J.R.R Tolkien’s novel, The Hobbit, is a clever, whimsical story about a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins who is rudely taken away from his pastoral homeland of the Shire. Bilbo is called to go on a dangerous and tiring quest to defeat the dragon Smaug and gain back a trope of long-lost dwarf’s treasure. As for my opinion on it, The Hobbit was a great read for its relatable characters, funny scene, and immersive worldbuilding, which gave it a rating of five out of five.

As for Biblo, our main character? Well, his adventure is an interesting one; he faces a discomforting, perilous journey filled with the attacks of terrible wolves, schemes of evil goblins, and worst of all, the clash with the great dragon Smaug who guards the Lonely Mountain. As he adventures, the hobbit learns about the wide, strange world outside the homely Shire, and all the fascinating creatures that call it home, but more importantly, he learns how to be brave in the face of the unknown.

Secondly, a few things that makes this book great is its short length— around 304 pages —is a simple storyline that is easy to follow, and the fact is that it’s a great entry point for the rest of Tolkien’s works, because he introduces characters and items that are important to the other stories, such as Bilbo Baggins, the uncle of Frodo Baggins, and the One Ring that would later cause the events of The Lord of the Rings series, in an easy fashion.

All in all, it’s a fun book that I would recommend to both adults and teenagers as a fun, short read that could help them get into the rest of Tolkien’s works if they are so inclined.