The Hobbit (#1)

By J.R.R. Tolkien

First of all, just a small little pre-script (is that a word?) from The Reviewer. For your convenience, and all others', I will be treating only The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings as canon in the Lord of the Rings series of books by Tolkien. All other works, if I ever have the chance to review, will be placed under the number '##(book no. in my order)' and will be placed in the order I feel is the best. Thank you and enjoy!

Bilbo Baggins, a food-loving hobbit living peacefully in the Shire, finds his life disrupted when a group of dwarves come and whisk him away into an adventure to kill the fearful dragon Smaug. But along the way, a small golden ring makes its way back into the way from the creature named Gollum...

One day, Bilbo is smoking his pipe when a wizard named Gandalf comes along. He tells Bilbo about an adventure, and Bilbo is frightened. The next day, a party of dwarves arrive at Bilbo's hobbit hole along with Gandalf. The true meaning of the meeting is revealed when Gandalf brings out a map showing the way to the Lonely Mountain, where the dwarves' (including Thorin Oakenshield, a powerful dwarf indeed) treasure had been stolen by an evil dragon named Smaug. Gandalf shows his plan to go there, and they agree to set out the next day, with Bilbo as their 'burglar'.

Bilbo almost misses the meeting at the inn, but luckily he makes it and they go. During a particularly rainy night, they blunder into three trolls and all of them are captured except for Bilbo and Gandalf (who had slipped off to who knew where). Then Gandalf returns in the nick of time to save them, and the trolls are turned to stone. They travel along one side of the Misty Mountains, and visit the elves at Rivendell, where Elrond tells them of the secret door that will have a keyhole on Durin's Day.

On yet another rainy night, while they are travelling along the Mountains, they seek shelter in a a cave. Unluckily, they are captured by goblins, but Gandalf manages to escape. When they are brought   before the Great Goblin, Gandalf returns and leads them off. But then, Bilbo is pushed off into a dark cavern. Stumbling around, he finds an underground lake, where resides Gollum. They have a riddle game, and Bilbo wins and Gollum has to show him the way out. Gollum is resentful and looks for 'his precious', the little golden ring that made him invisible, to kill Bilbo. However, he does not know that he had dropped it and Bilbo has found it. Bilbo makes himself invisible and follows Gollum, who is looking for him, to the back door, and Bilbo escapes and is reunited with the dwarves.

Luck, however, is not with them, for they are attacked by the evil wolves of the Wild (the Wargs). The Eagles hear them, and save their lives by carrying each and every one of them to the Carrock, near the man-bear Beorn's residence. They seek shelter there, but a short one. Travelling on to the Mirkwood, Gandalf unexpectedly leaves them, and they have to face the woods alone. After many events, they are all tired and miserable, when they spot fires off the path. Trying to find them, they are broken up, and eventually captured by giant spiders. With the help of his ring, Bilbo successfully manages to rescue all the dwarves. But then he realizes that Thorin is missing! He had been captured by the Wood-elves, the inhabitants of the wood, and the ones who had lit the fires.

Then the rest of the dwarves, too, are kidnapped and sent to the King of the Wood-elves. Bilbo concocts a plan to get them out of there, using the barrels which are sent to Lake-town, near to the Lonely Mountain. Once they reach there, Thorin announces his plan to the people of Lake-town, and promises them gold. Reaching the side door in the Mountain, Bilbo enters the door to where the dragon Smaug is sleeping. He steals a small golden cup, but unluckily Smaug notices it and attacks the hidden door. Just barely escaping, they hide inside the hidden hallway which leads to Smaug's domain. Bilbo accidentally infuriates Smaug, who destroys their passageway out to the Mountain and heads off to Lake-town to destroy it.

The dwarves enter the Mountain together, and find it deserted. They make for the post that is located away from the Mountain. Meanwhile, Smaug has been killed by the archer named Bard, but Lake-town is destroyed. Bard heads to the Mountain with the Lake-people to claim the gold, while the dwarves do the same. They send for their cousins, Dain and his army to come. The Wood-elves, too, arrive, to aid the men of Lake-town. Then the goblins and Wargs descend on them, and thus begins the Battle of the Five Armies, with the men, dwarves and elves on one side, and the goblins and Wargs on the other. At first, the goblins seem to be winning, but then the Eagles arrive, and the tables are swiftly turned. Thorin, however, is fatally wounded.

Everything is sorted out peacefully, and Bilbo departs for the Shire with Gandalf. They arrive safely, and Bilbo is glad that he took that adventure so long ago.

A fun adventure, this book will keep you on the tips of your toes as you eagerly await what will happen next. While it is certainly an excellent read, one feels confused about the climax. What is the climax really? Is it the dangerous conversation with Smaug, or the killing of him? Or is it the Battle of the Five Armies? As such, The Hobbit seems to lose its focus at times.

Bilbo Baggins seems like the typical hero. An unassuming person, unaware of his own identity, and suddenly whisked away from his peaceful life, SNAP! just like that. His sudden success as a burglar, perhaps helped a bit (Okay, a lot) by his magic ring, is like that of the usual hero, because he discovers his own hidden potential and as such helps the dwarves. He is set apart, however from other dreary and boring characters by his unusual willingness to help the dwarves and the fact that even though he is very small for his size, he has tons of courage, and this shows that there is often more to people than you think there are.

Gandalf, again, seems to be the main "pusher" in this book, in the sense that everything that happens in the book is his idea and no one seems to be able to do anything else except for blunder around and mess things up. However, he is a great character and certainly a charismatic one, that can help the dwarves in more than one way, although I may wonder why he even has to help them in the first place. There is nothing in it for him, but perhaps that is the wrong question at the wrong time.

Smaug is the perfect villain for this fantastic fantasy story, a mythical creature with just enough brainpower to frighten the daylights out of you. The dragon, now twisted and evil, comes to brilliant life with Tolkien's skillful descriptions and the conversations he has with Bilbo. However, Tolkien lets us down with his death, for we had expected a great war, fighting to slay the giant worm once and for all. Instead, he is brought down by a single arrow.

The Battle of the Five Armies is certainly supposed to be a battle of epic proportions, but most of the battle is either undescribed because Bilbo is knocked out, or losing the battle to the goblins. Tolkien still has not perfected the skill of story telling which he became famous for, or else the battle would have been more about how the dwarves and elves battled on, with the men at their side. As it is, Tolkien leaves it all up to the Eagles, and it seems as though they are his problem-solvers, though why they can't help the dwarves on their journey is better explained that in the movies.

The Hobbit is a brilliant lead-up to the Fellowship of the Ring, although it can be read as a standalone, the reader will want more of what happened to the ring, which was why they waited 10 years for the slow-moving Tolkien to finish the Lord of the Rings.

Dragon-sickness, the illness that pervades all those who have large quantities of gold, sounds like Tolkien's version of greed, and how it will eventually destroy you. It is an excellent warning, tied in with a book.

Gollum, perhaps, is another of the villains, his chapter, Riddles in the Dark, makes an early impression and gives the readers a look at this fascinating creature. His chilling voice, weird swallowing sounds, all combine in Tolkien's great mind. His bleached look gives the appearance of an ancient thing, an antique, left all alone in an underground lake.

While the Hobbit may not be perfect, it certainly makes for excellent reading. Even when there are fifteen people to focus on, Tolkien makes the right decision and focuses it all on Bilbo, and so he becomes one of the book's most powerful characters. Beware of some letdowns and disappointments, though!

Rating: 8.4/10
Advice: Definitely worth spending an afternoon reading it with a drink nearby!

The Reviewer has enjoyed this novel and hopes you did too! This review has made me feel that character is what defines us, far more than our size and our strength, for the strongest people are the bravest and wisest. Post your comments below to tell me what books you want to be reviewed!

Next post: A magical country comes to life in the epic novel, 'The Magician's Nephew', the first book in the Chronicles of Narnia series!