Log in to track your reading progress.
Synopsis
A great modern classic and the prelude to The Lord of the Rings. Smaug certainly looked fast asleep, almost dead and dark, with scarcely a snore more than a whiff of unseen steam, when Bilbo peeped once more from the entrance. He was just about to step out on to the floor when he caught a sudden thin and piercing ray of red from under the drooping lid of Smaug's left eye. He was only pretending to sleep! He was watching the tunnel entrance! Whisked away from his comfortable, unambitious life in his hobbit-hole in Bag End by Gandalf the wizard and a band of dwarves, Bilbo Baggins finds himself caught up in a plot to raid the treasure hoard of Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon. Although quite reluctant to take part in this quest, Bilbo surprises even himself by his resourcefulness and his skill as a burglar! The text of this edition has been fully corrected and revised in collaboration with Christopher Tolkien and is accompanied by a wealth of beautiful watercolour paintings and delicate pencil drawings from Alan Lee.Reviews
May 5, 2026
The Hobbit is one of those books that reminds me why I fell in love with reading in the first place. It has the feel of an old tale passed from hand to hand: warm, slightly mysterious, and full of the promise that beyond the front door there may be dragons, riddles, deep forests, lost kingdoms, and unexpected courage. Bilbo Baggins begins as the most unlikely of heroes, but that is part of the book’s enduring magic. His journey feels both wonderfully fantastical and quietly human.
What I love most is that The Hobbit works as both a children’s adventure and a book that rewards returning to as an adult. Tolkien gives us a world rich enough to feel ancient, but never loses the charm and simplicity of a fireside story. It is a book about bravery, friendship, greed, home, and the strange way adventures change us. For anyone who loves books that seem to carry their own history within their pages, The Hobbit remains a treasure.
What I love most is that The Hobbit works as both a children’s adventure and a book that rewards returning to as an adult. Tolkien gives us a world rich enough to feel ancient, but never loses the charm and simplicity of a fireside story. It is a book about bravery, friendship, greed, home, and the strange way adventures change us. For anyone who loves books that seem to carry their own history within their pages, The Hobbit remains a treasure.
Book Details
Published
May 14, 2020
Publisher
HarperCollins
Pages
320
ISBN
9780008376116