But once in the flow of Tolkien's poetic imagination, and limitless authority of his universe, there were passages that I found myself completely mesmerised by as I was reading, and it became a thrillingly wild and magical experience. Whereas the narrative structure and characters of both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings provide the narrator with an immense propulsion, The Silmarillion is like reading an extraordinary, ancient bible, with its own creation mythology spanning many ages, written over many years. Serkis said: 'The Silmarillion was always going to be a hard mountain to climb, and therefore perhaps the most rewarding. In addition to being major audio bestsellers, both titles were critically acclaimed, with The Hobbit winning Grand Gold for Best Solo Audio Narration at the New York Festivals Radio Awards 2021, and The Lord of the Rings winning Gold the following year, as well as being nominated for Best Audiobook at the British Book Awards 2022. He reprised this performance in a new recording of The Hobbit audiobook, and returned to Middle-earth the following year with a new recording of The Lord of the Rings, speaking more than 10 of Tolkien's invented languages and voicing more than 100 different characters. In 2020, Serkis embarked on his #Hobbitathon, a live, cover-to-cover reading of The Hobbit, in an 11-hour sitting, with the intent to raise money for Covid-19 relief efforts.

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