The Hobbit Book Review

THE HOBBIT

   Bilbo Baggins meets Gandalf,and Bilbo invites Gandalf for teatime. Instead of Gandalf showing, Dwarfs show up instead. Gandalf arrives after all the Dwarfs. The Dwarfs and Gandalf invite Bilbo to an adventure to get their gold back. Bilbo is frightened by all the exciting stories and faints. Bilbo wakes up in the morning and the Dwarfs and Gandalf are gone. Bilbo finds a piece of paper which he must sign to go on the adventure with them. He decides to go and runs to catch up with them. Once he catches up to them he is given a pony/horse to ride on. They travel on and find a camp site to camp on and see a light between the trees. They go check it out and find out there are trolls in the woods. They send Bilbo to pick pocket one of the trolls and Bilbo gets caught. The trolls interrogate Bilbo until he talks. The Dwarfs see that the trolls have Bilbo and attack. The trolls capture the Dwarfs as well. Noticing that the dwarfs and Bilbo have not returned, Thorin goes to check it out. Thorin sees Bilbo and the Dwarfs in sacks and decides to attack the trolls as well. After the battle between Thorin and the trolls, Thorin eventually gets caught as well. Now that they had caught all the dwarfs, they were trying to decide how to cook them. This discussion turns into an argument because apparently they can't decide how to cook them. This argument lasts a while because Gandalf is making voices that sound like the trolls and is saying what a bad idea the cooking options were. This angers the trolls because they keep hearing the voices and thinking it's each other. This argument stalled them long enough that the sun came up. The trolls turn to stone (trolls can not be in the sun) and luckily enough the Dwarfs and Bilbo escape from the sacks and Bilbo thinks to reach into one of the troll's pockets(before they were completely stone)and take something. After everyone was out of the sacks, they all thought since there were trolls in the woods, there must have been a troll cave in the woods(this cave is were they retreat from the sun). They look all around the woods and finally found one. The cave had enormous stone doors. They pushed and pushed but they could not push it open. While the Dwarfs and Gandalf are pushing, Bilbo notices a key hole. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out that something he took from the trolls pocket and realized that it was a key. Matter of fact, it was the key that would open the door. He mentions this thing that he took from the trolls pocket and they try it on the door. Once the key was in, they started to push again and the door opened slowly but surely. They took a few steps inside and they saw food, gold, weapons, and clothing from the past meals. They all scattered, some took gold, some took food, and Gandalf, Bilbo, and Thorin all looked at the weapons. On their way out, Gandalf, Bilbo, and Thorin notice something partially buried in all the rubble. Gandalf bends over and picks up a silver, handcrafted blade. Thorin and Bilbo are stunned by this and see more of these. Thorin picks up one and admires the blade. Gandalf mentions that these blades were made by the elves. Thorin immediately closes the blade. Gandalf tries to talk Thorin in to taking the sword. Thorin angrily takes the blade. Gandalf notices another blade, however this one is shorter. Gandalf takes the blade and gives it to Bilbo, telling him its the perfect size for him. Bilbo takes the blade nervously (not knowing how to use a weapon of this sort). They get out of the cave and continue with their journey. They now are about to exit the forest but they are approached by one of Gandalf's friends. He says there is something wrong with the forest he is protecting. He says that what ever is going on was caused by a dark magic (witchcraft). At that moment a pack of wolf like beasts show up and chase them out of the forest. Gandalf's friend is ahead of them and lures them away from Gandalf and the others long enough so that they can find a hiding place. Right before they get to their hiding place the creatures see them and they stop chasing Gandalf's friend and head for them. These creatures are lead by orcs. The creature and the Orcs corner them into a cave. Suddenly an orc body comes rolling into the cave. The orc is dead but was shot by an arrow. The arrow was from the elves. They came out of the cave to see that the elves are wiping out the orcs. The orcs retreat with what ever warriors they had left. Gandalf approaches the elves and thanks them. The elves take them to there palace. Once there, Gandalf meets with another one of his wizard friends. They discus about the dark magic that was reported by the other wizard. Gandalf show them a blade of witchcraft that was given to him by the other wizard during their discussion. This blade stuns the wizard and the conversation ends. The elves invite them to have dinner at their palace before they leave on their journey. Thorin is not very happy being in the presents of the elves. after dinner, they left the palace, starting their journey again. They now had to travel through the misty mountains. At night, it gets stormy and suddenly appear mountain giants. The mountain giants attack the Dwarfs, Gandalf, and Bilbo. They take shelter in a cave in the mountain. At night, they were captured them and take them to their king. Once there Bilbo makes an effort to escape from the goblins. In his attempt he get separated from the rest. In the tunnels of the mountain(this is were the goblin king was) Bilbo finds a ring on the ground. He goes deeper and deeper in the tunnels and meets a small creature named Gollum. Gollum wants to eat Bilbo but Bilbo talks him into doing something else. Bilbo gets him to play a game of riddles. But first, Bilbo made a deal with him that if he couldn't answer all his riddles, show Bilbo the way out. Gollum answered these riddles with correct answers. Bilbo runs out out riddles and asked what was in my pocket. He said this out loud on accident and Gollum thought it was another riddle. Gollum says the riddle is unfair and says he want 3 guesses. Bilbo grants him this wish. Gollum guessed 2 incorrectly and didn't dare waste he's third answer. Gollum struggles to answer the question. Then at last, he answered and Bilbo said he was wrong. Immediately, Bilbo got up and reminded Gollum of the deal. Gollum argues, but finally says he'll show him the way out. But first, he wanted to get something before he left. Bilbo allowed him to and Gollum ran off to go get it. It took a while for him to come back, but when he did he was questioning what Bilbo had in his pocket. Gollum was sort of upset because he couldn't find his precious. Bilbo kept asking what he had lost, and Gollum kept replying with the question what do you have in your pocket. Gollum went back to his little stone island to look again for his precious. When he got there, Bilbo took off running. Gollum noticed this and paddled back to the main land(also made of stone). Bilbo ran as fast as he could but in the distance, he could see Gollum running behind him asking vigorously what Bilbo had is his pocket. Bilbo kept looking back and got more frightened every time. At one point, Bilbo reached into his pocket and felt the ring. It was cold. Then, out of nowhere, He tripped on a snag in the floor. When he fell the ring slipped on to his finger. Gollum, who would've surely been on top of him by now, passed right by him. Bilbo wondered how this was possible. He got up and followed Gollum thinking that he would accidentally lead him out. He listened to Gollum think out  loud about directions to which you need to take to get out. Gollum decided to look at the exit for Bilbo, and Bilbo followed him the whole way there. At last, Gollum made it to the exit(along with Bilbo) and plopped down right in the middle of the door way and started to cry. He was upset because he had lost the only thing he cared for. Bilbo waits a while, trying to decide what to do. Then, at that moment, Bilbo decided to  jump over Gollum. He jumped 7 feet far and 3 feet high. While he was in the air, Gollum picked up his scent and clawed at him in the air. His reaction was a second too late because Bilbo was already on the other side of Gollum. Gollum new it was Bilbo and started to hiss and scream again. Bilbo heard Gollum yell "Thief, thief, thief Baggins. We hate you forever!" Bilbo walked up and down the path that would eventually lead him out of the tunnel. When he turned one of the corners, he saw day light. He stared to move faster and eventually made to the source of the light. The source of the light was a huge door, the only bad part about this was that it was guarded by goblins. Once they saw him, they all charged him. Bilbo wondered how they could see him. This is when he realized that he didn't have the ring on. He panicked and stuck his hand into his pocket, and the ring slid on. All the Goblins stopped in their tracks, Bilbo had disappeared. The goblins look all up and down the path way. Bilbo takes the advantage and heads toward to door. He tries to slip through the door and his coat gets caught on the door. The sun shines on the door and the goblins see Bilbo's shadow. Bilbo sees that they are coming for him and squirms more vigorously. The brass buttons on his coat started to pop off in all directions. At last, Bilbo gets free and runs into the shade of the trees out side the door. The goblins search and search but they could not find Bilbo. All the goblins stopped looking for him and went back inside. When the Goblins were gone he found Gandalf and the Dwarfs. They were arguing whether they should go back for Bilbo or leave him. Gandalf was trying to get the Dwarfs to come with him and find Bilbo. Then, Bilbo stepped right in the middle of them, slipping off the ring. They all jumped, and then smiled and started welcoming him back. Bilbo told them the story of Gollum and the troubles he faced with getting through the door and away from the guards. They talked about how they lost time in the goblins tunnels. They started back on their journey. Every one was hungry and Bilbo was looking left and right for something to eat. They went on, along the way, they might have found 2 or 3 berries to eat. After walking a long way, they found themselves on top of a wide steep slope of fallen stones from a landslide. They started to go down it and rubble and small rocks tumbled down as well. Then lumps of rocks started to fall, clashing into other rocks. The whole slope above and below them seemed to be on the move, and they were going with it. The trees at the bottom saved them. Soon enough, the rock slide stopped. The sun was gone behind the mountains. They limped along a bit faster down the slopes of the pine forest. It got darker, Bilbo could barely see. Bilbo asked if they had to o any further. Gandalf said a "little bit further". All of a sudden, they heard a howl away down hill. It was answered by another one to the right. Then, by another to the left. It was wolves. "What shall we do" said Bilbo. "Up the trees quick" said Gandalf. Some were in different trees. Bilbo could not get up a tree. He was scuttling from trunk to trunk. The wolfs were barking up the trees. The wargs had come to meet the Goblins about the great goblins death. The goblins were late. Gandalf lit a pine cone on fire and through it in the center of one of the circles of wolves. More and more were thrown at the circles of wolfs. The wolves were filled with rage. Some of the wolves caught fire and spread it to other wolves. The lord eagle noticed this commotion. The lord eagle had amazing eyesight. The goblins set the trees on fire. The Eagles cam and saved them from burns with the trees. The eagles also killed some of he goblins. The eagles took them to their nests. Gandalf talked to the eagles and told them of their hunger, so the eagles gave them food an took them to the Carrock. They started their journey down the Carrocks. He mentioned they were going to go to one of Gandalf's friends house. He said he will help them. He mentioned he was a skin changer. This meant he could change (in particular), into a bear. The path they took was unstable and had pebbles and boulders everywhere. First it started as pebbles falling down, then regular sized rocks the boulders. And then, the whole path was moving by itself. Once at the bottom they were all hurting. Then, they went into the woods to continue their journey. On the way to their destination, Gandalf mentioned he had things he needed to attend to, and could only give them 1 or 2 days more of his time. This put everybody in an even worse mood. They begged him continuously. They offered him some of the silver, jewels, and dragons gold when they got it. Of course Gandalf thinks he already has earned some dragon gold for the trouble he's gotten the Dwarfs and Bilbo out of. After all the begging stopped, Gandalf said they were going to go to a friend of his who could help them. After walking and walking, they finally reached his friends house. They were told by Gandalf that they were to come in pairs of 2 or 3 five minutes after each pair. First, Gandalf went in with Bilbo. They reached the gate and went in. Once in, they saw Beorn. Gandalf introduced himself.Then,he mentioned his other friend, Radagast. Beorn had heard of this name. Then finally, Beorn asked about the person he had brought with him. Gandalf then introduced Bilbo. Beorn showed them inside and sat the down at the table. Gandalf talked about their troubles on their journey. Then Beorn asked if there was anybody else with him. Gandalf said yes and called in 2 dwarfs. Beorn was amused by this and asked if there were any more. Gandalf said yes and start calling in Dwarfs like made. Once they were all in, they started telling their journey in detail. Once it was late, they all went to sleep. The next morning, Bilbo woke up after everybody else. Once everybody was up, they all looked for Beorn and Gandalf. There was no sign of either one anywhere. It got late, and then Gandalf came into the house. They asked him where he had been. He only answered a few questions because he was hungry and wanted to eat more than anything. It was getting later and there was still no sign of Beorn. Finally they all stopped worrying and went to sleep. The next morning they were all woken up by Beorn himself. He told them to come eat breakfast. Once they all ate breakfast, Beorn gave them all food, weaponry, and ponies and a horse to borrow until they reached Mirkwood. He also warned them about what to do and what not to do once in the forest. And just like that they were on their way. They were all packed and they were ready to go. They all galloped away. They went through the forest until they reached the edge of Mirkwood. Once they got there, Gandalf reminded them of their deal with Beorn. They had to send the ponies and the Horse back to him. Everybody unloaded the horses and packed their bags. Gandalf was still sitting on his horse. They asked if he was going to keep his deal with Beorn as well. He told them he's not getting off his horse yet because he was going to ride it back to Beorn. This meant it was time for Gandalf to leave. This put everybody in a terrible mood. They tried begging again, but he had already made up his mind. Then they departed. They watched Gandalf ride away. Then once he was out of site, they plunged into the forest. They went in and it was dark. No sunlight or wind, and no blue sky. It was just dark. They kept going. They saw cobwebs, almost dead leaves hanging from the trees, it all was dark and nasty. Their eyes adjusted but they could only see each other, the path, and the trees. The nights were so dark, they couldn't even see their own hands in front of their faces. They all took turns taking watch, and all night all they could see were eyes of other creatures in the dark. After a while they came across a stream. Beorn told them don't touch any water from the stream. Bilbo saw a boat on the other side of the bank. They through a hooks and rope over the river and hooked it on to the boat. Then they all started to pull. The boat came rushing down the stream and one of the Dwarfs caught the boat with a stick Bilbo gave him. Then, they came up with a way to get across. First Thorin, Bilbo, and two other Dwarfs went in the boat first, then four more Dwarfs, then another four, and then the last two. When it was time for the last of them to cross, a deer with wings came and knocked over the Dwarfs. Then, Thorin shot the beast with an arrow with his bow. Every was fine except the beast knocked Bombur into the water. They were able to get him out but he as fast asleep. They pulled Bombur everywhere. Then after a few long miserable days, Bombur woke up and couldn't remember a thing beyond the party at the Bilbo's Hobbit hole. They told him of their adventures and troubles up until he just woke up. Then, they saw some torches in the distance. They disobeyed the warning from Beorn and went to go off the path and check it out. They ended up chasing these torches for a while, except every time they approached the people (who were eating and laughing in the forest) the fire would disappear and the people and the fire would disappear too. They ended up lost because the torches kept showing up, and they all ways went after them. Every time there were more people, and the description of the people matched the description of the people in Bombur's dream. Then finally, they all wandered off looking for each other. And just like that they were all lost. Then Bilbo decides to sit down and sleep until day time, but gets captured by a humungous spider. He struggles to get loose, but when he did, he fought the spider with his hands and then took out his sword and killed it. Later, he looked for his friends. He found them in bundles of spider webs. He lured the spiders away from the dwarfs so he could rescue them. He got past the guard spider and killed it and then cut the dwarfs loose. They managed to get away from the spiders for good. They noticed Thorin was gone. He got captured by wood elves. They went to go save them and got captured as well and got taken to Thrandull's Halls. Bilbo frees them from their imprisonment and they travel down the river in barrels. They eventually reach lake town and are greeted by the lake town people. Then they all depart from lake town. They left the river and traveled to the Lonely Mountain. Once there, Bilbo finds the secret door. They go down the secret path and send Bilbo to steal a two handed cup while Smaug was still asleep. Then Bilbo goes back to the treasure chamber and encounters Smaug. Then, Smaug leaves the Lonely Mountain, smashes the secret door. Once he left the Mountain, He went and destroyed lake town. Then, Smaug is killed in an epic battle by Bard the Bowman. Smaug's death is spread quick and fills everyone with joy. Later, Thrandull and a bunch of elves made their way to lake town. Thorin hears of this march of the elves and summons his cousin, Dáin. He summons him so he can provide military help. The 2 forces of lake men, who are led by Bard, and elves, who are led by Thrandull go to the Lonely Mountain. Bilbo sneaks away and gives Bard and Thrandull the Arkenstone. This angers Thorin very much. Then Bard and Thrandull offer Thorin the Arkenstone in exchange for their share of the treasure, and Thorin casts out Bilbo. Then Dáin comes with a bunch of dwarfs. The men of lake town, the elves, and the dwarfs join forces against the goblins and the wargs of Bolg. (This is the battle of the five armies) Bolg is killed by Beorn, Kíli and Fíli die protecting Thorin(who is seriously hurt). Then, Thorin and Bilbo meet up and Thorin dies. Dáin becomes the king under the mountain(because of Thorin's death). Bilbo, Gandalf and Beorn leave the Lonely Mountain and they stay at Beorn's halls before they start heading eastward. Soon, after they left, they made it to Rivendell. Then they went to Hobbiton. After a while Gandalf and  Balin visit Bilbo and Gandalf and Bilbo start to talk.      

This a great book. It has action from beginning to end. I recommend reading it when you have the time. Like over summer break.