Book · 1937
The Hobbit
by J. R. R. Tolkien
A hobbit who has never left his own pantry gets recruited by thirteen dwarves and a wizard to steal treasure back from a dragon.
What does Reddit think of The Hobbit?
Ask r/Fantasy about The Hobbit and you mostly get a referendum on Peter Jackson. Five of the eight displayed excerpts here are about the film trilogy or Rings of Power, not the book: one commenter (↑1020) says Jackson was brought in to 'salvage' an already-messy production, another (↑811) hoped the Amazon show would at least clear the low bar the Hobbit films left behind. The closest thing to a textual argument is the ↑973 breakdown of why Bilbo barely used the Ring after his adventure, working from both this book and Lord of the Rings. One commenter's mom (↑984) shelved this next to Lord of the Flies and caused a decade of confusion, which says more about a publisher's spine design than the novel. r/Fantasy's own scored sentiment lands mixed, not the warm consensus the volume of chatter might suggest. Nobody displayed here is actually arguing about Tolkien's prose.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · Discussion dominated by the films and the Rings of Power show, not the prose
- · The one Ring detail (why Bilbo barely used it) as the rare textual argument
- · Treated as the entry point into the wider legendarium, Silmarillion included
- · A childhood shelving mix-up with Lord of the Flies as an accidental data point
Common praise
- + The ↑973 explanation of why Bilbo barely touched the Ring works from the book's own internal logic, not just vibes.
- + The ↑857 comment folds it into 'the entirety of Tolkien's world,' Silmarillion and invented languages included, treating it as required reading.
- + It's the book people cite as the reason they went looking for the Silmarillion next.
Common criticism
- − Most of the top-voted comments (↑1020, ↑847, ↑811, ↑786, ↑783) talk about the films or the Amazon show, not the novel itself.
- − The ↑811 commenter admits their bar was already low and still only hoped the show would clear the Hobbit trilogy, not exactly a ringing endorsement of it.
- − The best-remembered anecdote here (↑984) is really about a parent's bookshelf mix-up with Lord of the Flies, not about anything in the actual text.
Who it's for
Come to this one for the source material, not for what Reddit says about it: the top-voted comments here talk past the book itself toward Jackson's trilogy and Amazon's show. If you grew up confusing this for Lord of the Flies on a parent's shelf, you're in the same boat as one commenter's mom. Read it as the door into the wider legendarium (the Silmarillion, the invented languages, the appendices) rather than as a stand-alone adventure, since that's how r/Fantasy actually treats it.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
- r/suggestmeabook 6,378
- r/Fantasy 4,773
- r/booksuggestions 3,045
- r/printSF 233
- r/YAlit 141
- r/RomanceBooks 90
- r/TrueLit 39
- r/horrorlit 27
Which Reddit comments matter for The Hobbit?
The most relevant excerpts across the subreddits where this book is mentioned — opinionated, argued takes first, then top-upvoted mentions. Click through to read the full thread.
“Jackson was brought into to salvage the Hobbit after it was already in a mess.
“When I was a child I read the Hobbit and was told to read the Lord of the Rings. But my mom had the Lord of the Flies next to the Hobbit so I thought they meant that book. I was really confused until I asked a librarian why the books were so different and why someone suggested one after the other.
“A couple of reasons are postulated by Gandalf in the book. One of the first is that Bilbo simply didn't *use* the Ring that often after his adventure; per *The Hobbit* and LotR, he mostly used it to get away from people he didn't want to deal with, like the Sackville-Bagginses, and that wasn't an ev…
“Yes, definitely. And not only the trilogy but the entirety of Tolkien's world, including the hobbit and the silmarillion as well as the languages he created.
“My two cents as a lotr fan. I think it looked great, has potential and is worth watching. Unfortunately it reminded me of the hobbit films more than the classics…
“My bar for enjoying a fantasy series is incredibly low. I knew from the get go that this show wouldn't be Tolkein, it wouldn't hold a candle to Jackson's LOTR trilogy. I did hope it would at least be better than the Hobbit trilogy but I was prepared for it to be at least on par. I am a huge nerd fo…
“Showrunner Ryan Condal: >“I’m a huge unapologetic Tolkien fan" >“I read ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Silmarillion’ and ‘The Hobbit’ multiple times growing up, I saw the Peter Jackson movies multiple times in the theaters. I love all that stuff, I love high fantasy, and frankly I want to live in a w…
“From the Wiki: > Because Amazon only bought the television rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, the writers had to identify all of the references to the Second Age in those books and create a story that bridged those passages. > The biggest deviation made from Tolkien's works... was to…
“Technically _The Hobbit_ and _The Lord of the Rings_.
“Standard disclaimer, read whatever you like, etc etc etc. Here are my suggestions: Beginners: * Mistborn * Howl's Moving Castle * The Hobbit Veterans: * The Black Company (ideally the first three at minimum) * Any discworld book * Assassin's Apprentice (and the rest of the series too maybe)…
“*The Hobbit* is one of my favorite books I've ever read, and occasionally it *is* my favorite. It's one of those books where I can remember exactly when I got it and when I started reading it - a present from my mom in 4th grade, and I started it shortly after a power outage in Florida where we went…
“Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit. Tolkien affirmed the incredible joy of a good cake, drink and book at home, but you go out and adventure anyway.
“The Hobbit & Lord of the Rings still killing it 85 and 67 years later.
“Honestly, the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit fit the bill. The only thing special about Bilbo or Frodo is their strength of character. Yes they have a magic ring that makes you invisible, but Bilbo doesn't have it for most of the book, and Frodo is explicitly told never to use it, and hardly does.…
“Smaug from The Hobbit. Cunning, arrogant, and genuinely quite terrifying, especially when I first read it as a kid.
Convinced? Pick up The Hobbit
Readers also mention
All books like The Hobbit →Books that share discussion threads with The Hobbit — counted from the comments, not curated.
The Hobbit — frequently asked
What does r/Fantasy actually say about The Hobbit?+
Mostly, it talks about the adaptations. Five of the eight top-voted excerpts here are about Jackson's film trilogy or Amazon's Rings of Power, including the ↑1020 comment on why Jackson was brought in to 'salvage' the films and the ↑811 comment setting a low bar for the show to clear. The book itself gets discussed far less often than its screen versions.
Is The Hobbit better than Peter Jackson's film trilogy?+
Reddit doesn't compare them directly in what's displayed, but the films don't come off well by association. The ↑1020 comment says the productions were 'already in a mess' before Jackson stepped in, and the ↑811 commenter set the bar so low for the Rings of Power show that merely beating the Hobbit trilogy counted as a win.
Do I need to read The Hobbit before The Silmarillion?+
Reddit treats it as part of one package rather than a strict prerequisite. The ↑857 comment lumps The Hobbit in with 'the entirety of Tolkien's world,' the Silmarillion and the invented languages included, as though skipping any piece would be the unusual choice.
Why does Bilbo barely use the Ring in The Hobbit?+
Because he didn't need to, according to the ↑973 comment, which argues from both this book and Lord of the Rings that Bilbo mostly used it to avoid people he didn't want to deal with, like the Sackville-Bagginses, rather than as a strategic tool. That casual use is framed as the point, not a plot hole.