The casual style and pace contrast with the LOTR and makes this a great book for introducing fantasy genre to children and preteens.

Smaug the dragon of course.

He does a creditable job with the voices and pronunciations.

A prelude to "Rings" trilogy, written incredably well, but a child would make a more appreciative reader

adventure, classic, overcoming

It's hard to compare Tolkien to other books, as his writings are often the inspiration for many other great adventure stories.

I loved that Rob Inglis sings Tolkien's songs! When I read the book before, I found myself scanning the written verses, but it was a real joy to hear them sung as Tolkien intended.

If anything it restored a great sense of joy that I felt the first time I ever read the story. There's just something about a little person of no consequence becoming the unlikely hero of a great adventure story.

Even if you've read this book before, like I have, this book is worth the listen. Rob Ingles manages to distinguish the voices of the 13 dwarves, the hobbit, Gandalf and does an excellent Golum. His singing of the songs in the book is the real icing on the cake of this well written and narrated story.

The Hobbit is a delightful story, and the narrator's soothing voice is simply wonderful to listen too. I loved hearing all the songs sung, it made the story even better than when I read it years ago. All of this makes the book better to listen to than to read.

My favorite thing about this book is Bilbo Baggins. I love the hobbits in all the books. I find myself wanting to sit by the fire and have tea with him and gandalf.

I cant possibly pick just one scene as my favorite! The whole book is magical.

I don't know how many times I've read the book. This was the first listen to an unabridged reading. It is still great. I'm somewhat prepared for the movie.

Unique voices for all characters, that he sang poems and songs.

Rob Inglis is a great story teller and brought all characters to life.

Follow the story! Hint Hint Peter Jackson.

I love this book and wanted to listen to it before I saw the movies so I had a fresh memory of the book.

Yes, even if you have read The Hobbit, Inglis' performance is spot on, excellent pacing, he brings Tolkien's songs to life.
Those who have seen the Peter Jackson movies may be a bit put off by the difference in accents of the characters (although I feel Bilbo is coincidentally similar to Freeman and Holm's voices) especially the dwarves and elves. But if one keeps in mind that this recording was done before the movies were made, people will get over it.

In regards to the audio recording specifically is the scene in the mountain when Bilbo meets up with Gollum, the writing and dialog is very rich, and performed very well, and for those who have read all of the Lord of the Rings books, the weight of future events is hinted at slightly in these scenes.

A wonderful voice and performance. Was able to pull off all of the various characters, although almost all of the dwarves sounded the same, but Tolkien usually lets us know who is talking.
Inglis has a regal voice, being noble when it is needed, very common when called for. His baritone singing voice does great justice to Tolkien's songs, even though he is not a professional singer, it sounds as if Thorin and the group were standing in my dining room singing!

13 dwarves, a wizard, and a Hobbit, what could go wrong?

This is Tolkien's best book and the audio version does a good job telling the tale that sets up the three-volume extravaganza which is the Lord of the Rings.

Rob Inglis did a great job with the voices but there were clear cuts in the audio and his need to take a deep breath broke some of the flow for the listener.

Yes and I have. This book is the epitome of fantasy and adventure.

How it went from one action packed event to another.

He did a great job with the different voices. He seemed to always be on par with the situation.

Just how it seemed that Gandolf always seemed to be steering the group even before the onset. It lends to the fact that he had other motives in mind.

This was the first time that I read The Hobbit, and followed by listening to The Hobbit on audio as well. I thoroughly enjoyed both versions.