This book is a prequel to The Lord of the Rings series and follows Frodo's (main character of Lord of the Rings) uncle, Bilbo Baggins. We meet Bilbo the hobbit, in the peaceful village of Hobbiton. Bilbo's life is perfect, until a mysterious wizard named Gandalf and a group of dwarfs interrupt his life. Gandalf tells the dwarfs that Bilbo is a skilled burglar who can help them on their quest. The leader of the dwarfs, Thorin is the grandson of Thror a king who lived in a great palace in a mountain, but was taken and destroyed by the great red dragon, Smaug. Their quest is to kill Smaug and reclaimed Thror's domain and his huge collection of treasure including Thror's greatest treasure the Arken stone. The dwarfs, Gandalf, and Bilbo start a long journey across the country. First they pass through the mountains and are captured by goblins. They fight off the goblins and exit the mountain, all expect for Bilbo. Bilbo, lost and blind in the darkness encounters a strange creature, who calls himself Golem. He takes a golden ring from Golem which he finds has the power when worn to be unseen.

When Bilbo finds his way out the mountains, he joins back which his companions to continue their journey. Gandalf soon leaves the party to attend to other business elsewhere while the party travels through the dark forest of Mirkwood. They are captured again by giant spiders but escape only to fall into the hands of the King of the Wood Elves. He takes the dwarfs as prisoners, but is unaware of Bilbo. Bilbo frees his friends and they travel on.

Soon they reached the mountain and encounter Smaug, but when Smaug goes to destroy a Lake-Town, he is killed and Thror's kingdom is back in the right hands. But when rivalries between the elves, dwarfs, and humans arise a battle brews. Eventually their conflict is ended when the goblin army comes in thousands. After a great battle, Bilbo returns home and his companion reclaim their kingdom.

I loved this book! Though their are some parts that were hard to get through I thought the book went together very well. Only problem, if suspense is your thing this might not be the best book. This book is mostly traveling and a few encounters with enemies. I think that one of the main themes of this book is being clever. Because on Bilbo's journey his greatest weapon is his intellect, and his cleverness. Btw, the only characters in the Lords of the rings that are in this book are Bilbo, Golem, and Gandalf.