This review is for the BBC audiobook version.

Thanks to Peter Jackson's film series, just about everyone knows Tolkien's great trilogy, though not everyone has read them. The BBC did a radio drama version once, and has released it as an audiobook. It is good, though not great. The bad thing about a film version is it will undoubtedly cast a certain actor as a certain character when you read a novel version, no matter what the author did. Case in point, Stephen King does not describe Jack Torrence's wife as looking anything remotely like actress Shelly Duval in his novel The Shining, yet anyone who knew Stanley Kubrick's movie first would be hardpressed to remember that. Such is also the case here though it is made odder since different unseen actors are playing the characters. That said, a handful really stand out, such as Ian Holm (Jackson's Bilbo) as a tough-minded Frodo Baggins, Bill Nighy playing a fantastic, working class, humble Samwise (who, probably, has the best storyarc of Tolkien's original work), and Michael Horden as a wise yet world-weary Gandalf. I would give props also to Peter Woodthorpe's Gollum being distinctive, though Gollum's unique diction tends to help a lot there. The work isn't as epic as Jackson's, probably owing in part to budget, but its also a lot more accurate to the source material.

There's not much more to say that hasn't already been said about JRR Tolkien's work, so I will simply say this audiobook would be a good one for fans of Tolkien and audiobooks/radio plays in general.

One of my favorite series of all time. The writing is unparalleled.

This trilogy of audios is absolutely fantastic (But The Lord Of The Rings trilogy in any form is brilliant)
Definitely recommend it

Still my second favourite fantasy series 20 years on. The breath of Tolkien's imagination is just awe-inspiring. This BBC adaptation has made it even more endearing. I honestly prefer Ian Holmes' Frodo to Elijah Wood's more insipid version. The songs that I basically skipped in the book were much more palatable when actually sung.

However, full disclosure here, I first read the series in 2000. Then when the movies came out, I was totally hooked. It's one of the few instances where the movies are just as good as the books. My only quibble was that they had changed the ending. In my head, for some reason, I thought I had read that Aragorn married Eowyn. It seemed so neat, merging Gondor and Rohan. I thought Peter Jackson just made the "Hollywood" version. Then I listened to this adaptation and it had the same ending! So then of course I had to go back to my hardcopy version and search through it. So the movie and BBC adaptation changed Eowyn's fate but Aragorn did indeed end up with Arwen! This proves 1) I perhaps speed read a bit too much, glossing over not just the songs 2) classics are always worth revisiting.

My precious.

lots of long chapters describing trees, but the story is incredible. I love these books and the story. Always have.

Some parts (especially towards the end) dragged on, but overall it was very delightful to listen to while I was driving or working

I love this series. The adventure. The feeling of not knowing what was going to happen next. I would suggest this to anyone who enjoys reading and likes fantasy and adventure.

Can you tell I'm in comfort-reading mode? (Also, yes, I will now be listening to the theme music of this on repeat for the next several months.)

This book was a delightful surprise! The storyline was so engaging, and I found myself immersed in the world the author created. I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed it.

This excellent audio drama adaptation of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is the best one that I know of. Excellent casting and production and good sound design, and (most importantly) no tampering with the story.
Highly recommended.

This is an audio"book" - a recording of a BBC radio series that predates the movies by several decades, I believe. One of the more interesting aspects is the producer's editing choices (i.e., what to cut from the book plot) compared to Peter Jackson's cuts. Battle scenes are probably the most obvious cuts, but other scenes are included that didn't make the movie cut, and these were a nice reminder for someone like me that hasn't read the books in about ten years.