The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien

When Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton.

The Fellowship of the Ring is the first book in the Lord of the Rings. It was read aloud to me a long time ago, but that doesn't really count, especially since I only remembered tiny, tiny snippets of the story. The book opens when Bilbo Baggins, now 111 years old and still going strong, throws a big birthday party for him and his younger cousin Frodo, who is coming of age (turning 33). He pulls a surprise at the party, which I won't give away. Many years go by, with Frodo living at Bag-End happily. But then Gandalf pays him a serious call, and he must leave the comfortable Shire to protect the Ring. Along with him goes Sam Gamgee, Pippin, and some of his other friends. They, of course, meet with many adventures along the way.

The Fellowship of the Ring is really different from The Hobbit in tone and plot. The Hobbit was more written for children, and it's kind of more light-hearted and fun. But you can tell that it's the same author. The Lord of the Rings is a much more serious series. If Frodo and company fail their task, not only will they die, but the whole of Middle Earth will have serious problems. The first book in the trilogy is just as riveting, though. I think I like The Hobbit better, but The Fellowship of the Ring is still an excellent book. It does get bogged down sometimes, but I still really enjoyed this one.

The fact that I remembered some of what happened was in some ways good, in other ways not so good. I though some people were traitors, and I was mistaken. And yet, I was also partly right, as this article seems to suggest. Though it's all speculation. I am not fond of Tom Bomadil, whether he's evil or not.

Tolkien's writing is kind of strange, and definitely not for everyone. Some people hate it, others love it. I'm in the latter category, though at times, I was a bit frustrated with the book. Perhaps reading it right after The Hobbit wasn't such a good idea, because I loved The Hobbit's light, humorous style. The Fellowship of the Ring is very different, though the first two or three chapters are kind of similar in tone to The Hobbit.

The names in this one can be really confusing. The main characters aren't that difficult to keep track of, but there's Sauron and Saruman. Saruman is a really powerful wizard and Sauron is something else altogether. Both of them are evil, but they're very different, however similar their names may be.

I didn't love this one, but I liked it, and plan to read the next two books soon.

Read The Fellowship of the Ring:

• if you like J.R.R. Tolkien
• if you liked The Hobbit
• if you've seen the movies

423 pages.

Very Good! I would recommend this book!