I’ve read Lord of the Rings two or three times, so this is not my first experience with it. It’s something that I like to come back to every few years.
This time, I’d love an audio version of it to listen to in the car and during my bike rides. I have heard very mixed-negative reviews of most audio versions. Is there a good one?
I do have a copy of the BBC audio-play, which I have not heard. I know it isn’t a full-text unabridged version, but I thought it might be a great listen if a good full-audio does not exist.
Man, if there was a book for GraphicAudio to get the rights to, this would be it!
If what you want is an actual unabridged reading of the books, AFAIK the only one available is by Rob Inglis, and it is a good one. I have listened to it/them and enjoyed it/them.
There also exist audio dramatizations, a British one from the BBC and an American one that was broadcast on NPR. I haven’t heard either of them, but from comments I have read here and elsewhere, the British version is the better of the two.
The NPR Highbridge Audio version has 2 buying options, published on the same date, with ratings a full star and a half apart on Amazon. The difference? The higher star version is packaged in a wooden box.
Rob Inglis does a good job, IMO. If you want the unabridged books, and want an audio-book experience, rather than a radio-play type of experience, I would not hesitate to get it.
Another vote for Rob Inglis. He almost sounds like Tolkien, but better. Tolkien always sounds like he’s in a hurry to get it over with when he reads excerpts. You also have to get Martin Shaw’s Silmarillion. It is much easier to listen to as oral folklore.