Chapter 8: Flies and Spiders
and now we come to Cambell's turn, and Bilbo goes from "(Bombur) Timmy fell down the well!" to survival horror protagonist to spider city builder antagonist. Just a great chapter overall that again, boggles my fucking mind at how much he can cram into a chapter and yet still have it feel like it meanders. I think his success is his lack of buildup. There isn't a long while where bilbo builds himself up to being the hero, instead he's thrust into it suddenly, and violently. Boom, spider-killer.
I also really really like the elvish magic here. One side they are present, the next absent. There is no explanation or excuse, just boom, elves can magic like that. Too many times i feel like magic is just physics but with bad rules. Like the magic in D&D- its formulaic, and scientific. You put 1 spell slot to fireball, and you get out 1 fireball, every time. This feels more like magic- it laughs are your scientific method, and input and output are not just uncorrelated, but spite you.