HobbitThe book begins with Biblo Baggins enjoying a pipe after breakfast.
This is oneof his favorite pleasures and he feels quite content in doing so. He ismiddle-aged, and resides in a burrow in the ground. One morning Gandalf, awizard stops by to talk with Biblo. He tells Biblo that he is looking forsomeone to go on an adventure with him.
Although Biblo is tempted he declines,but not before inviting Gandalf for tea the next morning. The next day Biblohears his doorbell and he remembers inviting Gandalf for tea, but instead of thewizard at the door, there is a group of dwarves, thirteen in all. Thorin son ofthe dwarf king starts to outline a plan on how to regain the treasure stolen bythe dragon Smaug. Biblo is shocked to realize these plans involve him. He thenrealizes that Gandalf has tricked him by inscribing on his door that he was aburglar seeking a job with lots of excitement. With all this talk of quests andglory Biblo decides to join the party after all.
Gandalf reveals a key and a mapof their journey, which ends at the Lonely Mountain. It is there that thetreasure of Thorins’ ancestors is guarded by Smaug. The quest begins and theparty meets at the Green Dragon Inn. From there they venture into theLone-lands. As heavy rains begin to fall, Biblo notices that Gandalf is missing.
When it starts to pour they stop to investigate a light. Their Biblo finds threetrolls grumbling about food. Biblo decides to live up to title of burglar andattempts to pick one of the trolls’ pockets. However they quickly capture him. The dwarfs see what’s going on and try to save Biblo but all of them exceptThorin are caught.
Thorin formulates a plan to free them but fails. Gandalfreturns and occupies the trolls till dawn, and then they turn into stone. Thegroup takes the two swords and a knife the trolls were carrying. The travelerscome across the Secret Valley. There they stop at Elronds’ Last Homely House.
Elrond tells them the only way to use the key that Thorin possesses is to waitwhere the thrush knocks and the setting sun will shine up on the keyhole. Thenext morning the group heads toward the Misty Mountains. A storm has caused themto seek shelter in a cave. The cave however turns out to be an entrance to thegoblin kingdom. Again the group is captured. Only Gandalf is free, and he slaysthe Goblin King, and once again frees the party from doom.
During the escapeBiblo is knocked unconscious and is left behind. He awakes to find a ring ofpower that belongs to Gollum, which makes its wearer invisible. Biblo slips thering on his finger and disappears. He follows Gollum invisibly toward theentrance to the outside world.
He then jumps over Gollums’ head to freedom. Outside he is finds his dwarf friends. Later they encounter Wargs, which arelarge savage wolves. The Wargs chase the party into the trees. High in the treesGandalf uses a spell to start the pine cones on fire, in order to drive thewolves away. However the plan backfires and the very trees they took refuge inis now burning.
Luckily for them the king of the eagles spots them. He and hiseagles drop out of the sky and saves the party. The eagles drop them off nearMirkwood Forest. This is where they come across Beorn; a bear like man who canchange into a bear. He puts them up for the night and outfits them with suppliesfor their trip into Mirkwood.
He also warns them not to stray from the path inthe forest. When they are ready to enter the forest, Gandalf announces he willnot be accompanying them in this part of the journey. The group feels lostwithout him but they go on. They come across a black river. It is here thatBombur, one of the Dwarves falls in and is forced into a sleep from which hecannot awake. Food is scarce now and the hungry travelers are lured off the pathby visions of elves feasting in the forest.
To their surprise every time theyannounce their presence to the elves. . . they elves vanish! Once again Biblo findshimself separated from the group. He stops for a short nap and awakes to findhimself tied down by a giant spider. He uses his sword to cut himself free.
Hethen attacks the spider and kills it. Feeling proud of his deed, he decides toname his sword “Sting”. Biblo finds his friends deep within theforest. They too have been captured by spiders, but have not escaped.
Biblo putson his m magic ring and forms a plan to rescue his friends. It works and theparty gets out of danger. The celebration of escaping the spiders is short livedsince the dwarfs are again captured by Wood Elves. Biblo again uses his ring andescapes capture. He followed the elves to there home in the forest. There heforms a plan to free his friends.
He opens their cells and seals them inbarrels. He then floats the barrels up the river to Lake-town and freedom. InLake-town they get more supplies and venture to the Lonely Mountain. On themountain they heard a thrush drop a snail to the rocks. Recalling what Beorntold them about the thrush and sunlight, they quickly found the hidden backentrance to Smaug’s lair. Biblo puts on his ring and goes to confront thedragon.
It is there he notices that in Smaugs’ underbelly there is a place thatis not covered by his iron like scales. After conversing with the dragon Bibloreturns to the party. Smaug however is angry about his little invisible visitorand heads to destroy Lake-town. When the dragon attacks, a thrush told Bard (thecaptain of the archers) that Smaug has a weak spot in his breast. Bard used hisblack arrow to slay the beast.
Then the towns people made him king of Lake-town. With smaug dead the men and elves go to claim his hoarded treasure. Dwarftroops under Thorins’ kinsman Dain also appear. There fighting is soon changedto alliance when the Wargs and Goblins approach and so The Battle of the FiveArmies begins. During the battle Thorin is hurt and Biblo gets knockedunconscious by falling rocks. The eagles as well as Beorn, in bear form join thefray.
The Wargs and goblins are defeated. Biblo later returns to his burrowunder the hill with a chest of treasure, a ring of power, and a great story totell. I liked this book a lot because the author uses characters that appearonly in fairy tales, but gives them human traits. I especially liked the wayBiblo changed from a tea drinking *censored* to an iron-fighting adventurer. Iwould highly recommend this book for children of all ages as well as adults.
Ithas something about it that won’t let you put it down, it is a very goodnovel.
