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The Fall of Númenor cover art

The Fall of Númenor

Written by: J.R.R. Tolkien, Brian Sibley - editor
Narrated by: Samuel West, Brian Sibley
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Publisher's Summary

J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings on the Second Age of Middle-earth, collected for the first time in one volume.

J.R.R. Tolkien famously described the Second Age of Middle-earth as a ‘dark age, and not very much of its history is (or need be) told’. And for many years readers would need to be content with the tantalizing glimpses of it found within the pages of The Lord of the Rings and its appendices, including the forging of the Rings of Power, the building of the Barad-dûr and the rise of Sauron.

It was not until Christopher Tolkien published The Silmarillion after his father’s death that a fuller story could be told. Although much of the book’s content concerned the First Age of Middle-earth, there were at its close two key works that revealed the tumultuous events concerning the rise and fall of the island of Númenor. Raised out of the Great Sea and gifted to the Men of Middle-earth as a reward for aiding the angelic Valar and the Elves in the defeat and capture of the Dark Lord Morgoth, the kingdom became a seat of influence and wealth; but as the Númenóreans’ power increased, the seed of their downfall would inevitably be sown, culminating in the Last Alliance of Elves and Men.

Even greater insight into the Second Age would be revealed in subsequent publications, first in Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-Earth, then expanded upon in Christopher Tolkien’s magisterial twelve-volume The History of Middle-Earth, in which he presented and discussed a wealth of further tales written by his father, many in draft form.

Now, adhering to the timeline of ‘The Tale of Years’ in the appendices to The Lord of the Rings, editor Brian Sibley has assembled into one comprehensive volume a new chronicle of the Second Age of Middle-earth, told substantially in the words of J.R.R. Tolkien from the various published texts.

©2022 The Tolkien Estate Limited, The Tolkien Trust and the estate of C.R. Tolkien, Brian Sibley (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

What the critics say

"How, given little over half a century of work, did one man become the creative equivalent of a people?" (The Guardian)

"Demanding to be compared with English mythologies…at times rises to the greatness of true myth." (Financial Times)

"A creation of singular beauty…magnificent in its best moments." (Washington Post)

What listeners say about The Fall of Númenor

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2nd Age Source Material

Excellent consolidation of all the bits of history of the 2nd age.

Too bad the writing team for the rings of power weren’t as attached to JRR and Christopher Tolkien’s work. They could have fleshed out the gaps to make an interesting series…

The story of Aldarion And Erendis is particularly poignant.

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Different ratings for different readers….

If you are a long standing Tolkien fan (like me) who has read all of the HoME books, the Silmarillion, The Hobbit, LOTR and appendixes, The Letters then this book will offer you nothing new. It’s a wonderful collection of the parts of all of those books that deal with Numenor and it‘s enjoyable, but again, nothing new - I give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you are a Tolkien fan looking to explore more of the History of Middle Earth this is a wonderful starting point. You get a concise introduction to the world through pieces that can easily be followed through to The LOTR. For these readers I would give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you are reading/listening to this because you love Amazon Prime‘s The Rings of Power series you will be sorely disappointed. Amazon strayed way, way off from what Tolkien actually wrote, keeping only the barest details. You will probably not like this if you are one of these fans.

Another note on Amazon’s series: I love the Tolkien legendarium and wish they would have kept more in line with the written history. If you can think of what Amazon has done as something wholly separate then it’s not too bad. Nonetheless, while they did a good job of presenting a Middle Earth themed story it’s nothing like the true history and I’m just glad Christopher Tolkien is not around to see it.

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Encyclopedic Legendarium. Buy The Text Version

This book is a largely academic work aimed at fans who are *obsessed* with Tolkien's Middle Earth. Editor Brian Sibley exhibits Autistic-level geeky punctiliousness: recording every conceivable mention of the Númenoreans that he can mine from the poems, texts, and letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (or his son Christopher) over the course of a century. The book is festooned with footnotes and page references - essentially making it into a desk reference.

The narration from the duo of Brian Sibley and Samuel West is professional and clear.. but includes annoying mid-sentence shifts (Sibley: "And Tolkien wrote:.." West: ".."Aldarion traveled to Eregion".." Sibley: "..see 'Unfinished Tales' Chapter 7, Page 442.." etc). It wouldn't be terrible, except the sound settings for each reader are glaringly different - it sounds like Harper Collins Audio engineers just spliced segments together without any attempt to match them. Oh.. and DO NOT LISTEN THROUGH EARBUDS (the volume leveling is likewise non-existent).

Given the quite dry material and lazy quality standards, I can only rate this audiobook version of 'The Fall Of Númenor' 6.5 stars out of 10. If you are dead set on having this otherwise outstanding Middle Earth Lore book in your library.. obtain a paper or eBook copy.

[Incidentally: At one point, I actually said out loud: "OMG!! WHO CARES IF ONE SOURCE SAYS A *FICTIONAL* KING DIED IN 3175 AND ANOTHER SAYS 3177!?!".  That there is an ensuing five minute discussion of the discrepancy is mindblowing. These überfans take themselves waaaaaaay too seriously]

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