And They Lived Happily Ever After

While the fighting continues our heroes start to become overwhelmed. Percy's nose was bleeding and everyone froze as one drop fell to the ground. Gaea awoke.
Nico summons a zombie driver who takes them where Octavian's legion is stationed. Nico tries to fade into the shadows in order to disable the catapults but almost collapses. Will Solace from Camp Half-Blood shows up and teams up with Nico to finish the sabotage job. Nico and Will make it to the first catapult were Nico has an idea: to alter their trajectories so they would fire at each other. They get to the second catapult but before they can continue sabotaging they get caught by Octavian himself. Octavian tries to convince Nico to come to his side but he refuses. Octavian orders the catapults to be fired at Camp Half-Blood but they had already been sabotaged by others and they blew each other up. Octavian's people had turned against him and sided with Reyna but the people from Camp Half-Blood were ready to attack the Romans. Reyna successfully stops the fight by returning the Athena Parthenos, but Gaea ha already awoken.
All the gods show up to help Jason and his friends. Together they wipeout the giants, but Zeus says that someone has to take the blame for what happened. After arguing over who should take the blame Zeus agrees to transport them to Camp Half-Blood where Gaea is rising. Zeus transported the Argo II to Camp Half-Blood. The demigods land reuniting with Reyna, except for Leo who swears he has a plan. Gaea bursts out of the ground but before she can do anything Leo swoops down on top of Festus, the mechanical dragon. Festus carries Gaea away. The plan was to take Gaea as far away from the ground as possible to suppress her powers, Jason and Piper follow Leo. Jason contains her attacks in a ball of air but Leo tells them that he doesn't need them, he assures them that he has a plan. As Jason and Piper descent Leo ignites an explosion that turns the sky gold.
Nico and Will had pursued Octavian who was determined to shot Gaea with one of the catapults. Octavian did not realize that his robe was tangled into the catapult. Octavian cuts the rope to shoot and he is sent flying into the air and explodes. Gaea had been defeated but they were all mourning Leo's sacrifice. Romans and Greeks celebrate together.
Leo had managed to survive, he had died but the cure brought him back to life. Festus survived too and he flies Leo to Ogygia, where Calypso was waiting. Leo asks Calypso to come with him and leave the island. She agrees, they board Festus and soar into the unknown.

"I am Nico di Angelo, son of Hades. I control the shadows. They do not control me." (Riordan 424)

Nico had almost given his life for this quest. He had been braver than any other character risking his life every tim ehe shadow-jumped to transport the Athena Parthenos. Nico did not jus stand up to the people but he stood up to himself and his own limitations. Nico is willing to accept the things he did in the past but he is not going to allow them to control his future. Nico is a character that takes responsibility of things even if he might not be able to handle them. He was the first demigod to know about the Roman and Greek camps, he had entered tartarus alone to locate the Doors of Death and survived. Nico has gone through so much that he will not accept a predetermined fate.

"You have proven yourself a true hero." (Riordan 451)

Jason has always had very high standards for himself concerning leadership and heroism. Jason has never before gotten confirmation that his efforts were actually important, and the first time he did was by his own father. The fact that the first acknowledgment of his efforts comes from his father, that just happens to be Zeus, the state of leadership and heroism is really important to him. For the first time Jason is satisfied with his performance given that he won praise from the king of the gods. Jason explained earlier in the book how everyone expected him to lead because he was the son of Zeus but he never felt satisfied with his performance as a leader. Jason was one of the main leaders of this quest and he successfully carried it out. Jason fulfilled his goal when he received praise from his dad whom he had never met before.

I really liked this book and I do recommend it. It might be long for some people but it is a very easy and entertaining read. I had already read all the books in this series and this one was the last one. I have liked Rick Riordan as an author since I was probably nine years old and I am never disappointed on his works.

Fate or Free Will?

Reyna recognizes the legionnaire as Bryce Lawrence. Bryce is working for Octavian and has been instructed to arrest Reyna. Reyna does not like that idea but Bryce summons undead soldiers to to fight them. A skeleton restrains Reyna and Bryce cuts her face with his weapon. Nico exploded with rage, he killed everyone and collapsed in exhaustion. When Nico wakes up, Coach Hedge gives him Gatorade and tells him there are good and bad news. The bad news were that Nico had been unconscious for three days. Reyna is also upset that he killed Bryce because it reminds her of her father. Reyna to Nico that they are friends and that she still trusted him. Nico could no longer shadow-travel so Coach Hedge called a fleet of Pegasi.
The Argo II arrives at Delos to find the physician's cure. The island is deserted except for two gods: the twins Apollo and Artemis. Apollo ays that he can't help them but Artemis takes Frank and with her and tells Leo that he might be able to convince her brother. Leo strikes a deal with Apollo by bribing him with a brand new instrument he had invented. Apollo says that he does not have the physician's cure but that he has the last ingredient: the Curse of Delos which turns out to be a daisy. Apollo tells Leo that if he takes the ingredients to his son Asclepius, he can make the cure for them. Leo regroups with Frank and Hazel at the docks, Artemis has told them that Octavian plans to wipe out Camp Half-Blood with giant catapults. Leo come up with a plan that involves lots of sacrifice. Leo takes the Argo II airborne and they fly over the temple of Asclepius. Jason Piper and Leo go down and reach Asclepius' waiting room, where they are attacked by a statue of Hygeia. Leo manages to reprogram the statue to destroy itself and the door to Asclepius' office opens to them. Dr. Asclepius gives them the physicians cure. They go back to the Argo II and agree that Piper should hold the vial with the cure, but Leo gives Piper a fake vial generated by Hazel. Leo hides the real cure in the engine of the ship.
In order to avoid being shot down by the catapults Reyna leads her herd of Pegasi to a nearby ship, where Nico can sense that the two owners are asleep. They thought they were safe until a small motorboat with some of Octavian's soldiers approaches their ship and boards. Another legionnaire, Micheal Kahale attempts to arrest Reyna but Tyson, the cyclopes, boarded the ship and knocked out Micheal Kahale. Tyson and Ella, the harpy, take Coach Hedge to Camp Half-Blood so he can see his wife and let them know that Reyna will bring the Athena Parthenos in at sunrise. Reyna got Dakota and Leila, who accompanied Michael onto the ship, to sabotage the attack on Camp Half-Blood, Nico goes with them to assist with the sabotage. Reyna is left alone in the ship and gets time to think, when suddenly an arrow pierced her Pegasus' side, then another the second one with an explosive attached to it. Orion had caught up to Reyna, he tells her that her sister and the Hunters are alive but that she won't be so lucky. The fight begins, Reyna stabs Orion in the chest and then dives on top of the explosive arrow. Somehow her cloak absorbs the blast and a voice tells her that she has proven herself a hero of Olympus. The voice transformed her cloak into a piece of Athena's mantle which will protect her. Orion recovers and shoots an arrow at Reyna, which she deflects with her now-magic cloak. Reyna twists the cloak and strangles Orion with it. Reyna heals the pegasus and wanders about what happened to Octavian's attack, when she sees an explosion which signifies the first volley. The Argo II docks in the outskirts of Piraeus, and as everyone is getting ready to hike to the Acropolis, a snake man shows up. He introduces himself as Kekrops, the original king of Athens, he says he will help them get to the Acropolis without being detected by Porphyrion. Piper is suspicious of Kekrops and uses her charmspeak to force him into telling the truth, and they find out it is a trap. The group decide to send Annabeth, Percy and Piper through the underground tunnels, with Piper singing the whole way to keep the snake people hypnotized. Piper, Percy and Annabeth reach the Acropolis safely. Frank who took the form of a swarm of bees and communicated their safe arrival to the crew in the Argo II. Hazel uses her Mist to transform all three of them into monsters and they split up to storm the Parthenon. Piper took every opportunity she had to kill monsters and disable weapons. When she arrives to Porphyrion's throne she realizes that Porphyrion had taken Percy and Annabeth hostage. The giants are so focused on Percy and Annabeth that they don't notice Piper. She takes advantage of that and chops a giant's hand. A huge fight breaks out. Annabeth is badly injured and he bleeds into the ground. When they were starting to be overwhelmed their friends show up.

"The doctor's expression said I am so, so sorry." (Riordan 353)

When the crew of the Argo II went to visit Asclepius he told everyone that they were going to live a long and nice life except for Leo. Asclepius knows that Leo's fate is set and that he cannot do anything about it. Knowing when a person is going to die or knowing about your own death is a very interesting concept. Different people would react in different ways but they almost always focus in "what do I want to do before I die". Leo has been told numerous times that he will always be different from the other members of the group, that he will always be different, he has a plan involving lots of sacrifice maybe the sacrifice is him. Leo doesn't seem very afraid about his death he is taking a calm approach to that issue. Even though Asclepius might thing that Leo's fate is set, leo might be able to make his own future and survive whatever is coming at him.

"Don't hurt him or bind him. I have a feeling Michael's heart is in the right place. He just had the bad luck of being sponsored by the wrong person." (Riordan 374)

Reyna chooses not to blame Michael for what he did. She blames his leader, Octavian. Micheal never seemed to agree with Octavian he just did not have the will to stand up to him. Reyna believes in the possibility of peace because she has seen that most roman soldiers do not agree with Octavian's leadership but have no one else to follow. A leader has to be approved by the majority not conformed with. Octavian seems to be somewhat of a Megalomaniac and wants to abuse any amount of power he receives. A true leader should promote free will inside his ranks not discourage it.

We are approaching the end of the book and I have enjoyed it so far. I think the book deals with daily conflicts a regular young adult might face and therefore creates a connection. Even though the event sin the book are much more heroic. I like the comic reliefs in the book as well.

Love, Fear and Sacrifice

Nico tells his friends about the encounter with his father. Suddenly, they hear the howl of wolves and before they know what's happening, they are surrounded by a pack. One of the wolves stands in front of them and transforms into a man. The man claims to be Lycaon, the first werewolf. Nico summons a wall of bones to protect him and his friends from the wolves. While Nico was trying to find a way to shadow travel, they hear a large bow being drawn and a voice yelling "STOP THEM!", but Nico manages to teleport him and his friends out of there just in time.
The crew of the Argo II manage to secure the poison of Pylos relatively easily, and their next destination is Sparta to find the "chained god". Frank believes that it is a statue of Ares, his dad, and Piper has a vision of her touching the statue while flames swirled around her. The journey to Sparta should take about a day. Jason is still sick because of the Imperial Gold sword wound. Piper has a dream vision of her flying to the Acropolis where he sees Porphyrion, the giant king. Piper hears the giantess Periboia say that when "the blood of the last heroes is spilled here" Gaea shall be raised. Annabeth wakes Piper and she tells her about her vision. When they reach Sparta, Annabeth and Piper decide to go together to retrieve the statue. On the ancient Spartan ruins, they found three pits that randomly spewed fire. Piper took the risk and jumped in through the one the right, while Annabeth followed her fastening a rope to the edge. After cutting the head of a metallic dragon, who was responsible for the fire, there they found the statue and hear a heartbeat inside. While they were coming up with a plan to get the statue out, the giant Mimas came out from the shadows. Annabeth and Piper fought him. Piper, as a daughter of Aphrodite, understood the purpose and emotion of the temple, while Annabeth could not understand why Piper wasn't doing things rationally. Piper understood that she had to free the spirits of battle. She set her cornucopia as a sacrifice to Deimos and Phobos, and slashed the head of the statue. The spirits of battle swirled around her and answer to he command. Piper now has the power to kill Mimas and she does. The cave was collapsing, Piper offered the ear of the giant to Phobos and asked him for a way out. Piper decided to go through the doorway trusting her heart, and they plunged into the dark.
Nico shadow jumps the other group to San Juan, Reyna's home. Rayna is not sure if Nico can endure another shadow-jump, he is starting to turn into a shadow and fading away from reality. Before Reyna can come up with a plan someone shoots her in the neck with a silver dart and carries her away. The person who kidnapped her was Talia Grace, Jason's sister. Talia is a hunter working with the Amazons to stop Gaea. The Hunters are hoping to stop Orion using Reyna as bait. The Hunters lead Reyna to their leader, Reyna's sister: Hylla. Hello explains that Orion is a great threat to the hunters and she agrees to help Reyna deliver the Athena Parthenos after Orion is defeated. Orion launches a surprise attack which the Hunters were not prepared for. Reyna and Hylla flee while the other Amazons and Hunters protect them. Orion catches up to them and the three of them battle, Nico and Coach Hedge join the battle and destroy Orion's bow. Hylla and the remaining hunters agree to slow Orion while Nico, Reyna and Coach Hedge make their escape with the Athena Parthenos.
Back on the Argo II a heavy storm is striking the ship. Percy and Jason agree to go under water in order to figure out whats causing it. Percy can breath underwater as a son of Poseidon while Jason creates a bubble around himself. In the deep ocean they find a twenty foot-tall woman who claims to be Percy's sister and says that she wanted to meet him before he died. The woman is a minor goddess named Kymopoliea. She is upset that no one worships her and she went to Gaea's side. Her mission is to detain Percy and Jason, while Polybotes kills them. Jason and Percy destroy Polybotes' swimming basilisks, but when Polybotes poisons Percy. Jason is at a disadvantage. Jason realizes that he must try to make an agreement with Kymopoliea, he promises a shrine and an action figure, She accepts and decapitates Polybotes with one hit. Kymopoliea heals Percy and warns him that his blood will awake Gaea. Percy and Jason return to the ship and Jason realizes that his wound had been healed.
The latest shadow jump brings the crew of the Athena Parthenos to South Carolina. Nico is loosing his connection to the real world dangerously fast. Nico and Reyna talk about their past and Reyna confesses a secret that she doesn't tell many people: that she killed her own father. Someone was listening as she was telling her secret to Nico: a Roman legionnaire who makes his presence known by saying that Reyna will be executed.

At the feet of Ares, she set her cornucopia. (Riordan 216)

While Piper had earned the cornucopia and she had had it for a long time she sacrificed it without complaining. Through the fight with Mima,s Piper was the one to show strength and she kept herself calm. Annabeth is usually the one who gets her friends out of difficult problems using her wits but this time as piper made pretty clear, her wits would not help her but Piper's emotions will. Piper knows that the quest is really important and that sacrifices will have to be made. Piper was able to control her emotions during that fight she came to the conclusion that Fear and Panic were not that different from love, Phobos and Deimos were sons of Ares and Aphrodite therefore war and love. People need love in order to have something to fight for. She trusted herself and understood that sacrifices were necessary.

My guards will buy you time!" Hylla shouted. "Your quest must succeed! (Riordan 242)

Sacrifice is a really strong theme in this book. Every character understands that their end goal is more important than any of their individual lives and are able to give them up. Each one of our heroes knows that the might not all make it in the end. The death of a well developed character is always an emotional moment in a book and in this occasion Reyna was not happy with the idea that her sister might give up her life for her, but she understood that their quest was the most important thing at the moment.

I found this part of the book specifically interest because of Piper's reflection on fear and love. Strong emotions are related to one another when you don't have nothing to love you have nothing to fear. Annabeth learned a lot from Piper at that moment, she understood that not everything can be solved with logic and science, but that some problems and conflicts are solely based on emotion. She should learn to use emotion and reasoning even though they might contradict each other at some point.

A Journey to Achieve Peace

After the events of the last book The House of Hades, the ten heroes are divided into two groups. The first group was made up of the original demigods of the Argo II: Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Leo, Frank and Hazel. They are supposed to reach the Acropolis, that's where Gaea, the Earth Mother is supposed to awaken, and their goal is to stop it. The other group is made up of Nico, Reyna and Coach Hedge. Who together are attempting to get the Athena Parthenos statue back to Camp Half-Blood as a token of peace between Greeks and Romans, and hopefully stop Octavian from attacking Camp Half-Blood.
Jason, Annabeth and Piper infiltrate a gathering of spirits who are plotting something malicious. Jason manages to get information from the ghosts about a safe passage to the Acropolis. One of the ghosts recognized Jason and a fight breaks out. The heroes were winning the fight, when Jason was stabbed in the back. The sword was made of Imperial Gold which is poisonous to demigods. While injured Jason suggests they summon Juno. Juno appears but she cannot heal Jason, she suggests they find the goddess Nike on their journey around the Peloponnese.
The other group: Reyna, Nico and Coach Hedge appear over Italy by sadow-traveling and they crash land in Pompeii. They rest there and while sleeping,  Reyna has a vision of a hunter pursuing them and a Roman army outpost, set by Octavian to attack Camp Half-Blood. The next day they are unexpectedly attacked by rock monsters and they shadow-travel, escaping just in time.
The crew of the Argo II with Percy and Jason is planning their nest step, which is to find Nike. They send Percy, Leo, Frank and Hazel to find Nike in Olympia. They find a broken statue in a museum and after inspecting it, Nike appears. They try to convince Nike to come with them and that Gaea is the real enemy but she refuses. Nike proposes a fight to the death to win her honor. She summons four metal soldiers and gives them five minutes to prepare. The heroes make a plan and Leo provides everyone with gadgets. Percy and the other demigods win and they get information on were to go next from Nike. They need the poison of Pylos, the chained god's heartbeat in Sparta, and the curse of Delos.
Nico is having a vision of Camp Half-Blood and how it is doing everything to defend itself from the upcoming attack. They are nervous that the Athena Parthenos will not come in time. The last shadow jump leads them to Portugal. A flaming ghost beckons Nico and leads him to a temple made of human skulls. Nico's father, Hades, is waiting there. Hades informs Nico that the hunter following them is Orion and that they cannot defeat him, only outrun him.

His family included all the demigods who fought at his side, Roman and Greek, new friends and old. He wasn't going to let anyone break his family apart. (Riordan 45)

While these words were being thought by Jason, he was in a moment of self reflection after seeing the ghost of his mother. For the first time in a long time Jason finally felt "whole". In this sort of novel it is very common for young adults or teenagers to call their friends family. Jason, like every other of the heroes in this story, had parental issues and therefore not a stable family. Jason and, every other demigod in this story, considered his friends closer to them than their actual parents. Jason states that he know felt "whole" meaning that he was know comfortable with all of his friends, they had been through so much together that they were inseparable and they cared a lot about each other. Young adult novels often use this time of relationship between friends because the main characters in these novels usually has a difficult relationship with his/her family. Making the characters less reliant on their parents makes them more independent, making the characters strong and showing teenagers that they will soon have to solve problems on their own.

I can't die, [Jason] told himself. My friends are depending on me. (Riordan 50)

Being the son of Jupiter, Jason has always believed that his friends have depended on him as a leader, much like Percy. Jason thinks of his friends first instead of in himself because he cannot bear the thought of letting them down. Jason has been abandoned before and since he thinks that his friends are dependent of him, he will not leave or abandon them. Jason does not want his finds to feel the same way as he did. Jason, as one of the leaders, has to always show that he is still strong. A leader has to always worry about the morale of the people under him. If something would have happened to Jason the whole quest would have been in jeopardy and he cannot afford that.




I like the way leadership, true leadership, plays a role in this story. Both Jason and Percy don't believe in giving orders to their friends but to help them through their troubles and facing hardships by their side. They both believe in helping their friends carry the weight of their quest instead of just telling them how to deal with it.

The End of the Journey

The thrush returns to the mountain and finds the company. Non of them could understand its speech, so the thrush brings an old raven who speaks the common tongue. The raven informs Bilbo and the dwarves about the death of Smaug. The dwarves were delighted when they heard the news, but not for long, after he proceeded to describe the huge armies that were coming for the treasure and the destruction of Lake Town. Thorin does not plan to share the treasure with anyone (except for the company), which he believes to be his inheritance and is willing to defend it if necessary. Following Thorin's orders, the company returns to the mountain and fortifies it by building a huge wall at the main gate. From the wall, they watch as the representatives of Bard and the Elvenking's approach. Bard informs them that he was the one that slated the Dragon and that the citizens of Lake Town deserve payment for the destruction of their city. Bard demands a generous share from the treasure to repay the people of Lake Town. Thorin flatly refuses his proposal, he believes that he owes the men nothing, given that the treasure was originally the property of his people. Bard gives Thorin time to reconsierd but Thorin is stubborn and plans to stand by his decision. The mountain is declared besieged by the man and the elves,  meaning that no one can go in or out. Bilbo completely disagrees with Thorin's decision, however there is nothing the rest of the company can do to change his decision. Thorin continues to search for the Arkenstone and he is beginning to obsess with is while the other dwarves are sorry about their current position. Bilbo decides to try to solve the problem himself. With the help of the ring, he slips out of the mountain and into the camp of the men of Lake Town and the elves. He then requests to speak with Bard and the Elvenking. They do not entirely trust him until he reveals to them the Arkenstone. He gives it to Bard so he can use it to facilitate the negotiations with Thorin. Both Bard and the Elvenking are amazed at the willingness of Bilbo to risk so much to prevent a war. They offer Bilbo safety in the camp but he refuses and returns to the mountain. On the way out, he meets Gandalf who congratulated him for his decision. Gandalf had just arrived after he heard the news of what had happened. The next morning Bard returns to renegotiate his deal with Thorin. When Thorin maintains his refusal, Bard reveals the Arkenstone, which Thorin valued more than the rest of the treasure. Thorin felt immensely disappointed and he is enraged at Bilbo when he reveals what he had done. Thorin is about to attack bilbo when Gandalf reveals himself and commands Thorin to let Bilbo speak. Bilbo claimed that he took the Arkenstone as his share of the treasure as his contract specified. Thorin angrily agrees and offers a fourteenth share of the treasure for the Arkenstone. The elves and men are satisfied with this but secretly Thorin hopes that his cousin Dain, who was marching towards the mountain, arrives with an army and help him take the stone by force. When Dain arrives, his dwarf army threatens the elves and men and when they were about to engage in combat, darkness covers the sky coming from the west. Gandalf stands in the middle of the two armies and announces that a new threat was upon them, an army of Goblins and Wargs, who intended to take the treasure. Therefore the men, elves and dwarves unite against the Goblins and Wargs in a battle called the Battle of the Five Armies. The army of good fights fiercely against the army of darkness but the Goblins and Wargs are fierce foes. Bilbo stayed watching from the mountain a bit retreated from battle,  as the battle raged below him. Thorin fought fiercely alongside the men and elves but the Goblins were gaining ground. Bilbo retreats to the elves' camp which was nearly surrounded. The battle seemed lost when Bilbo spotted something approaching from the distant sky. The Eagles where flying towards the battlefield but at that same moment a stone fell from the mountain and knocked Bilbo unconscious. Bilbo awakens mostly unhurt by the side of the mountain. He sees that his said had won the battle. A man had come searching for him but cannot find him until he remember to take of his ring. Bilbo is taken to Gandalf at the camp, who is happy to see Bilbo alive. Even though the battle was won, there were sad matters to attend to. Bilbo must say farewell to Thorin, who was fatally wounded in the battle. Thorin asks Bilbo for his forgiveness after his actions earlier. Fili and Kili were also killed protecting Thorin with shield and body. The rest of the company had survived the battle. Gandalf describes the final moments of the battle to Bilbo: the Eagles had come in the nick of time to turn the tide of the battle but the battle was still not won until the appearance of Beorn in bear form. Funeral arrangements had been made for the dead and Dain was crowned the new king under the mountain. The dwarves had made peace with the men of Lake Town and the Wood Elves. Bard is the new Master of Lake Town and he rewarded Bilbo with one chest of gold and one of silver. It was time for Bilbo to return home, he traveled with Gandalf and Beorn, taking the long way across the edge of Mirkwood. They spent the winter joyfully at Beorn's house. In the spring they continued to Rivendell, where Bilbo rested and recovered under elvish care. Bilbo also learned why had Gandalf left them at the edge of Mirkwood: he was fighting alongside the council of wizards to drive the necromancer out of the forest. Finally Bilbo travels the last stretch back to Bag-End. When he arrives home he is surprised with the fact that he had been presumed dead and his belongings were being auctioned. Even though Bilbo put an end to the auction and recovered most of his belongings, he was never entirely accepted back to society. The other Hobbits didn't approve of Bilbo's adventure and were suspicious about his riches and tales. Bilbo did not mind that now that he had made friends with dwraves, elves and wizards. Now that he was back at his Hobbit-Hole he had all the comforts he missed during his adventure.

“There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. But sad or merry, I must leave it now. Farewell!” (317)

This are Thorin's last words in chapter 18. He was asking Bilbo for forgiveness for his actions before the battle. Even though Thorin had looked at Bilbo's good and simple heart with contempt, he acknowledges that the world would be a better place if more people were like him. This quote contrasts the simple modern life with the ancient epic heroism in a different way. Bilbo had thought that his adventure would part him of his simple and comfortable life. At the end of the book Tolkien implies that a simple Hobbit-like life would mean a world free of evil therefore heroics would not be necessary. An entirely peaceful world wouldn't essentially mean a better world. Even though Bilbo missed his comfortable life, he was glad he went on the dwarves' adventure. A life free of heroics would mean that no one would go through the Hero's Journey. Peace and comfort are always important in life but adventures serve as a method of inner growth, Bilbo found a whole new side of himself and learned leadership and confidence throughout his adventure. A life without adventure would be a practically boring life, were most people won't experience or create new things, Bilbo would have never met any of the dwarves if it weren't for their quest. Bilbo unleashed his full potential on the quest and Gandalf saw that potential in him, that's why he decided to take him on the quest. I do not believe that an uneventful and tipi al life would be entirely worth living.

“The treasure is likely to be your death, though the dragon is no more!” (296)

This words serve as warning for Thorin and were spoken by the rave Roäc. This on the surface implies, of course, that the treasure will bring the company a lot of complications since it is no longer guarded by the dragon. Everyone who has heard the news and has the power, will want to take hold of the treasure under the mountain. Although that is the outer threat, the inner struggle will also be a major problem, especially for Thorin. In this case the inner struggle is greed. Later in the book Dragon-Sickness is mentioned, which is most likely when greed takes over the logical reasoning of a person. Thorin is willing to risk war, in order to protect his treasure and no longer cares about the right thing to do. Thorin was not willing to share his treasure with anyone except for the members of the company, who already had rightful shares agreed upon by contract. When Thorin learned that Bilbo had taken the Arkenstone he was was willing to hurt him regardless of their friendship. Thorin's biggest struggle throughout their quest was greed, and that was not a battle that he won until he was in his deathbed. The treasure corrupted him and once he realized that Bilbo and his way or thinking were the best in order to live in a more peaceful world, it was too late.

I really enjoyed reading this book and it encouraged me to read the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I think that the Hobbit was a great book and I really liked the way in which Tolkien writes his books. I think that this book has many important messages which I found interesting because they could be interpreted in different ways. I recommend reading this book, even though some people might be bored because most of the major plot-twists were revealed in the movies. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed paying attention to the details and Tolkien's commentary as the narrator.

So Close Yet so Far

The barrels in which the company traveled were floating down the river, out of the forest Mirkwood. Bilbo looks towards the north and sees the Lonely Mointain, their final destination. The current takes them into Lake Town. Lake Town is a town built by men on the Long Lakesouth of the Lonely Mountain. The men in the shore, near Lake Town bring the barrels to shore. While the men are gone, Bilbo frees his companions from the barrels, all survived but they are not in good shape. The company crosses the bridge to lake town and Thorin declares to the master of Lake Town that he is the rightful heir to the throne under the mountain and that he has come to reclaim what is his. For many years, there have been stories of the return of the king under the mountain and how his return will bring wealth and prosperity to that area. The company is welcomed and treated with many luxuries. After two weeks, the company is strong again and ready to reach the final stage of their quest. Even though they did not have a plan to deal with Smaug, Thorin could not wait any longer. They set off towards the Lonely Mountain with boats, ponies and supplies aquired from Lake Town. There were not much living things at the foothills of the mountain, given that it had all been burned by Smaug. Bilbo and three dwarves are sent to investigate the main entrance on the south of the mountain but, as expected, it seemed to dangerous since it was the entrance Smaug used. The company decides to look for the secrets passage described on their map and after hours of searching Bilbo finds a narrow passage that leads up the cliff to a small patch of grass, which in its far end had a smooth solid rock wall. Even though that was usually how dwarve secret doors were hidden, the company could not find a way to open it. They had forgotten the message that Elrond read in the moon letters. After a long while of trying, the company start to grow discouraged. One day, when Bilbo was sitting outside the door thinking, a thrush lands nearby and starts knocking a snail against a stone. Suddenly Bilbo remembers the message on the map and gathers all the dwarves at the door as they watch the sun slowly set. When the sun was almost below the horizon, a single ray of light fell on a portion of the door. The rock on that portion falls revealing a keyhole. Thorin quickly takes out his key and as he turns it, they push and the door opens before them. Bilbo as the burglar is sent inside to inspect. Bilbo puts on his ring and proceeds down the passage. When he reaches the bottom he sees the magnificent dragon Smaug sleeping on top of piles of dwarfish treasure. Smaug is the color of red and gold and has an almost unpierceable hide. Bilbo is terrified but decides to take one golden cup from the treasure. He immediately rushes up the passage and shows the cup to the dwarves. Soon Smaug is enraged when he notices that the cup was missing. Smaug was flying around the mountain spewing flames when he noticed the ponies at the foot of the mountain. He chases and eats them. The company hides inside the secret passage and eventually Smaug returns to his lair and falls asleep. Bilbo goes down the passage again, only to find that Smaug was faking his sleep and waiting for the thief. Smaug could not see Bilbo but he could smell him and to Bilbo's surprise he greets him when he approaches the lair. Smaug interrogates him and to avoid getting him angry he answers his questions but only in riddles, which amuses Smaug. Bilbo tricks Smaug through flattery to show him his underbelly which was covered in an armor of treasure, but not completely revealing the dragons weak spot. Bilbo rushes up the passage barely escaping the dragon's fire, and tells the dwarves what he had learned. A thrush sits nearby seemingly listening to their conversation. The company hears a roar and decides to shut the door just before rocks crumbled on top of it. The company finds itself trapped inside the mountain. Smaug learns through Bilbo's riddles that the company is involved with the men of Lake Town and decides to take vengeance. The company takes shelter in the passage until they could not bare it any longer. They slowly go down into Smaug's lair and find it empty. The dwarfs delightedly run to inspect the treasure. While the Dwarves took all the treasure they could carry, the hobbit took only a few things but one of which was the Arkenstone. The Arkenstone was the greates gem of the dwarfish treasure and even though Bilbo knew that Thorin was looking for it he decided to keep it. Bilbo also finds a coat of mail made out of mithril which is very strong, light and more valuable than silver or gold. After the dwarves were satisfied for the moment Thorin leaded them to the main gate. The company still did not know how to deal with Smaug so they decided to follow the river down the mountain until they found an old guard post cavern where they took shelter. As the company rested in the guard post, Smaug was heading to Lake Town to get vengeance. The people of Lake Town see the dragon coming and prepare the archers and water to extinguish the dragon's flames. The preparations are of little help and Smaug lights the roofs of Lake Town on fire. The arrows are harmless to Smaug and the people were starting to loose hope. The last man to stay in the city was Bard the captain of the archers, and he readies his last arrow. When he was about to shoot, a thrush landed on his shoulder and speaks in a language that he could understand. The thrush tells Bard to aim for the dragon's weak spot on his left breast. Bard sees the open patch in the dragon's armor and shoots his arrow. The arrow penetrates the dragon's heart and he falls dead destroying the rest of Lake Town. Bard dives safely into the water and joins the people of Lake Town at the shore. Some of the men blamed the dwarves, others presumed them dead but they remember of the treasure in the mountain and how it could rebuild their town. The news of Smaug's death spread quickly and the Elvenking's marches with an army of elves towards the mountain, stopping at Lake Town to lend aid. The men and elves merge into a single army marching towards the Lonely Mountain expecting to find the treasure unattended.

“The most that can be said for the dwarves is this: they intended to pay Bilbo really handsomely for his services; they had brought him to do a nasty job for them, and they did not mind the poor little fellow doing it if he would; but they would all have done their best to get him out of trouble, if he got into it, as they did in the case of the trolls at the beginning of their adventures before they had any particular reasons for being grateful to him. There it is: dwarves are not heroes, but calculating folk with a great idea of the value of money; some are tricky and treacherous and pretty bad lots; some are not, but are decent enough people like Thorin and Company, if you don’t expect too much.”

This quote is interesting since the narrator makes a sort of apology to the readers about the dwarves' behavior. The dwarves had sent Bilbo into Smaug's lair alone, after all they had gone through. This could be taken as cowardly behavior from the part of the dwarves but after all, that had been Bilbo's job from the beginning. Still the narrator suggest that the dwarves cowardice isn't their fault but a trait of the dwarfish race being prone to selfishness and cowardice. They are greedy and deceptive by nature. And that not much should be expected from them. Tolkiens explanation is an example of how important race is to develop characters and determine identities in Middle Earth. Usually no characters break out of their preset boundaries, meaning that stereotypes in Middle Earth are usually accurate, unlike in the real world, where stereotypes could be accurate as well as inaccurate, but are usually seen as offensive.

 “I did not come for presents. I only wished to have a look at you and see if you were truly as great as tales say. I did not believe them.”
“Do you now?” said the dragon somewhat flattered, even though he did not believe a word of it”

Dragons have always been used throughout history as representation of evil. Smaug is no exception. Smaug in this book is depicted as somewhat of a narcissist who believes that he is greater than everyone else. Smaug does not have a logical reason to why he has a trophy, since he can't buy anything but he probably believes that he is the best person to have it and won't tolerate any single part of his trophy being taken. In Middle Earth, there are beings that do good, like Gandalf, but Smaug and all dragon's are just there to cause terror, sorrow and desolation. Smaug wants everyone to know how powerful he is and loves when people compliment him or even more when they are afraid of him.

In this chapter the company meets their biggest challenge, which is also the challenge they were most unprepared for. They had no idea how to deal with Smaug and it was just luck (for them) that he decided to attack Lake Town. They have already taken what was rightfully theirs but they now have to keep and protect it which is a different thing. Now everyone knows that Smaug is there and the treasure is widely famous, meaning that different groups will also take interest in the treasure. Their quest is not yet complete and they are still in grave danger and even though they have reached their ultimate destination safely one of the hardest challenges in their adventure is yet to come.

Becoming the Hero

After Bilbo escaped the Goblins, he went to look for Gandalf and the dwarves. He was just about to go back to look for them, when he heard voices between the trees. They did not sound like Goblins, so he got close and found his friends. They decided to move fast to put more distance between them and the Goblins. While they continued their journey, they were struggling to find food. They reached a clearing, the sun was starting to set when they heard the howling of Wargs. They ran swiftly to climb the trees at the sides of the clearing and saw hundreds of Wargs approaching from the forest. Apparently, that clearing had been a meeting place for the Wargs. They were safe from the Wargs up in the trees but since Gandalf understood their language, he could tell that the Goblins were supposed to meet them there. The Wargs knew they were up there and were not planning on letting them escape. Gandalf realized in how bad of a situation they were, so he grabbed the pinecones and lit them with a blue flame. Gandalf casting the pinecones down at the Warg,s the pinecones easily ignited the Wargs' coat and it easily spread from Warg to Warg. There was a huge commotion in the forest and the great Eagles, who watched over those parts, started to wonder what was happening. The Lord of the Eagles decided to find out what was going on. The Eagles usually stopped the Goblins from any mischief that they were up to. The Goblins reached the clearing and soon came up with a plan, they started to drive the fire around the trees were Bilbo and the company were hiding. A ring of fire engulfed Bilbo, Gandalf and the dwarves. Soon the trees were also on fire and the company could not escape. As Gandalf was preparing to leap from the trees and fight one last stand, one of the Eagles grabbed him with its talons and flew away. One by one, the Eagles grabbed each member of the company and carried them away and saved them from the fire. The Eagles were in friendly terms with Gandalf and they took the company to the Great Shelf up in the mountains. The Eagles agreed to take them to back to their path and far from the misty mountains, they also agreed to restock their supplies. When they reached their destination,  Gandalf disappoints the Company by telling that he must leave to attend other matters but he will stay with them until they have ponies, more supplies, and are ready to continue on their journey. Gandalf tells them that they would have to go to Mirkwood alone. He leads Bilbo and the dwarves to the house of Beorn. Beorn was a skin-changer, sometimes he was a huge black bear, and sometimes he was a tall black-haired man. Beorn lived in a huge wooden house in the woods, outside of Mirkwood. Gandalf had a plan, in order to avoid startling Beorn with such a big company, he told the Hobbit and the dwarves to come few at a time. Gandalf amuses Beorn by telling him the story of their adventure, he is interested by Gandalf story given that he despises Goblins, Beorn was very amused with the fact that they had killed the Great Goblin. Beorn offers the company, the shelter and supplies that they needed and tells them that the Wargs and Goblins were preparing an attack party to find the company. Beorn tells them that the elvish path in the north will be safer from the attack party, but will still be very dangerous and he warns them to never stray from the path. Before the company sets off,  Beorn provides them with supplies and ponies to carry them to the start of the path. When they reach the gate to the path, Gandalf announces that he will not go with them from that point. Gandalf leaves wishing them the best of luck and reminding them to never stray from the path. There are dark creatures lurking through Mirkwood that even Gandalf does not know about. The company starts their journey through the forest path. The night came while Bilbo and the dwarves where in Mirkwood. They could see eyes staring at them in the night. Soon as the days passed, the forest grew thicker and the company could not tell night from day. The forest was wearing down the members of the company and everyone wanted to get out of Mirkwood. Bilbo and the dwarves were starting to loose their morale. After a few days, they found a stream which Beorn had warned them not to touch. They manage to cross the stream with a boat they found, but Bombur fell and the waters put him to sleep. Bombur does not wake up for days and the dwarves take turns carrying him. The dwarves were almost out of food and they were starting to wonder if they would come out alive. One night they saw a light flickering between the trees. The company leaves the path, ignoring Gandalf's and Beorn's warnings, and goes to inspect it looking for food. They find a clearing, were they see elves feasting and singing. At the moment the dwarves burst into the clearing, all lights disappear and they are left in the dark. The same thing happens again two more times, but on the last occasion they cannot find one another and become separated. Bilbo is left alone in Mirkwood unable to find the path. Bilbo is exhausted and cannot find his friends so he decides to rest. He wakes up to a a huge spider that was advancing towards him. Bilbo reaches for his sword and kills the spider. At that moment Bilbo decides to name his sword, and he names it: Sting. He heads to look for the dwarves and finds them tangled in spiderwebs hanging from a tree. Bilbo lures the spiders away from the dwarves by wearing his ring so the spiders cannot see him. Bilbo cuts the dwarves free but when the spiders come back they can hardly fight due to spider venom. When the company starts to loose hope the spiders suddenly retreat and they find themselves in one of the clearings used by the elves. There they realize that Thorin was nowhere to be seen. Thorin had been taken prisoner by the elves, the Elvenking questions Thorin about their journey but he is not willing to talk. Thorin is placed in a dungeon but the elves are good, they feed him and treat him well. After Bilbo and the dwarves escaped the spiders,  they were captured by wood elves and brought to the Elvenking's palace. Bilbo was unseen by the wood elves given that he was wearing his ring. The other dwarves are questioned but are, like Thorin, not willing to talk. The dwarves are thrown into the dungeon. Bilbo who was still invisible followed them to their cells and whispered to them plotting an escape. Bilbo learns that the elves are exchanging goods with the men of Lake Town via barrels that were sent down the river. Empty barrels are stored in a room with an exit to the river. In the storeroom Bilbo finds a guard napping and he steals the guard's keys. He frees the dwarves and decides that it was the right moment to follow his escape plan. Bilbo helps each dwarf into an empty barrel and sends them down the river. He too hops into an empty barrel, the gates open and they speed down the river towards Lake Town.

“Somehow the killing of the giant spider, all alone by himself in the dark without the help of the wizard or the dwarves or of anyone else, made a great difference to Mr. Baggins. He felt a different person, and much fiercer and bolder in spite of an empty stomach, as he wiped his sword on the grass and put it back into its sheath.
“I will give you a name,” he said to it, “and I shall call you Sting.” (188-189)


This quote depicts Bilbo's thoughts, after his encounter with the giant spider. This is one of the most important events in the book for Bilbo. This is the first time Bilbo has defeated a creature in one on one combat without the help of any of his friends or his ring. This feat gives Bilbo the courage and confidence he really needed in that desperate time were he was alone. His victory gave him new hope and courage to go look for his friends. From this point forward, Bilbo shows that he is not just acting for his benefit, but the benefit of everyone in the company. In Middle Earth, swords that have a name are normally symbolic and have a great impact upon foes. In this story, even though Sting had no previous reputation, Bilbo makes his enemies know the name of his sword and builds its reputation. Usually swords with names are carried and used by great famous heroes, that have accomplished great deeds and by the naming his sword, he is slowly becoming a hero himself.

“These questions they asked over and over again, and it was from little Bilbo that they seemed to expect to get the answers. From which you can see that they had changed their opinion of Mr. Baggins very much, and had begun to have a great respect for him (as Gandalf had said they would)” (198)
Gandalf had always told the dwarfs that they would end up thanking him for bringing Bilbo on their quest, but this was never taken too seriously. In this part of the book, the dwarves wouldn't have survived without Bilbo. Bilbo started his adventure being considered a burden to the group, but he later started to become a leader to the group, who saved them many times. After Bilbo saved the dwarves, they started to relay on him to get them out of their problems. Without Bilbo,  their quest would most likely never have been completed and even though he seemed like the person that was less capable of doing the job,  he ended up adapting and even being the best companion the dwarves could have asked for. Bilbo's story is practically a depiction of The Hero's Journey, as throughout his adventure he slowly becomes the hero of the story, while fighting many obstacles and completely leaving his comfort zone.

I feel as if this part of the book was the most important for Bilbo. His character evolved a lot in this section of the story and became a strong leader after Gandalf left them. The Bilbo from the past, who lived comfortably in his hobbit-hole, would never have imagined to become such a strong character that played a crucial role on a deadly adventure. Bilbo changed his role in the company, from someone that depended on others to survive, to someone that the other members depended on to survive. This section marked Bilbo's change into a totally different person.

The Last Homely House

The company continued on its journey, reaching the Misty Mountains. They still had a long way to go. They were heading to Rivendell to meet Gandalf's friends. Gandalf explained that Elrond lived there and that it was the last homely house west of the mountains. The elves of Rivendell took care of the dwarves and restocked their supplies. Elrond was very wise and new a lot about runes, Gandalf and Thorin showed him their swords, Gandalf's was Glamdring “the foe hammer”, and Thorin's Orcrist “the Goblin-cleaver. Elrond requested to see the map and as he held it in the light of the moon he discovered that there were moon letters written in the map. The letters read “Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks, and the setting sun with the last light of Durin’s Day will shine upon the key-hole.” They stayed two weeks in Rivendell and rode of strong and at a good pace. They began their journey through treacherous paths in the Misty Mountains. One day of their hike, a huge storm rolled in, making the path almost unpassable. They found a cave to take shelter in and decided to spend the night there. Bilbo could not go to sleep, when suddenly he realized that a crack was opening in the cave's wall. Goblins jumped out of the cave and grabbed all the dwarves and Bilbo. Gandalf killed the goblins that went for him with a blast of light and the crack closed. The Goblins took the dwarves and the hobbit down a tunnel while Gandalf was following close behind unnoticed. The Goblins took the dwarves and Bilbo to the Great Goblin. As the Great Goblin questioned them, Gandalf extinguished all the lights in the room, which turned to smoke with blue sparks which burned the Goblins everywhere. In the dark Gandalf killed the Great Goblin and helped the dwarves and Bilbo escape through the commotion. They escaped through the dark tunnels of the mountain, even though the Goblins had taken their ponies and all their supplies. The Goblins were pursuing them angrily. The Goblins were catching up to them, so Gandalf and Thorin turned with Glamdring and Orcrist and killed the ones in the front the rest fled. While the company continued, a group of Goblins followed them stealthily, one of them grabbed Dori from behind, who was carrying Bilbo, he fell and the hobbit rolled of his shoulders into the dark. Bilbo woke up and found himself alone in a dark tunnel. He started to crawl down the tunnel when he felt a small metal ring, without thinking he quickly grabbed it and out it in his pocket. He kept walking down the tunnel until he ran into an underground lake. In that lake lived Gollum, Gollum approached Bilbo in his little boat. Bilbo got scared and reached for his dagger. Gollum was not hungry at the moment, just curious so he decided to play a game of riddles with the hobbit. The rules where that if Bilbo won, Gollum would show him the way out, but if Gollum won he would eat Bilbo. The game went on for a while until Gollum started to grow bored and hungry. After Gollum started to grow angry and Bilbo had no more riddles to ask, he asked him, “What have I got in my pocket?” Bilbo gave him three guesses but Gollum didn't guess correctly. Gollum was planning to eat him and get it over with, so he went to his little island, looking for his magic ring that made him invisible. When he could not find it, he got really angry and started to think about Bolbo's question. Gollum realized what Bilbo had in his pocket and was enraged. Bilbo ran away while putting the ring on his finger. While running Bilbo, tripped with a crack on the floor. He fell down with Gollum close behind him, when Bilbo thought Gollum was going to get him, he just passed by him like he didn't see him. Gollum thought Bilbo was heading to the back door, Bilbo decided to follow him, once he learned that Gollum was heading to an exit. Bilbo jumped over Gollum, when he stopped to look for him. Bilbo saw the exit, it was guarded by Goblins but Bilbo slipped past them and escaped.

“It’s got to ask uss a quesstion, my preciouss, yes, yess, yesss. Jusst one more question to guess, yes, yess,” said Gollum.”

This quote from The Hobbit captures how the ring and all of Gollums' years of solitude have corrupted him. This quote is also a foreshadowing of how not only does Gollum call himself precious but he is also referring to the ring Bilbo found. The fact that Gollum refers to Bilbo, as it suggests that he believes that Bilbo is an unknown creature ,who he thinks does not resemble himself at all. Gollum treats Bilbo as if he were not there in the conversation, he only addresses himself like if Bilbo were an excluded party. The ring of power is of course, the item that has corrupted Gollum for so many years and he has a fixation towards. Power corrupts and the ring of power is no exception as Tolkien appoints out in this chapter that Gollum was not always like this.

“He knew, of course, that the riddle-game was sacred and of immense antiquity, and even wicked creatures were afraid to cheat when they played at it.” (114)

I find it interesting how a game which in this case was not particularly friendly and I really never regarded it as important, would have so much superstitious power in this book. Even dark and creatures who have practically no morals, have respect for the game of riddles and its rules. I have always wondered why superstition has so much effect on the human society. There is no evidence on the effects of superstition (if any) but we still are afraid of what might happen and I have a strong believe that the uncertainty is what gives superstition its power. Of course there is no hard evidence, that points at superstition being a true force but there is also no evidence that points to the contrary. Regardless, I do not agree with this way of thinking and I do believe that if any idea, regardless of the type, has no actual logic backing its validity then the likeliness of it being true is slim to nonexistent.

I was very interested in this part of the book because it is a turning point in Bilbo's life. Without this sequence of events, which led to the finding of the ring and the encounter with Gollum, The Hobbit would be a totally different book. I was very intrigued by Gollum. He is a very interesting character which is actually used in a way as a channel to characterize the power of the ring. This event is just not important for Bilbo but to Middle Earth. Bilbo finding the ring was not just important to the events in The Hobbit but it is also very important to the Lord of the Rings series.

The Beginning of an Adventure

Bilbo Baggins was a very respectable Hobbit, who lived in his comfortable hobbit-hole in Bag-End. Bilbo was nearly 50 years old and had lived a quiet and comfortable life, without ever letting out his Tookish side of adventure and danger. His ancestors were famous Hobbits, that throughout their adventures had accomplished great deeds. One day, while Bilbo was sitting on his front lawn smoking his pipe, when a tall old man stood in front of him and stared right at him. After Bilbo greeted him, the old man introduced himself as Gandalf, he was a wizard who had known Bilbo when he was younger and was an old friend of the Took family. Gandalf told him he was looking for someone to share an adventure with, but Bilbo did not want to hear about it. After he realized he was being rude, he decided to invite Gandalf for tea the next day. Gandalf marked Bilbo's door after he went inside. The next day just before tea time, Bilbo heard someone at his door, he had nearly forgotten about his encounter with Gandalf, Bilbo rushed to the door when he suddenly realized it wasn't Gandalf at all. It was a Dwarf who introduced himself as Dwalin. The dwarf pushed inside Bilbo's Hobbit-Hole. The Hobbit was too startled to asked any questions but he invited Dwalin in for tea. After Dwalin, more dwarves started to arrive at his house, followed by Gandalf, their names were: Balin, Fili, Kili, Dori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur and most important of all, Thorin. After everyone had arrived they gathered at the table and Thorin began to speak. Thorin took out a map made by his grandfather Thror the map was of the Lonely Mountain which was where Thorin and his ancestors used to live, before it was taken with all of the dwarves' treasure by the dragon Smaug. Gandalf pointed something out that no one else had seen, it was the secret door. Gandalf took out a key which had come with the map and was of course for the secret door. Their quest was to reach the Lonely Mountain and take what was theirs, which to complete needed a burglar and that's were Bilbo came in. After discussing the plan they went to sleep. When Bilbo woke up, he found his house empty. Bilbo thought that the dwarves had left without him and he thought he should be relieved, but deep inside him he could not help but feel disappointed. Bilbo just started having breakfast when Gandalf walked in and asked why was he taking so long. Bilbo learned that Thorin and company were waiting for him in the Green Dragon Inn. Bilbo was starting his journey more unprepared than ever, he was given a pony and they set off. One day of their journey that had turned more and more uncomfortable as time passed, they found themselves in bad weather and Gandalf was nowhere to be seen. They where having a hard time setting up camp, when Balin saw a light deep between the trees. After some arguing, they decided to send Bilbo to inspect. Bilbo got close and saw as expected that it was a fire, he saw three trolls sitting around the fire preparing supper. Bilbo saw that they were arguing and decided to live up to his position as a burglar. He tried to steal a wallet from one of the trolls but he was caught, they questioned him but as soon as they started to argue about what to do with him, Bilbo got out of their way. As the dwarves heard sounds in the distance, they decided to approach and check on Bilbo. Before they entirely understood what was going on, the trolls had trapped them in sacks. As they discussed what to do with the dwarves, Gandalf had returned and as he realized what was going on, he started arguments between the trolls trying to gain time. Gandalf was waiting for the sun to come out and as soon as it did, the trolls turned to stone. All the dwarves were freed and they went on looking for the trolls' cave. Inside the cave, they found two swords and a dagger. Gandalf and Thorin Grabbed the swords and Bilbo the dagger.

“Gandalf! If you had heard only a quarter of what I have heard about him, and I have only heard very little of all there is to hear, you would be prepared for any sort of remarkable tale.” (35)

I think that Gandalf is probably the character with the most depth in this story. He is a a very wise and powerful wizard. He travels the land having different exciting adventures and doing good as he is meant to. Gandalf has wondered throughout Middle Earth for a very long time and I would like to know more about what he has encountered. From what I know about the Middle Earth lore Gandalf and all the other wizards were put on Earth to fight evil and darkness. Gandalf is an interesting person because all of his plans and quests are to achieve the greater good and I would like to know what drives him.

“This last belonged to Thorin, an enormously important dwarf, in fact no other than the great Thorin Oakenshield himself... ” (41)

I am interestred in Tolkien's story about Thorin Oakenshield. I do realize that Peter Jackson does tell it in the movie but I know that is not talkinesTolkien's story because of hints in the book that Thorin didn't actually fight him. I am not only interested in thorn but in the other dwarves too, I would like to know the exact relation between this characters and the characters in "The Lord of the Rings" (if any). In the movie there are relationships between the characters and they also added Legolas to the story. Tolkien did not introduce the characters as much as i would have liked but i know that I could probably learn their stories in other books.

I am enjoying this book so far even though I recommend people to read the book before seeing the movie. Seeing the movie before reading the book reveals all the major plot twists which to some people could go as far as making the book boring. While reading the first part I was entertained by the small details and explanations that didn't make it into the movie, but it bothers me that i could not be surprised by a plot twist or the death of any character in this book.