Okay, so I figured I wasn't the only person in the world who took forever to read Lord of the Rings. I started at the age of 12 and, after four years, still hadn't finished it. Yep. How could I call myself a true Tolkien fan if I hadn't even read his books? So, because I know there are many of you out there, who like I was, are incredibly disappointed in their inability to just be able to read LotR, I want to tell you about something that changed changed my experience with this High Fantasy...
I believe in listening to audiobooks. There is nothing worse that wanting to read but also wanting to paint, bake, knit, cook, work out etc. So, I listen to audiobooks while I do those activities - as holding a book at the same time is rather difficult.
I was fed up with trying to finished The Return of the King and decided I might as well find a free audiobook of it on YouTube or Spotify. I expected to be grinding my teeth together and sucking up my pain while I listen to what, I assumed, would be a terribly boring, badly read audiobook. HOW WRONG I WAS! So, without further ado let me tell you...
There are FREE AUDIOBOOKS of The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King on Spotify! And that's not even the best part. You might be thinking to yourself, how can anything be better than a free audiobook?
Well read audiobooks, with incredible and differing accents for each character, as well as awesome sound effects and soundtrack! Truly, I say to you, there are very few audiobooks I would say are well read, I'm rather picky, and even fewer that I would tell everyone about.
Allow me to fangirl over these masterpieces for a moment...
The reader, who I regret to say I can't name, is a masterful storyteller. Pause, pitch, pace, it's all perfect. There is great diversity and power in his accents... at first I thought there were multiple actors, but after some time listening I'm not so sure. And the sound affects! Not every audiobook has the sound of swords clashing or orcs howling or men calling across the battlefield. The LotR film soundtrack is also featured and it is hair raising when it swells into crescendo. It plays beautifully in the background while the narrator tells of the peaceful shire, or of Fangorn or of anything beautiful.
Truly, I have never come across audiobooks that have made me sit still and listen, my heart beating wildly, wishing the narrator would read faster and then cheering when all is proven well.
To find the audiobooks simply type into Spotify the one you wish to listen to first, then click play and you'll be transported to a truly magical place.
