The Fall of Gondolin

This was an interesting academic exercise for Tolkien fans. Christopher looks at the different versions of the story that his father worked on over the decades, as well as how they exist in relation to Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion. Don't come to this expecting a compelling narrative or particularly engaging story; these unpublished drafts were that way for a reason. But as an insight to how Tolkien's writing process developed over the decades it's a worthwhile read.

I really hadn't planned on reading any of these new books by Christopher Tolkien — I've already read most of the History of Middle Earth books, so what new info could there be? But then I saw that the audiobook was read by Timothy & Samuel West! I would listen to Sam West read a phone book, so to Audible I went.

I had expected the audiobook to be a little strange given the format of the book — J. R. R. Tolkien's partially written stories surrounded with (and sometimes interrupted by) Christopher Tolkien's explanatory information — but it worked perfectly! Sam West read the tales and his dad read Christopher Tolkien's commentary, and they both did an excellent job. I shall listen to the Unfinished Tales soon!

I wouldn't necessarily recommend this to anyone who wasn't already a giant Tolkien nerd, but I loved it.