Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit, plain and small, is alone and far from home. He stands in a tunnel cut through the roots of an ancient mountain. Behind him are the stars, a cool night breeze, and his friends. Ahead of him are foul vapors and an ominous red glow—sure signs that Smaug, the dragon, huge and horrifying, awaits.
Bilbo doesn’t know it, but he has reached the crux of his journey. Not the journey from Bag End to the Lonely Mountain and back again. That quest encompasses the fates of dwarves, goblins, wizards, men, and more. Indeed, the mission to defeat Smaug and restore the King under the Mountain is a small chapter in a much larger tale—one that stretches from the creation of the world to the actions of another hobbit, Bilbo’s nephew, inside Mount Doom.
No, what Bilbo has reached is his own pivotal moment. He must make a decision in the middle of that tunnel. Will he give in to fear and turn back? Or will he press forward and take his place among the heroes of Middle-earth?
If you’ve read The Hobbit, or even if you’ve read The Lord of the Rings, you know which path Bilbo ultimately chooses. But you may not know why he does so—or why that particular choice is so important.
By the time you finish this book, you’ll know this and much, much more.