I Live in Many Worlds

This has been a long time coming. My partner has been trying to get me to read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books since I met them, which is sixteen years ago, and every time I tried to read them, something always came up. Either school or family or life got in the way in some form or another so I never got around to reading them. Well, that all ends here because I finally, finally, read The Hobbit and I am so happy I did!

This is the classic fantasy adventure story. It's all about how a bunch of dwarves are going on a long adventure through woods and mountains in order to slay a dragon and reclaim their treasure with a little hobbit along for the ride. That's it! Well, obviously, there's more to it than that but that's the gist of it! I never knew that! Keep in mind that I know nothing about these books, classics though they may be, and I did fairly well at keeping spoilers away from my being. So, as I read and I realized that THAT was the plot of this story, I was super excited! I haven't read such a classic story device in such a long time that reading it here was absolutely delightful! I loved reading how the characters faced every challenge in such a fun way. In fact, that's what I came away from this book feeling: fun.

Tolkien is highly regarded and respected and I can see why. He created a beautiful world with fascinating lore and you, as the reader, want to continue exploring that world, learning about what this world has to offer. You want to be there on Middle-Earth and learn more about the elves, dwarves, hobbits, wizards, wargs, etc. You want to learn its history and magic. You want to go on these epic adventures and see the Misty Mountains, Rivendell, and Mirkwood! Okay... maybe not so much that last one but you get what I'm trying to say! *Laughs* It's just an amazing world the The Hobbit makes you want to be there on these adventures. Tolkien did such an excellent job in creating this world and he created such fun loving characters to go with it.

I adore the characters in this book. From Bilbo to Gandalf to Gollum to Fili and Kili to Balin to Smaug to even bloody Bombur! I truly love all the characters. Bilbo comes off as cowardly at first but then you see him grown into a strong and capable little hobbit. A truly wonderful protagonist to follow. Gandalf is sassy and omniscient and hilarious to boot! All the dwarves that went on this adventure are such little nuisances but I can't help but love them. Especially Bombur. Complains about everything and I want to shove him off a cliff, but I really like him. Smaug, our big baddy, was also one of my favorites. I mean, he's a huge dragon! Of course I was going to love his arrogance and his wit. But I think the character that stole my heart was Gollum. His story is so tragic, so heartbreaking, that he just broke me. When I read that he usually talks to himself because he had no one else to talk to, it shattered me. I love him. And I know he did some bad things... still, I love him all the same.

I could go on and on about how I adore and had fun with this book. But I won't. After all, I still have three more books I need to read in order to get the full picture! I will say that the lack of female characters was a bit disappointing but I knew that these books, because of when they were written, lacked female representation so it didn't ruin the book for me. Still, it is worth noting, of course. Other than that, I really don't have anything to complain about this book. It's fun, engaging, hilarious, and so so much fun! If you haven't read them yet, please give it a shot. It really is worth it.