Rating: 
Summary: A Reasonably Amusing Diversion
Review: Well, chances are that if you've decided to read this book, you're gonna enjoy it. You'd have to be dumber than a box of rocks not to realize from the outset that this is the lite-SF version of Tolkien's "The Hobbit". So, by your mere choice to pick this up anyway, you're likely entering into the game more or less willingly.Most of the entertainment value comes from finding the parallels between this novel and its far superior source (although it's not really fair to directly compare them, since they are in different genres and are shaded with different meanings). "There and Back Again" is really an homage; it doesn't try to outdo the original or show it up or improve upon it. It simply uses its plot outline as the basis for a minor space opera (operetta?). Of course, the current story itself is rather too slight to stand on its own. The reader is too aware that the norbits are hobbits and the clones are dwarves and the Boojum is Smaug; knowing the plot of the predecessor means that everything here is, by design, predictable, so there are no real surprises or much tension. One is meant to merely delight in the flourishes. The treatment of the clone society is a bit interesting, along with some of the mechanics of the (one-way) wormholes. And another virtue is that lazy readers can easily power through the book in one sitting. Oh, yeah...cool cover. Nothing to go out of your way to grab, but if someone loans it to you for a long flight from, say, Chicago to San Francisco, you might want to go for it.
Rating: 
Summary: A Fun, Well-Written Hero-Quest
Review: Yes, there are some Hobbit-y tendencies in this book; Murphy is quite deliberate in her homage-- BUT as one of the afterwords points out, what the story really relies on is the same thing that Tolkein did-- the heroic quest myth wherein the inexperienced novice encounters adventure, learns to test him/her self, gets helped out by wider-adepts, grows & aquires wisdom, and then, with newly gained wisdom, helps his/her community grow & change.... The book is the perfect length for a night on the couch with hot tea and an afghan over your knees-- (something the story's hero would like as much as you, gentle reader). I really grew to like Bailey-- and his companions in adventure (especially Fluffy). If you liked The Hobbit, Star Wars, the Narnia Books, Harry Potter, The Odyssey, The Robert Jordan "Wheel of Time" Series, King Arthur's tales, or *any* other "hero myth" at all, you should also like this book.
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