The Hobbit

The Hobbit is one of the definitive “Hero's Journey” tales, and a book very obviously written with an entire universe in mind. Tolkien's method of writing was very precise and perhaps overly detailed. He knew where each of his characters were at all times, what their motivations were, who their entire family line was, and exactly what their long-term roles were going to be in the world of Middle-Earth. He didn't so much write fantasy stories as he crafted his own personal universe and then dropped us smack dab in the middle of it, and his handprints can be felt all across the genre of modern fantasy and the popularization of intricate worldbuilding in fiction.

Now, I grew up seeing the Lord of the Ring film series first, and have tried on multiple occasions to get into the books themselves, but the writing style was just a bit too dry and tedious for me to enjoy, although that hasn't stopped me from attempting again and again. So it was to my pleasant surprise that the Hobbit was able to pull me in as well as it did. I polished it off in two days and tried LotR again, but it just didn't give me the same appeal. Hobbit was a bit more light fantasy than it's sequel series, and you didn't have to fully immerse yourself in the world to follow the story quite as much. While they start out deceptively similar in setup, as tales of simple men tricked into going on long quests, LotR expands into an epic tale concerning the politics and history of Middle Earth, crafted around a large cast with a great many things to keep track of, and The Hobbit stays a relatively simple journey with a few exciting roadbumps on the way. It's far lighter in tone and many of the book's memorable scenes are the kind you'd expect from a fairy tale, as opposed to LotR's high fantasy battles. Instead of the great war everyone expects, the climax features Bilbo actually serving as a negotiator (although another, unrelated war ends up breaking out with the first two sides teaming up to fight off the antagonists from earlier in the plot, but I digress).

In that sense, I much preferred The Hobbit, as I favor a crafty protagonist over one who simply handles a weapon and armies well.

But perhaps that's a simple bias, coming from a short, unimposing hobbit of a man as myself.