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The Hobbit: 70th Anniversary Edition |  | Author: J. R. R. Tolkien
Publisher: HarperCollins
Category: Book
List Price: £6.99 (7.25EUR)
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Seller: KnoWhereBooks
Rating:  231 reviews
Sales Rank: 1074
Media: Paperback
Edition: 6th THUS
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 4.3 x 1.1
ISBN: 0261102214
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.912
EAN: 9780261102217
ASIN: 0261102214
Publication Date: March 19, 1993
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| | New | | | Mint Condition | | | Dispatch same day for order received before 12 noon | | | Guaranteed packaging | | | No quibbles returns |
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Product Description
The popular paperback edition of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic masterpiece, illustrated for the first time with Tolkien's own painting originally created by him for the first edition, and featuring brand new reproductions of all his drawings and maps.
Amazon.co.uk Review
Poor Bilbo Baggins! An unassuming and rather plump hobbit (as most of these small, furry- footed people tend to be ), Baggins finds himself unwittingly drawn into adventure by a wizard named Gandalf and 13 dwarves bound for the Lonely Mountain, where a dragon named Smaug hordes a stolen treasure. Before he knows what is happening, Baggins finds himself on the road to danger. Wizards, dwarves and dragons may seem the stuff of children's fairy tales, but The Hobbit is in a class of its own--light-hearted enough for younger readers, yet with a dark edge guaranteed to intrigue an older audience. In the best tradition of the archetypal hero's quest, Bilbo Baggins sets out on his fateful journey a callow, untested soul and returns--tempered by hardship, danger and loss--a better man--er, hobbit. This book is the predecessor to Tolkien's masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, and though that trilogy can be thoroughly enjoyed without first reading The Hobbit, much that happens in the later novels is foreshadowed here. A word of caution, however: as Bilbo discovers early on, travel and adventure are addictive things; embark on this journey to the Lonely Mountain with Tolkien's reluctant hero, and you might not be able to stop there. And the road taken to the distant mountains of Mordor in the ensuing trilogy is an even more perilous one.
Amazon.co.uk Review
Poor Bilbo Baggins! An unassuming and rather plump hobbit (as most of these small, furry-footed people tend to be ), Baggins finds himself unwittingly drawn into adventure by a wizard named Gandalf and 13 dwarves bound for the Lonely Mountain, where a dragon named Smaug hordes a stolen treasure. Before he knows what is happening, Baggins finds himself on the road to danger. Wizards, dwarves and dragons may seem the stuff of children's fairy tales, but The Hobbit is in a class of its own--light-hearted enough for younger readers, yet with a dark edge guaranteed to intrigue an older audience. In the best tradition of the archetypal hero's quest, Bilbo Baggins sets out on his fateful journey a callow, untested soul and returns--tempered by hardship, danger and loss--a better man--er, hobbit. This book is the predecessor to Tolkien's masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, and though that trilogy can be thoroughly enjoyed without first reading The Hobbit, much that happens in the later novels is foreshadowed here. A word of caution, however: as Bilbo discovers early on, travel and adventure are addictive things; embark on this journey to the Lonely Mountain with Tolkien's reluctant hero, and you might not be able to stop there. And the road taken to the distant mountains of Mordor in the ensuing trilogy is an even more perilous one.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 231
 First half is better than the second half. August 5, 2010
Alexander J. Dunn (UK)
I think Tolkien himself suffers from the same problem that the films of Lord of the Rings did. Namely, the scene is set beautifully in the early portion of the work but the actual climax fails to deliver or simply is not as interesting. I personally enjoyed Bilbo's much less intense encounter with the trolls more than the extended portion of the book about Mirkwood, the Lonely Mountain and the goblin battle.
Come to think of it, I sound like Bilbo not wanting any big adventures. I would love a book about Bilbo just going about his daily life in Hobbiton!
 A Very Nice Edition July 23, 2010
J. Zachrisson
I'm not going to review the Hobbit but more this specific edition of it. I'm very happy with it, it's exactly what I expected. A high quality edition and it looks very nice. Also the colour pictures was a nice touch that I didn't expect.
The Hobbit July 21, 2010
Luke Thrower
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have recentley finished a wonderful journey, reading The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien. Published in 1937 it tells the story of a Mr Bilbo Baggins who lives in his Hobbit hole, at Bag-end, Underhill , Hobbiton.
Mr Baggins is a Hobbit - A Hobbit you say, what on earth is that - A Hobbit is like us, but the size of a child and smaller than the great Dwarves of Dain. Hobbits have no magic about them, no odd quirks that befall many of Tolkiens creations , no, they are just regular everyday Hobbits. Personally I think I may be part Hobbit sometimes, not one for adventures (As Bilbo points out , they often make you late for tea) and often enjoy company of others, especially when it's an excuse to break out cakes and cheese and biscuits, which is all the Hobbits truly live for.
2 breakfats, elevensies, twelvsies , brunch, lunch , a light snack , a heavy snack , tea , dinner and then an evening snack. yes sir thats the life for me. But the book would be boring just following Bilbo in his house, this is the story of how this Hobbit done something very unexpected, with the aid of Gandalf the wizard and 12 Dwarves they set out to rid the lonely mountain of the Dragon Smaug and gain a insurmountable amount of treasure.
Set over a year , the story of the Hobitt or there and back again, is the memoirs of Bilbo Baggins and his journey from Bag end to the lonely mountain. On the way encountering Goblins, Wargs, Elves, Eagles and shapechangers, as well as a horrible creature known as Gollum.
The story is tolf by a narrator, this voice is our guide throughout the story and not only tells us the events that our occuring , but gives us information about who the people are and a breif background so you never feel lost. This is done in a easy to follow and feels like you are sitting beside the narrator and being told the story, it fits in with the style as this was origionally a bedtime story for Tolkien's children.
At no point does the story become tedious or boring, as it is split up into small chapters which chart the beggining and end to each small adventure over the course of the story. For example, the chapters each the tell an individual story as well as being part of the whole narrative, one chapter is about Bilbo having a riddle contest with Gollum in order to escape wereas, another chapter tells the story of how Bilbo and the Dwarves were caught by 3 trolls and how the trolls bickerd over how they would cook the party, be it sqaush them, roast them or boil them.
So what of the rest of Bilbo's party, well their are the Dwarves and Gandalf. The Dwarves are also short creatures but with big hearts, heralding from the lonley mountain itself as well as the north in Dain were most of the Dwarves reside.
The Dwarves that accompany Bilbo include the great Thorin Oakenshield , son of Thrain who once ruled the mountain that Smaug resides in. As well as he , their is Oin and Gloin (Gimili's father for anyone who has seen Lord of the Rings), Dori , Ori and Nori, Dwalin and Balin, Filli and Killi, Bifur and Bofur and finally Bombur. All at your service and aiding Bilbo on the adventure he has been thrust into, now whislt you may think that that is a lot of characters, they are all surprisingly easy to account for and have subtle personalities that make them recognisable. Bombur for example is the fattest Dwarve wereas Fili and Kili are the youngest, albeit in Dwarve ages as their leader Thorin is the wrong side of 100 and still as fit as a fiddle.
Rounding off the group is Gandalf the wizard, he comes and goes as he pleases and has to save the troop more times than they would like to remember. But it is his knowledge of Middle Earth's people and factions that make him worth is weight in Dorwinion wine.
Due to his age , Gandalf as made many aliies which we meet throughout the book. These are all short encounters but leaving you wanting to know more which is cleverely revealed in his other books and the histories. Some of the people we meet are Elrond of Rivendell, an Elve who aids the party with supplies and knowledge when they reach his palace. Their is also Beorn , the outcast woodsman living outside the deadly forests of Mirkwood and who can shapechange into one of the fearsome Bears who roam the outskirts of the forest. Meetings also occur with the Great Eagles whose eyesight and age come in handy in saving the group when it seems all is lost, all these encounters are filled with excitement and action leading you to read on late into the night.
So who is this Smaug that they set out to find. He is a dragon in the Lonely mountain who sits upon gold, silver, jewels and the Arkenstone of Thrain. Smaug is a scaley, firery and angry dragon who knows all his loot by smell and will set fire and fear into anyone who ventures to close, however his mountain is not foolproof and legend of a back entrance is what spurs the party on.
What I also loved in the book is the inclusion of poems and songs at every opportunity to give a flowing, mystical feel to the story. Be it the songs of the Goblins as they work in the mines which are slow, scary and full of imagery of death and murder, or the happy tunes of the Barrel throwers in the Elvenkings halls who sing of the beauty of the land and the barrels journey down the long lake Ergeroth.
The riddle conversation between Bilbo and Gollum was one of my favorite moments of the whole book, it swings from side to side and has a wonderful momentum as you can feel the two trying to win for survival, albeit one is escaping and the other is eating, but all the same it is scary, thrilling and intense.
What should be the books biggest testament is how it has stood the test of time, written in 1937 it feels as though it could have been released last month. None of the writing or methods feel outdated and instead is better than what many come up with today, with what we class as great authors.
Being the prelude to the Lord of the Rings , the book shows how much work there is into creating a whole world full of stories and history. This sets it apart from what may be classed as a great environment in todays books like Harry Potter or Twilight, as much of those stories dont have the entire world rather 4 or 5 settings. Throughout the Hobbit you will be shown tidbits of information about far off lands and people which are slightly involved in the story, but help link all the books together and urge you to read more about them. For example, one of the historys mentioned is about the Toy market in the ruined town of Dale, this is talked about in the histories of middle earth in a short story and poem, its truly magnificent.
One very small issue and one that is covered elsewhere in the histories is the battle of 5 armies, this is only mentioned very briefly and not given in as much detail as I had hoped seeing as it is an important moment. However the battle is told heavily elsewhere by the generals, songs and poems in peices of the other stories.
The book features 2 lovely drawn maps showing the lay of the land and the environment , including strange writings known as Runes. The map at the front concentrates on the mountain and as a lot of Runes, these are markings and can be partly deciphered with help from notes in the books, but you will need to investigate his other writings or the internet if you hope to fully understand it. The map at the back shows the overall jounrey with the furthest east image being Rivendell and the map showing hobbiton lying just off the face of the map, these are really helpful in placing the group and the use of names and drawings gives a sense of scale to what has taken place.
The book is 364 pages long and has a good sized print.
I honestly can't reccomend this book enough for adults, or reading to your kids as a exciting bed time story, due to its design.
Thanks for reading !
The best childrens book for adults ever? June 12, 2010
Q. CRUSE (UK)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Just brilliant. Read it to my 8 year old daughter and 3 year old son at bedtime. Dragons and Hobbits have entered their vocabulary and I am being begged to start the Lord of the Rings.
Classic. May 21, 2010
G. Findlay (UK)
Simple as that; classic. My old copy from 1979 sits on the shelf in pride of place. Whenever family or friends have a child I buy them (the child) a hard back copy. That way the have the very best beginning to a book collection and a life time of reading.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 231
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