The book begins with Biblo Baggins enjoying a pipe after breakfast. This is one
of his favorite pleasures and he feels quite content in doing so. He is
middle-aged, and resides in a burrow in the ground. One morning Gandalf, a
wizard stops by to talk with Biblo. He tells Biblo that he is looking for
someone 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 Biblo
hears his doorbell and he remembers inviting Gandalf for tea, but instead of the
wizard at the door, there is a group of dwarves, thirteen in all. Thorin son of
the dwarf king starts to outline a plan on how to regain the treasure stolen by
the dragon Smaug. Biblo is shocked to realize these plans involve him. He then
realizes that Gandalf has tricked him by inscribing on his door that he was a
burglar seeking a job with lots of excitement. With all this talk of quests and
glory Biblo decides to join the party after all. Gandalf reveals a key and a map
of their journey, which ends at the Lonely Mountain. It is there that the
treasure of Thorins’ ancestors is guarded by Smaug. The quest begins and the
party meets at the Green Dragon Inn. From there they venture into the
Lone-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 three
trolls grumbling about food. Biblo decides to live up to title of burglar and
attempts 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 except
Thorin are caught. Thorin formulates a plan to free them but fails. Gandalf
returns and occupies the trolls till dawn, and then they turn into stone. The
group takes the two swords and a knife the trolls were carrying. The travelers
come 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 wait
where the thrush knocks and the setting sun will shine up on the keyhole. The
next morning the group heads toward the Misty Mountains. A storm has caused them
to seek shelter in a cave. The cave however turns out to be an entrance to the
goblin kingdom. Again the group is captured. Only Gandalf is free, and he slays
the Goblin King, and once again frees the party from doom. During the escape
Biblo is knocked unconscious and is left behind. He awakes to find a ring of
power that belongs to Gollum, which makes its wearer invisible. Biblo slips the
ring on his finger and disappears. He follows Gollum invisibly toward the
entrance to the outside world. He then jumps over Gollums' head to freedom.
Outside he is finds his dwarf friends. Later they encounter Wargs, which are
large savage wolves. The Wargs chase the party into the trees. High in the trees
Gandalf uses a spell to start the pine cones on fire, in order to drive the
wolves away. However the plan backfires and the very trees they took refuge in
is now burning. Luckily for them the king of the eagles spots them. He and his
eagles drop out of the sky and saves the party. The eagles drop them off near
Mirkwood Forest. This is where they come across Beorn; a bear like man who can
change into a bear. He puts them up for the night and outfits them with supplies
for their trip into Mirkwood. He also warns them not to stray from the path in
the forest. When they are ready to enter the forest, Gandalf announces he will
not be accompanying them in this part of the journey. The group feels lost
without him but they go on. They come across a black river. It is here that
Bombur, one of the Dwarves falls in and is forced into a sleep from which he
cannot awake. Food is scarce now and the hungry travelers are lured off the path
by visions of elves feasting in the forest. To their surprise every time they
announce their presence to the elves...they elves vanish! Once again Biblo finds
himself separated from the group. He stops for a short nap and awakes to find
himself tied down by a giant spider. He uses his sword to cut himself free. He
then attacks the spider and kills it. Feeling proud of his deed, he decides to
name his sword "Sting". Biblo finds his friends deep within the
forest. They too have been captured by spiders, but have not escaped. Biblo puts
on his m magic ring and forms a plan to rescue his friends. It works and the
party gets out of danger. The celebration of escaping the spiders is short lived
since the dwarfs are again captured by Wood Elves. Biblo again uses his ring and
escapes capture. He followed the elves to there home in the forest. There he
forms a plan to free his friends. He opens their cells and seals them in
barrels. He then floats the barrels up the river to Lake-town and freedom. In
Lake-town they get more supplies and venture to the Lonely Mountain. On the
mountain they heard a thrush drop a snail to the rocks. Recalling what Beorn
told them about the thrush and sunlight, they quickly found the hidden back
entrance to Smaug's lair. Biblo puts on his ring and goes to confront the
dragon. It is there he notices that in Smaugs' underbelly there is a place that
is not covered by his iron like scales. After conversing with the dragon Biblo
returns to the party. Smaug however is angry about his little invisible visitor
and heads to destroy Lake-town. When the dragon attacks, a thrush told Bard (the
captain of the archers) that Smaug has a weak spot in his breast. Bard used his
black 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. Dwarf
troops under Thorins' kinsman Dain also appear. There fighting is soon changed
to alliance when the Wargs and Goblins approach and so The Battle of the Five
Armies begins. During the battle Thorin is hurt and Biblo gets knocked
unconscious by falling rocks. The eagles as well as Beorn, in bear form join the
fray. The Wargs and goblins are defeated. Biblo later returns to his burrow
under the hill with a chest of treasure, a ring of power, and a great story to
tell. I liked this book a lot because the author uses characters that appear
only in fairy tales, but gives them human traits. I especially liked the way
Biblo changed from a tea drinking *censored* to an iron-fighting adventurer. I
would highly recommend this book for children of all ages as well as adults. It
has something about it that won’t let you put it down, it is a very good
novel.