The Hobbit Audiobook By J. R. R. Tolkien cover art

The Hobbit

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The Hobbit

By: J. R. R. Tolkien
Narrated by: Andy Serkis
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THE GREAT MODERN CLASSIC AND PRELUDE TO THE LORD OF THE RINGS

Deep down here by the dark water lived old Gollum, a small slimy creature. I don’t know where he came from, nor who or what he was. He was Gollum—as dark as darkness, except for two big round pale eyes in his thin face. He had a little boat, and he rowed about quite quietly on the lake; for lake it was, wide and deep and deadly cold.

Whisked away from his comfortable, unambitious life in his hobbit-hole in Bag End by Gandalf the wizard and a band of dwarves, Bilbo Baggins finds himself caught up in a plot to raid the treasure hoard of Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon.

This brand-new unabridged recording is narrated by the acclaimed actor, director and author, Andy Serkis.

©1937, 1951, 1966, 1978, 1995 The J.R.R. Tolkien Copyright Trust (P)2020 HarperCollins
Action & Adventure Classics Fantasy Fantasy Essentials Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Top 100 Essentials Funny Feel-Good Suspenseful Celebrity
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Editorial review


By Alanna McAuliffe, Audible Editor

JOURNEY THERE AND BACK AGAIN WITH THE HOBBIT

I was still in diapers when the bar for fantasy world-building was set unreasonably high. My mother, who had been a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien’s work since she herself was a child, passed along her fandom to me. To this day, that sense of awe hasn’t faded, and even as an adult, I find myself wide-eyed and wonderstruck by the world that Tolkien created—dragons and dwarves and hobbits and elves and wizards, dark forces unseen and simple goodness unparalleled, a good old-fashioned tale of whimsy and adventure that completely redefined what it meant to tell a story.

But when Tolkien wrote The Hobbit back in the 1930s, he did not set out to create a work explicitly for children. Rather, he was crafting a fairy story, one rooted in his fascination with language, mythology, and history, that allowed him to build out a lore of his own. Nevertheless, it captivated readers young and old and has since become both a staple of kidlit and a foundational work in the overarching fantasy genre. Many stories are hailed as timeless, as enjoyable for little ones as they are for those several generations ahead, but few are as truly universal as this one, an accessible entry into a fully realized world in which you may wade as shallowly as you like or dive deep into ages of lore and backstory.

At its core, the story, following a most unlikely hero in the reserved, slightly curmudgeonly Bilbo Baggins, is a quest not just to slay the dragon and conquer evil but a journey into one’s own. Before Gandalf’s intervention, Bilbo has no inclination of taking on such an exploit, preferring instead the comforts and safeties of the only home he’s known. Hobbits, seemingly representative of England’s common countryfolk, are not heralded for theatrical acts of daring or brawn. But what Bilbo does have, in spades, is heart, goodness, and the capacity for tremendous courage, given the opportunity. Over the course of the story, we listen as Bilbo transforms into the confident hero of legend, the kind of pathfinding traveler that would write of his ventures, which in and of themselves create his memoir and center the narrative of The Hobbit. Bilbo is such a beloved figure in literature because he is all of us—as a timid, cautious child, his capers rang as evidence that I, too, had something to offer.

Continue reading Alanna's review >

Featured Article: The Lord of the Rings—The Essential Guide to the Peoples, Places, and History of Tolkien's Middle-earth


Welcome to Middle-earth, the main continent of Arda and the setting for J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and a host of other in-universe stories. Middle-earth is a fantastical realm rooted in detailed world-building and mythos that have since gone on to inspire many other fantasy works. Read on for everything you need to know.

Continue Your Journey Through Middle earth

Continue Your Journey
Through Middle-earth

Immersive Narration • Captivating Storytelling • Vivid World-building • Timeless Adventure Tale • Expressive Vocal Range
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The only thing that could have made this better would be if it was completely read in Gollum's voice

Gollum

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Andy Serkis doing Riddles in the Dark is Transcendant, and his voice acting on all of the other voices also blows my mind.

Andy Serkis doing Riddles in the Dark

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Great presentation by Andy Setlist.
Excellent introductory story for anyone new to Tolkien,s fantasy works.

Great presentation by Andy Setlist!

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I already own this in paper back, hard cover, tape, cd, vinyl records and MP3. they all pale in comparison to Andys rendition. he uses many of the voices he was responsible for in the films, and his close connection to JRRs film works made this an amazing performance. FIVE STAR.

Andy Serkis.... amazing.

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this was my favorite book as a child, and I grew up with the Lord of the rings movies. having the one and only Andy Serkis read it is a match made in heaven for any fan, from casual to hardcore devotee.

as good as my imagination

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Andy Serkis Does an amazing job Narrating this. I highly Recommend picking up this title

Narrator is phenomenal!!

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Andy Serkis was downright amazing in this reading of one of the best books ever!!

Absolutely Incredible!!!

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Far and away, one of THE BEST performances of any book to which I've listened, to date! If Andy Serkis were to read the entire book series, it would be hard to find a better one.

Unbelievably good!

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one of my favorite books anyway, but being read by Andy Serkis makes it that much better

Andy Serkis was a great pick

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I already enjoyed the book, but listening to it with Andy Serkis as the narrator was awesome. I've already pre ordered The LoTR narrated by him coming out in September. He's so good at voicing all the separate parts and tells the story quite well. Definitely worth the money.

The Hobbit with Andy Serkis, what more do you need

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