The Hobbit Review
By: Star DeArmond

Bilbo Baggins, a Halfling (or, as the Halflings calls themselves, a hobbit), is brought into the company of thirteen Dwarves to aid Thorin Oakenshield in a quest to regain control of the title King Under the Mountain from the dragon Smaug. It is a long and perilous journey, one to which Bilbo is very devoted, despite his outward appearances on the matter.

Hobbits don't usually like adventure. They like to stay in their comfortable hobbit holes, have gatherings, eat, give presents, blow smoke rings from pipes, and then eat some more. But, there is a particular family of hobbits that is a bit different. Their name is Took. The mother of Bilbo Baggins is a Took, so Bilbo always has a notion for adventure, even though it is suppressed at times.

Because of this, when Gandalf the Grey stumbles upon Bilbo while he is blowing smoke rings on his front step, Bilbo has mixed feelings on the subject of strange guests. He doesn't want to be different, but then again, he longs to see the rest of Middle-Earth, and maybe meet some new people.

Ultimately, Bilbo's Tookish side wins out on him, and he is taken along as a burglar in The Company. He discovers that he likes being different from the other hobbits in the Shire, and that other races of people provide for good friends and interesting adventures.

The Hobbit is a brilliant work of literature. It lends new meaning to the word "adventure". J.R.R. Tolkien displays timeless genius in this classic, and I would recommend it to anyone.