Rating: 
Summary: Excellent rendition
Review: This graphic comic book was released by Eclipse over a decade ago and re-released as an illustrated novel about five years ago. Anyone who does not know the story line is probably not interested so this reviewer will not repeat the often told and read tale of Bilbo. The book adheres to Tolkien's tale and is supplemented by beautiful illustrations (as expected with a comic book) that will blow away anyone who has not seen comic art in recent years. Though some readers will take exception to the visualization of heroes and villains not as expected in their mind's eye, most fans of the novels and fantasy in general will fully enjoy this edition that pays tribute to Tolkien and his classic work.Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Enter Middle Earth Through it's Antechamber
Review: Tolkien is without a doubt the greatest literary genius of our times, whatever the naysayers among the "literati" say. Tolkien was the ultimate "philologist" in both a literal, academic sense and in a broader, more general sense. That is to say, he was a true "lover of words" and no writer has ever "sub-created" a magical world on the basis of a deeper knowledge of, and love of, words. What is more, as any true philologist, he saw very clearly the power of myth and how language and myth interweave. The longer trilogy with followed allowed him to unfold all these aspects of his writing in a fuller, deeper way...and yet there is still something about the Hobbit, the antechamber of Middle Earth that draws one back to it again and again. It is eminently readable and approachable, for one thing. One can easily plow though it for a light evening's reading. Designed as a "children's book" (so many great works of literature were) it is utterly enjoyable for even young children and yet an inexhaustable mine of meaning for adults.
Rating: 
Summary: Dumbing down the Hobbit
Review: Seeing the cover of this book, I assumed I was purchasing art. Serious misjudgment on my part. The comic strip format is clumsy and choppy. The editing is poor, cutting up this classic into sound bites fit only for Mad Magazine. What a huge disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Fantasy that is good literature
Review: I picked up the Hobbit and read it as an adult merely because I like another one of the Inklings (a group of writers who met at the Oxford Pub "the Eagle and the Child" which included C.S. Lewis). I read this "children's" fantasy as an adult and immediately fell in love with Tolkien's writing. This is fantasy that has depth to it. Yes, there are goblins, and elves, and dwarves in the book but it is not just a fantasy that just throws out shallow fantasy characters. Tolkien makes you understand the characters and makes you want to be a part of their lives. Even though they are creatures of fantasy you will begin to fel for them just like you would the characters of any great book. Though some call this is a "children's" book it was well worth my time and I will begin to read the "Lord of the Rings" series simply because of how good "the Hobbit" was.
Rating:
Summary: a classy classic
Review: this book is a must read for everyone 6 to 106, a true delight. i've read it over and over and always find something new and wonderful.
Rating:
Summary: A BOOK FOR THE AGES
Review: Truly a book for the ages. A wizard with words, JRR. Tolkien weaves an enchanting story of the quest undertaken by 13 dwarves led by Gandalf the Grey and a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins. When we first start this tale, we see a hobbit outside of his hobbit hole, smoking his pipe, and blowing smoke rings. Gandalf the Wizard comes by asking if Bilbo was interested in a quest filled with intrigue and treasure. Being the respectable Hobbit he is, he declines and instead invites Gandalf to tea the next day. This is how the greatest fantasy book of all time starts. Not just a book for children, I myself am 14 currently, and have read this book 5 times. It is a tale that leads you through an exciting quest filled with adventure and mystery with the reward of insurmountable wealth at the end, if they complete the quest at all. If you are looking for a book that will keep you entwined for the rest of your life, pick up a copy of the Hobbit, or any of Tolkien's other books.
Rating:
Summary: The word in brackets says it all.
Review: [ABRIDGED]?? You can't abridge Tolkien, any more than you can abridge Dickens. And who in their right mind would want an abridged edition anyway? It's not as if _The Hobbit_ was a very long book. Even with _The Lord of the Rings_, which is far longer, all the people I know that liked it say it's not long enough.
Rating:
Summary: written for kids... and "large stupid folk like you and me".
Review: Well, this is one of my favorite books ever, and that is why I've read it over and over so many times. To say that it is "just for kids" is like saying that ice cream or watermelon is just for kids. Blasphemy! It is true that Tolkien intended his story for young readers to enjoy, as is evident in the fact that hardly a page goes by in which the narrator does not address children in the first person singular, but the story is never "childish" (in my opinion). Any child reading this story will feel elevated to being at one level with the (adult) narrator. I think it is significant that Tolkien makes the hobbits beardless and "shy of the Big People" and their stature to be "about half our height, and smaller than the bearded dwarves." They tend to "disappear quietly and quickly when large and stupid folk like you and me come blundering along, making a noise like elephants which they can hear a mile off." The misgivings that Bilbo has as he is swept off on this adventure, are the misgivings that any child would have... and the fact that he overcomes those fears, learns to live with a determined initiative, becomes a true leader, and emerges a hero in the end is a great lesson for young and old alike. The Hobbit is self-contained, and essentially independent of the three-volume Lord Of The Rings, which, in my opinion is a far more graver sort of quest... perhaps less accessible to the younger reader. It is not necessary to read the Hobbit in order to understand The Lord of The Rings, but The Hobbit serves as a quarry of important themes for the larger work. The Hobbit reminds me of something C.S. Lewis (a friend of Tolkien's) once said of children's literature: "No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally (and often far more) worth reading at the age of fifty..." The Hobbit surely fulfills this criteria, and so I believe you will be smiling at the end of this book regardless of whether, in doing so, you're displaying baby teeth or dentures at the time.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty Good Book
Review: The Hobbit was grappling! It made me feel like I was the main charecter. The book is about Bilbo Baggins, a Hobbit Who meets Gandalf the wizard, who takes Bilbo and a group of dwarfs on a adventure to reclaim the dwarfs' lost treasure and kill the beast that killed almost all the dwarfs in the castle that it took over. This book is for someone 7+ years old and likes magic, elves, goblins, etc., etc,. etc.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty Good Book
Review: The Hobbit was grappling! It made me feel like I was the main charecter. The book is about Bilbo Baggens, a Hobbit Who meets Gandalf the wizard, who takes Bilbo and a group of dwarfs on a adventure to reclaim the dwarfs lost treasure and kill the beast that killed almost all the dwarfs in the castle that it took over. This book is for someone 7+ years old and likes magic, elves, goblins, etc., etc,. etc.
| 
