Hobbit
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Amazon.co.uk: 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.