How to Train Your Dragon, by Cressida Cowell

How to Train Your Dragon, Book 1
by Cressida Cowell
Narrated by David Tennant

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III isn't what you would call a Viking hero, He's small and scrawny, and prefers scholarly entertainment rather than ruffian ones. However, he is the son of the tribe leader, so he must be a hero. When, in an initiation-to-tribe trial he must find a baby dragon to train, he ends up with the smallest, toothlessest dragon he could imagine. But he must persevere in order to be accepted into his tribe. Little does the tribe know that danger lurks near. 

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

 

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

Beware! Here there be spoilers.

Again, in the second of the three Hobbit movies I expected the story to end the first time I watched the movie. So, as when watching the first movie I was a bit disappointed and confused the first time through. After reading the book, I watched it again, and this time I enjoyed it quite a bit more. 

The Desolation of Smaug covers approximately the second third of the Hobbit movies. After their narrow escape from the orcs, Bilbo and the dwarves (again without Gandalf, who's wandered off with Radargast the Brown again) tramp through the forest, get overrun by a pack of hungry spiders and are saved/captured by wood elves led by Legolas. Bilbo manages to escape notice, and slips secretly into the elvin keep, following his captured friends. 

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

 

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Spoiler alert (for movie and book)!

As most of you know, the short children's book The Hobbit  was stretched impossibly into three movies. An Unexpected Journey was the first. When I first saw this movie, I expected it to be stand-alone, so I was a bit shocked at the ending. This time around I knew what to expect, so I was better prepared to enjoy the movie.

The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien

The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien, narrated by Inglis

Caution: There will be spoilers!

A couple of months ago I had the immense pleasure of listening to the Rob Inglis narrations of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. If you ever have the slightest wish to listen to these books, just do it. Inglis' voices are fantastic; he even sings the songs! It was a true delight. 

A humble hobbit named Bilbo Baggins is unwillingly thrown into a "nasty adventure" when the wizard Gandalf thrusts himself into Bilbo's home, a troop of dwarves in his wake. Gandalf has misinformed the dwarves that Bilbo is a burglar - the dwarves want Bilbo to burgle a gigantic horde of treasure from the dragon Smaug, who had stolen the treasure (with their mountain kingdom) from the dwarves' ancestors decades before. This is a strange coming-of-age story, since the character is 50 years old already (which is youngish for a hobbit, but still firmly in the adult range). But as the story progresses, Bilbo recognizes that he is a brave hobbit, an adventuresome hobbit, and a very sneaky burglar. 

Game of Thrones, by George R. R. Martin

Game of Thrones, by George R. R. Martin

What can I say about Game of Thrones that hasn't already been said? I'm not even sure how to summarize it properly because there is so much that would be left out. But, briefly, Lord Eddard Stark is swept up into a web of conspiracy when he is suddenly demanded to go to the capital city to be the Hand of the King. He must protect his family, his honor, and the king from enemies - and everyone is an enemy.