The Return of the King

[Editor's Note: The following is a combined review with THE TWO TOWERS.]--There is something incongruous about American voices in ancient Britain (or to be precise, Middle-earth). Nonetheless, these American productions of the Tolkien classics--originally broadcast on NPR Playhouse--are well worth hearing. While not as elaborate as the BBC production (which featured Ian Holm), this adaptation is more accessible to a wider audience. Gail Chugg, who also plays the character of Gollum, narrates the story with an easy storyteller's style. James Arrington reads the part of Frodo Baggins, the Hobbit bearing the burden of a ring of great power. Bernard Mayes portrays the wizard Gandalf with a homespun flourish. S.E.S. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine

The third part of the esteemed Professor Tolkien's epic trilogy ratchets up the story's drama, danger, tragedy, and triumph to . . . well, epic levels, while generously presenting (in some surprising ways) its sadness, melancholy, and tenderness. The final fate of Middle-earth and our stalwart heroes is here in its full glory. The aforementioned drama and emotions are once again well served by Rob Inglis's commanding and artful performance. By this point in the series, Inglis fully inhabits both the world and the characters and, by virtue of his fine reading, makes the listener an inhabitant of that mystical world, too. In fact, listening to Inglis's work is arguably the better way to get the full force of Tolkien's story rather than reading it on one's own. J.P.M. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine

Narrator Andrew Serkis can mimic (or embody) every character in the many rings of Tolkien's circus. He's piping hobbits from whom heroism must be extracted. He's the gorgeous prepubescent elves. He's the manly dwarves, brave but hobbled by tradition and capable of greed. He's the antic Gollum, wheedling, threatening, and exultant. As Gandalf, Serkis sounds restrained and wise. Serkis can even be the neutral narrator holding voices apart. The armies of good clash with the armies of evil, and in this final volume, many strings need tying up. Every word is inflected. Everything is at stake. They are fighting around a single ring, but the story is an orchestra, and Serkis wrings music from every instrument. It's a full-cast production, though--in this one case--the cast is a single man. And human? It's inhuman. B.H.C. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine