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  • The Return of the King

  • Book Three in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy
  • Written by: J. R. R. Tolkien
  • Narrated by: Rob Inglis
  • Length: 18 hrs and 19 mins
  • 4.9 out of 5 stars (1,022 ratings)

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The Return of the King

Written by: J. R. R. Tolkien
Narrated by: Rob Inglis
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Publisher's Summary

The Return of the King is the towering climax to J. R. R. Tolkien’s trilogy that tells the saga of the hobbits of Middle-earth and the great War of the Rings. In this concluding volume, Frodo and Sam make a terrible journey to the heart of the Land of the Shadow in a final reckoning with the power of Sauron.

In addition to narrating the prose passages, Rob Inglis sings the trilogy’s songs and poems a capella, using melodies composed by Inglis and Claudia Howard, the Recorded Books studio director. This recording also contains Tolkien’s preface to the trilogy, including a prior history of the ring, and shire habitat, history, and folkways.

©1983 Christopher R. Tolkien, Michael H.R.Tolkien, John F.R. Tolkien, and Priscilla M.A.R.Tolkien (P)1990 Recorded Books

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What listeners say about The Return of the King

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    5 out of 5 stars

Absolutely amazing! Loved it!

Absolutely loved it! The narrator does a wonderful job (but not perfect in pronunciation of Tolkien's languages), and his voices for the characters are consistent, and very well done. The book itself is the perfect conclusion to Professor Tolkien's three part Magnum Opus, and what is in my opinion the single greatest book ever written, and the addition of the appendix A which includes a brief history of Númenor, the history of the Kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor, the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen (which is one of my favourite parts of the whole Middle-Earth Legendarium, if not my favourite.), the history of the Eorlingas, and Durin's Folk. Since the age of eight I have read The Lord of the Rings three times a year, but life has been very busy and I find it difficult to get the time to actually sit and read,. Words cannot truly express how much I love The Lord of the Rings and it gives me brings me an indescribably enormous amount of happinnes to be able to keep my tradition, and listen to such a wonderfully narrated audio version of my favourite story.

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3 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Eh. The bit about the Hobbits was ok. I guess.

Voice acting was passable, though the range should have been limited to 2. maybe 3 charcters. Voice actor should not sing, makes all songs resemble Chatholic hyms.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Simply the best

#Audible1. Rob Inglis is quite simply superb. Matchless. Peerless. In narrating the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy he gives a command performance. He reads every word of Tolkien's original, verbatim, as written and unabridged. He does all the voices, speaks in all the languages, sings all the songs - himself. Simply the best. You'll be swept away to Middle Earth by this extraordinary telling of the Return of the King.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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A classic come to life

A wonderful end to a fantastic series. The depth of imagination and details bring a world to life in the mind of the listener. Full of amazing creature, epic heroism and colourful imagery this classic is a must read and a standard for all fantasy literature. #Audible1

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A classic

I’ve relistened to the whole series countless times, get better every time. Check it out

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1 person found this helpful

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Great listen!

Great listen, I watched the movies first and finally got around to listening to the audiobooks. I loved all the extra details in the story and the interactions between all the side characters. The only thing that I found got old was all the singing, but it wasn't a deal breaker at all. Luckily there's less singing in this book compared to the previous ones.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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You have no idea

I have literally lost count of how many times I have listened to all of the LOTR books. I listen to one every night (I literally can’t fall asleep without it anymore 😂) and have memorized most of the words. I love these books so much and if you disagree then you are not very smart and you just aren’t doing it right. 😁❤️💍🌋

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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Not as good as book 1 & 2

I much preferred the narration in book 1 and 2. The voice is overdramatic and scratchy.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Magnificent In Every Way

“I will not say, ‘Do not weep,’ for not all tears are an evil.“

God bless you, Gandalf, because by the end of this story, the tears were streaming down my face!

It is impossible to describe in words the profundity of this story, and Tolkien’s genius and mastery in telling it. Without question, it is defensibly among the greatest of all literary achievements in the history of human storytelling! Layer upon layer of meeting within such a riveting narrative, and presenting such an impactful and rich illustration of the Christian faith. Sheer wonderfulness!

Additionally, Rob Inglis’s narration contributed immeasurably to the impact of an already powerful epic saga.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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A Literary Masterpiece

This is no silly little bedtime story about elves, dwarves, and wizards that you would read to your preschooler..
Rather, J.R.R. Tolkien pens an epic, pathos-heavy conclusion to an unmatched adventure trilogy. Imagery and Allegory worthy of Shakespeare color a story filled with action, plausible tactics/strategy/politics, themes of loyalty & friendship, and even romance. This book is legitimately worthy of a University-level English course.

Stage actor Rob Inglis does the book justice, too.. reading exceptionally (albeit imperfectly). He takes injudicious deep breaths and reads with a bit of a monotone - but breathes life into the story with pitch-perfect emotiveness, praiseworthy voice-acting, and the actual singing of Tolkien's songs & poems.

Altogether, Andy Serkis's 2020 reading of 'The Return Of The King' is more professional, imo - and it more closely matches Peter Jackson's spot-on film interpretation - but you really can't go wrong giving this 9/10-star version your attention.

[Incidentally: the wildman Ghan-Buri-Ghan is, perhaps oddly, my favorite character in the Trilogy]

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