Review: The Hobbit (novel)

The Lord of the Rings books are better than the films. Is the book of The Hobbit better than the films? Unquestionably yes, in some respects. But in others, not so much.

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again is the prequel to The Lord of the Rings, and the first published part of Tolkien's Legendarium. It was first published in 1937. It's been adapted into several audiobooks, at least one stage version, an opera, a comic book, a cartoon, and a trilogy of films.

Unlike LOTR, The Hobbit is clearly a children's book. In some ways it reminds me more of Grimm's fairy tales than part of Tolkien's Legendarium. We're introduced to Bilbo Baggins, the title character, who reluctantly agrees to help a group of Dwarves reclaim their home and gold from Smaug the dragon. Along the way they have many adventures, both hair-raising and humourous (and sometimes both at once; the trolls would be terrifying if they weren't so stupid!).

From the very first page Bilbo was my favourite character. His exasperation with his uninvited guests, his reaction to all the perils he faces on the journey, his gradual character development from being an easily-frightened tagalong to facing Smaug twice and escaping unharmed... In some ways I actually like Bilbo better than Frodo.

Smaug, even though he's a monster who gets his richly deserved comeuppance shortly after his first appearance, is my second favourite character. Maybe it's because I just like dragons. Or maybe it's because of how he has an actual personality instead of being just a plot device.

There's no shortage of creepy characters and incidents in this book, but Gollum takes the cake. My heart was in my mouth the whole time I read his riddling contest with Bilbo 😨 And knowing what the Ring is makes it terrifying even when it isn't doing anything except turning Bilbo invisible.

As I mentioned earlier, the films improve on the book in some ways. Gandalf's random disappearances in the book serve no real purpose except to get him out of the way when his powers would solve a problem quickly. We're told at the end he was fighting a Necromancer, but this is basically an afterthought to explain where he was. I prefer the films' version, where we get to see him and the White Council fight Sauron. Also, Bilbo is unconscious for most of the Battle of Five Armies in the book. He hears what happened second-hand, which doesn't make for a very exciting conclusion. The films actually show the battle, and the events leading to Thorin's, Fíli's and Kíli's deaths.

Speaking of Thorin's death, I cried so hard I couldn't see the page 😭 Fíli's and Kíli's deaths don't have quite as much impact, because we don't get to know them well in the book.

The Hobbit suffers slightly from being much shorter than LOTR and not having nearly as much character development or world-building in it. The reader doesn't grasp how vast and amazing Middle-Earth is in this book. But I love it almost as much as LOTR even with those flaws 😄

Is it available online?: I doubt it.

Rating: 10/10.

Review: The Silmarillion

If you thought The Lord of the Rings is depressing, just wait until you read The Silmarillion.

The Silmarillion is chronologically the first book in Tolkien's Legendarium, but it was published after his death. So far it has never been adapted to film. Unlike The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings, it doesn't have a main character... or a happy ending. It's essentially a history book of Middle Earth. Three of the stories in it have been published in separate books as well: The Children of Húrin, Beren and Lúthien, and The Fall of Gondolin. So far I haven't read any of those three.

Tolkien never intended to publish The Silmarillion (or "Silm", as some fans have renamed it). His son compiled it from notes he made before his death. The result is more like a series of encyclopedia articles than a book. No one gets much page-time or character development -- with a few notable exceptions (*cough*Beren and Lúthien*cough*). On the one hand this gives fans plenty of gaps to fill with fanfic. On the other, it's incredibly frustrating to be left with so many unanswered questions.

It's divided into several different sections, each covering a different part of Middle Earth's history. The first ones are about the creation of the world, how one of the Valar turned evil, and how the Elves left Valinor for Middle Earth. The rest of it is about what they did in Middle Earth.

We get to meet a young version of Galadriel, along with her brothers, her cousins, and her uncles. We're introduced to Lúthien, and finally learn who everyone compared Arwen to in The Lord of the Rings. We learn how Celebrimbor (unintentionally) helped Sauron make the rings. We meet a very young Elrond and his brother, and Gil-Galad, and Glorfindel, to say nothing of dozens of other characters who aren't mentioned again in LOTR. And we get to see most of them die.

Seriously, this book is full of death. From Míriel's death that causes so much unhappiness for so many people, to Gil-Galad's death fighting Sauron, there's practically a death on every page. This is not the sort of book to choose if you want some light, cheerful reading.

As if the deaths weren't depressing enough, there's plenty of horrible moments in the book. Ungoliant, the giant spider, is even more terrifying than Shelob. Aredhel's fate gives me chills, as does what happens to Húrin and his family. And the Fall of Númenor is truly the stuff of nightmares 😨 Some things are even more frightening because of how they're spoken of in an eerily matter-of-fact way -- the events leading up to the Fall of Gondolin, for instance.

The main problem with this book is that there's very little light to help get through the darkness. The Lord of the Rings is utterly terrifying in some parts, but no matter how dark things get there's always some hope. The Silmarillion has virtually no hope. It's basically summed up as "bad things happen. People suffer. Bad things get worse. People suffer more. Bad things get even worse. People suffer even more".

As a look into Middle Earth's history, this is a fascinating book. But as a story on its own, it's not exactly great. If Tolkien had been able to write more of it before he died, it might have been better. As it is, it's more a list of events than an actual novel. I hope there'll be an adaptation of it eventually; it might work better on-screen than on-page.

Is it available online?: No, I don't think so.

Rating: 6/10.