2019 The Hobbit (Bluefax)

Release Date: 2019
Reader: Bluefax
Language: English
Organization: Independent
Copyright: n/a
ISBN: n/a
Duration: 10 hours 12 minutes
Unabridged: Yes
Country: USA
Licenced: No

“Bluefax” is the pseudonym of a voice actor and sound engineer who embarked on this project with the goal of creating the most immersive Middle-earth experience possible. Bluefax provides the narration and nearly all the character voices. His performance is heavily influenced by the films, but he remains strictly faithful to the unabridged text of J.R.R. Tolkien. He wanted to bridge the gap between the high-fantasy writing of the book and the atmospheric “visual” feel of the Peter Jackson films.

It is a full-scale audio dramatization that uses the text as a script and weaves in Howard Shore’s score from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies. Every scene is “sound-designed” with ambient, environmental sounds and audio effects used throughout. He also closely approximates the voices of the cast of the Peter Jackson films, giving a glimpse of what those film productions, with that cast and that music would have sounded like if they had filmed the unabridged book.

He has also performed The Quest of Erebor from Unfinished Tales which provides a fascinating glimpse over the story of The Hobbit, told from Gandalf’s point of view.

A note from Bluefax:

“Bluefax is an actor, vocalist and producer, inspired by Peter Jackson’s LOTR trilogy and many dramatic and musical influences through childhood. This theatrical audiobook is the result of thousands of hours of work, and was created with the intention to be as well-received in a hundred years as it can be today.”

“This project was started in the summer of 2014, sparked by the combined inspiration of Phil Dragash’s LOTR soundscape audiobooks, Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance of Smaug, and a desire to do these stories justice. In 2019, the then-completed series was reshaped, remixed and remastered, with four chapters rerecorded to bring a higher and more consistent standard.”

“I’ve given everything to make this project – constructing something which feels like my childhood imagination blended with the musical heart of the film trilogies. I hope it brings you some of that same joy. If it does, do leave a comment and keep me posted – I’d love to hear your story.”

Take care, Bluefax

Because this is an unofficial, unlicensed production, it cannot be sold on platforms like Audible or Spotify. It exists primarily in the “internet archive” and fan community spaces.