Tolkien and Dickens' grandsons join forces on audiobook

Michael G R Tolkien, the eldest grandson of J R R Tolkien, and Gerald Dickens, a great-grandson of Charles Dickens, have formed a "unique" collaboration to bring out an audiobook of the verse story WISH.

Written by poet Michael Tolkien (pictured), WISH was originally self-published in 2013 through Authorhouse. It was inspired by Florence Bone's fantasy story for children, The Rose-Coloured Wish (1923), which tells the story of two children who set out to use an evil enchanter's wishing chain of stones to save their alpine valley, only to fall into trouble with Ifinger, the malevolent dwarf.  

Tolkien wanted to pay tribute to the now-neglected tale and to "recreate the spirit of the original in new dress" through a verse retelling. 

Now Dickens, an English actor and performer best-known for his one-man shows based on the novels of his great-grandfather, has narrated the story for audio. He described it as "a timeless story" whcih Tolkien had "brought to life in narrative verse." 

The hardback was published by Union Bridge Books. The audiobook is available now on Audible.