November 16

‘The Hobbit’ (Graphic Novel) by J.R.R Tolkien

the-hobbit-graphic-novelAre you ready for an adventure where fantasy creatures come to life, and where you will be always sitting on the edge of your seat? Then ‘The Hobbit (revised edition, graphic novel)’ is the book for you.

This fantasy novel takes place in Middle Earth and starts in Hobbiton, near the Shire. Bilbo Baggins, Thorin Oakenshield, and Gandalf are the main characters in this novel. Bilbo Baggins is the hobbit of the novel and is known as a burglar, elf – friend, and ring – bearer. Thorin Oakenshield is the king of the dwarves in the story and will stop at nothing to reach his fallen castle. He is also known as King of Durin’s folk, and King under the mountain. Gandalf is the wizard of the movie and is known as the Servant of fire, Elf – friend, Istar, Wielder of the Flame of Anor, and Ring – bearer.

The story outline is the dwarves are going back to their fallen town and they need a Burglar to help them, so that’s why they get Gandalf who is also coming on the journey to call into Bilbo Baggins’ house and try and get him to join them. He then joins and they all go on a journey, where magical creatures such as orcs and massive spiders that are trying to stop them from getting to the dwarves’ fallen city, with little side adventures along the way.

I liked ‘The Hobbit (revised edition)’ because it was full of action and awesome fighting scenes. J.R.R Tolkien just has that way with writing that when you start you just can’t put that book down and must know what’s going to happen with these characters, that feel like you know them like they are your best friend.

I would recommend ‘The Hobbit (revised edition)’ from early teens and young adults between the ages of 11 – 25 who are interested in Sci – Fi, Adventure, and fantasy novels and also who love action packed reads. This novel ‘The Hobbit (revised edition)’ has a rating of 3 out of 5 stars.

‘Ray L., Year 9’

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The Hobbit is a well-known book that you may know from the hit series Lord of the Rings that many readers enjoy to read. The start of this book is set out really well. The story is set in the mountains where all the hobbits live, where the famous character Bilbo Baggins is chosen to join Gandalf on a quest to retake a kingdom. The main characters are very catchy and you will be attached to them in the first couple of pages since they contain many traits such as humour and kindness.

Most of the main characters join the hobbit on his adventure to take back their kingdom. The hobbits come across many challengers trying to reclaim their kingdom. The characters come across many allies on the quest as well, who join them to on the adventure. This book is highly recommended to teenagers who like Lord of the Rings or have seen the movies. The lovable story line will catch the attention of even adults who like Lord of the Rings.

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in an adventurous type of novel, mostly young teens since they are more likely to understand it. It hasn’t got every scene from the movie but I guarantee you will enjoy this book.

Aaron.k       year 9

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The Hobbit is an adventurous novel which consists of adventures and awesome plot twists. The Hobbit is set in Middle Earth. The main characters that impressed me the most were Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf, and Thorin. Bilbo Baggins isn’t quite your usual hobbit. Instead of sitting down enjoying a quiet life like other hobbits, Bilbo likes to go out on adventures and perform adrenaline pumping stunts. Gandalf also isn’t your average wizard. He is very wise and takes Bilbo by his side throughout the adventures they go on together. Gandalf is also very powerful and has a lot of abilities under his belt. Thorin is the leader of the dwarves. Thorin’s main goal is to reclaim his land and defend it from intruders. The land means a lot to Thorin because it consists of a lot of the gold from Middle Earth.

The Hobbit is about a group of friends who went on an adventure to reclaim their land from a dragon that invaded and took over. They also have to worry about other armies and evil creatures that want them all dead. I really enjoyed this book because it is very adventurous and gets you hooked very fast.

I would recommend this novel to anyone who likes to get lost in an adventure and who also likes fantasy novels.

Luke M., Year 9

July 15

‘One Piece’ by Eiichiro Oda

coverWealth, fame, power.

Gold Roger, the king of the Pirates, obtained all this and everything else the world had to offer and the last words he said sent all pirates around the world to the seas. ‘You want my treasure? You can have it. I left everything I had to offer in that place, now you just have to find it!’

Now pirates all over the world are in search of his great treasure ‘one piece’; the world is truly in a great era of pirates!

These are the first words ever uttered in the highly popular series, ‘One Piece’, an ongoing trilogy that was first published by Eiichiro Oda in 1997 and boasts over 320 million sales over its current 77 volumes. It is a Japanese shōnen jump which means that the target demographic is teen boys. However, more than 80% of readers are adults which shows that it is a series that almost anyone can enjoy. Its title, ‘One Piece’ refers to the name of the legendary treasure that Gold Roger left behind prior to his execution. It focuses around the genres of adventure but branches out to areas such as romance, deep emotion and mystery. It also has an anime (TV show) that is nearly up to Episode 700.

The main focus of the story is around pirates and the adventures that they have. The protagonist is a teenage boy named Monkey D. Luffy whose body was turned to rubber after he ate the Gum Gum Fruit, one of the mysterious devil fruits that give someone strange and interesting abilities upon consumption but cause them to be weakened when they come into contact with the ocean. There are three types of devil fruits: paramecia which gives the user an ability such as a body made from rubber, zoan which allows the user to transform their body into an animal such as a lion, and the most powerful of all, the logia type devil’s fruit that turns the user’s body into a substance such as fire or lightning.

As Luffy travels around the world, he encounters new friends who join his crew. These include Zoro the swordsman, Usopp the sniper, Nami the navigator, Sanji the chef, Chopper the doctor, Robin the archeologist and Brook the musician. The geography of the world involves four quarters. The North, South, East and West Blue which are separated by the red line, a giant wall travelling the circumference of the world and the grand line, the terribly dangerous ocean which is the location of the one piece. As the Pirates travel the world, they are always perused by the marines, the main enforcers of justice that run the world. As the Straw hat pirates (Luffy’s crew) go on more adventures, their bounties get raised and Luffy’s is currently at 400,000,000.

This is truly a great story with many different adventures. I enjoy reading it so much and have been doing so for over two years. The sense of adventure and freedom is a highly enticing experience that will always keep you wanting to continue reading. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys the previously mentioned genres that is looking for a new, and highly original story to read.

Age group: young teens to adulthood

Rating: 10/10

Sage M Year 8

November 4

‘The Hobbit’ by J.R.R Tolkien

the-hobbit-graphic-novelThe Hobbit, an unexpected journey, when Bilbo Baggins joins Gandalf, the great wizard and a group of 13 dwarves to salvage an embezzled treasure.

 

Bilbo Baggins was an ordinary hobbit who lives in a hole in the ground, a nice and comfortable hole. He was short and fat, yet he was a respectable kind of hobbit. Bilbo’s life changed dramatically when he agreed to help Gandalf, an old, magical and wise wizard, to retrieve his ancestor’s jewel.

 

Through the somber and mystical forest they fought their way past many goblins who tried to stop them in their tracks, climbed jagged mountains where they escaped immense storms striking at them with every step they took. This lengthy journey led them to the cave of the great dormant dragon, Smaug. This was the day which they have been dreading all their lives, entering the cave of the great Smaug to retrieve their stolen treasure. Will they make it out still alive? Will they be able to find the treasure in time before the dragon wakes up? This is your time to find out.

 

I would recommend this book to all those from the ages 8 and up whom like reading fantasy and like adventurous books. The depth of the vocabulary is very difficult at times. For this reason I would not recommend this book for anyone under the age of eight to prevent being discouraged from reading.

 

This book has a great story line. It is intriguing, especially when you want to know more about some characters. Other times the story line can get uninteresting, especially at the start of the book as the characters are introduced.

 

By Sebastien F., Year 9

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Meet Bilbo Baggins, a polite and conservative creature of habit who isn’t the adventurous type; a hobbit that enjoys his own routine and his peaceful life in his hobbit hole. Never would he have guessed that all this would change when Gandalf the wizard and thirteen dwarves invited him on an unexpected journey filled with mystery, action and adventure to claim back long lost treasure from the vicious dragon, Smaug.

Set in Middle Earth, a beautiful place with astonishing views and land that can sometimes be unforgiving, the brave group has to battle through the massive and treacherous Mirkwood forest, the windy and perilous Misty Mountains and extraordinarily wide rivers filled with trolls, goblins, elves and giant spiders. The Hobbit is a classic tale with an amazingly detailed description of Middle Earth by Tolkien.

I enjoyed the book, The Hobbit because it is a story of belief and self-confidence as well as one of action and adventure. In the beginning, Bilbo is afraid of the dwarves and Gandalf and reluctantly joins them on their quest. But as the story eventuates, Bilbo grows as a hobbit and develops confidence within himself to believe he can take on the adventure and do things he never would have imagined himself doing.

Tolkien’s description throughout the book is fantastically detailed and vibrant and really did paint a picture in my head. There was never a boring minute reading this book as it is filled with different battles or dilemmas to keep me wanting to read on.

       I recommend this book to 10 – 18 year olds and perhaps young adults who are interested in fantasy, mysterious and thrilling tales and enjoy a great adventure and action story. This book is a fantastic read. I would rate The Hobbit 4 out of 5 stars.

 

Shane M. Year 9

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      Bilbo Baggins is a unadventurous little hobbit who rarely leaves the safety of his little Hobbit hole. So when Gandalf proposes a highly dangerous, high risk adventure of uncertain troubles and endeavours, Bilbo is unsurprisingly very sceptical about whether to go. However, after Gandalf “persuades” Bilbo to go along, Bilbo finds himself getting stronger and making friends and enemies. The perilous journey is littered with goblins, bears, wolves… the list goes on. Bilbo and his companions get into situations that make you wonder how he will ever get back to his friends, or see them again. As you read The Hobbit, you start to admire Bilbo Baggins as he continually shows his companions and himself his intellect and courage in times of great peril.

      There are many other fantastic characters in this story, other than Bilbo Baggins, surrounded by mystery such as Gandalf, Beorn and Gollum. Beorn was my favorite character in this novel, a good example of how interesting some of the various characters are that you will meet in this book.

      With an excellent conclusion making you want to read more, The Hobbit is a perfect prequel to The Lord Of The Rings. I assure you, you’ll find yourself reading The Lord Of The Rings series after this, as I have. If you like adventurous, imaginative and surprising stories, then I highly recommend you to read this book.

      You will really appreciate the world Tolkien has created and how much depth he goes into when telling the story and describing the world. For these reasons, I would rate The Hobbit overall a 5 out of 5 mainly because of the overall readability and just how well written the book is.

      Michael D’Enett Year 9.            

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The Hobbit (Revised Edition) by J.R.R Tolkien is one of the most known and loved fantasy books. First published in 1937, this graphic version of the novel was published in 2006.

 The Hobbit is a far more cheerful story than the Lord of the Rings. This book introduces the unforgettable Bilbo, Gandalf and Gollum.

 This book is full of adventure and bravery. But soon the Shire is left behind and Bilbo, our reluctant hero, encounters Dwarves, Elves, Goblins, Eagles and Wizards as the party passes through Rivendell, The Misty Mountains and Mirkwood on their way to the Lonely Mountain, in order to take back treasure stolen by the great dragon Smaug.

 This is just a part of the story. One day an old man comes with a staff and a high pointed blue hat, a long grey coat, and an extremely long white beard that ends down below his stomach. This is Gandalf, a powerful wizard, who you will get to know very well, if you read this book. Bilbo already knows Gandalf from when he was a child.

 Gandalf says to Bilbo that he needs Bilbo go to the lonely mountain and kill the Dragon and reclaim the stolen treasure.

             Bilbo doesn’t believe he’s the one that Gandalf is looking for. Gandalf cuts a secret mark on Bilbo’s front door and at tea time next day thirteen dwarves all go into Bilbo’s hole for tea. It’s not just for tea it’s the final planning meeting for a great mission.

 One of the dwarves in Bilbo’s house was Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thrain son of Thror, King under the Mountain. The treasure and the kingdom is Thorin’s inheritage, but the kingdom was taken over by a dragon Smaug. Now the Dragon sleeps in the middle of the mountain on his massive hill of treasure.

 Bilbo has been happy living a quiet life, but he is about to see that evil and marvels which rule the wilderland.

 One of the main things in the book is when Bilbo finds a magic ring, right in the middle of the Misty Mountains. The ring is a pretty useful thing to find, because it enables Bilbo to escape from His enemies. The ring makes the wearer invisible.

 Later in the book Bilbo becomes a different person. He relies on himself more then he did before.

 This is a story that looks to grow in the telling. It seems like the characters are taken out of fairy stories, elves, trolls, dragons and shape-changers, but the reasons and reactions of the characters are really convincing.

 The Hobbit is a book that can be liked by people aged 12+. The reason why I liked it so much is because it has such a good story line, plus it’s like a comic book and I like comic books.

 Aidan, Year 9