseller lists and earning critical acclaim. The Hobbit received the Grand Gold for Best Solo Audio Narration at the New York Festivals Radio Awards in 2021, while The Lord of the Rings achieved Gold the following year. The latter also received a nomination for Best Audiobook at the British Book Awards in 2022.
Originally published in 1977, The Silmarillion sold over one million copies in its first year and has since been translated into nearly 40 languages. It marked the beginning of Christopher Tolkien’s impressive collection of 17 Middle-earth books, as he served as his father’s literary executor. Christopher Tolkien dedicated his life to carefully curating and preparing his father’s work for publication until his passing at the age of 95 in 2020.
This upcoming audiobook release of The Silmarillion promises to captivate fans with its unabridged rendition of Tolkien’s epic mythology, enriched by the editing expertise of Christopher Tolkien and the masterful narration of Andy Serkis.
“HarperCollins is proud to be the official worldwide publisher of the works of J R R Tolkien, and we consider The Silmarillion, as prepared for publication by Christopher Tolkien, the shining jewel in the crown of Tolkien’s literary achievements,” said publishing director Chris Smith. “It contains riches, with tales from the First, Second, and Third Ages of Middle-earth full of soaring drama, powerful romance, and sweeping adventure. It stands at the heart of Tolkien’s invented world yet, for many, remains a vast and wondrous undiscovered country still to be explored. We are delighted that we once again have an actor of the calibre of Andy Serkis who can bring its qualities to life so brilliantly for a whole new audience, and lead them on an exciting new journey into Middle-earth.”
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