There and Back Again: By Max Merriwell

by Pat Murphy

When a asteroid miner stumbles upon a mysterious message pod, he finds himself in the middle of an adventure involving the richest family in the galaxy, who believes what he has found could be the key to mapping the wormhole system. 12,500 first printing.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Speculative Fiction, Adventure, Retellings, Space

300 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Pat Murphy’s latest short story collection is called "Women Up to No Good," a title that describes Pat’s attitude in general. Pat writes about strong women who are not afraid of making trouble.

Pat's fiction has won multiple awards for her science fiction and fantasy works, including the Nebula Award, the World Fantasy Award, the Philip K Dick Award, the Theodore Sturgeon Award, and the Christopher Award. Her latest novel, "The Adventures of Mary Darling," is a historic fantasy -- a subversive take on Peter Pan (with a side helping of Sherlock Holmes). It will be out in May 2025 from Tachyon Publications.

Reviews

[Scurra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a hoot. Not only is it a splendid book in its own right, but the fun of trying to see how the incidents from The Hobbit are going to be recreated in this lunatic universe is almost unmatched (I think only Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair has a similar symbiotic relationship with it's source, and that is far more tangential. Although on reflection, Bridget Jones' Diary probably qualifies too.)

edit: just finished a reread (in the light of Mr Jackson's work) and I'm putting it up a star because it's just wonderful in so many ways.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably in the opposite way from most of Pat Murphy's fans, I picked this up in a pinch at the library because I really enjoyed The Wild Girls, her new novel for younger readers. It turned out to be a lovely decision: There And Back Again is a perfectly charming romp through space, following neatly and creatively in the path carved by Tolkien's Bilbo Baggins. It had some gravity but not too much, humor, geeky allusions, a fun storyline, and a happy ending.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a tale heavily influenced by Tolkien's The Hobbit, Murphy tells of a norbit, who has a comfortable home in the Asteroid Belt, but is drawn into an adventure to the center of the galaxy with a group of clones called the Farr sibs, and Gitana, an apparently well-known adventurer.
Like Bilbo Baggins, Bailey is hesitant to leave his peaceful existence, but is also drawn by the spirit of adventure. He comes to learn about the mysteries of the universe and finds himself more useful on this journey than anyone (except Gitana) believed he would be. Run-ins with space pirates, ancient alien artifacts, and spaceship-eating spiders are all par for the course.
Also comparable to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, this space opera is cheeky, exhilarating, suspenseful, and moving all at the same time. Pat Murphy (and her pseudonyms) may just be my new favorite author.
(I ordered and read this book in order to get some perspective and back story on Adventures in Time and Space with Max Merriwell which I received from NetGalley in Bad Grrlz' Guide to Reality)

[Aidan Carroll · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining and with imaginative world building, but as a reimagining of the hobbit, I found myself disappointed when it strayed too far, but also when it stuck too close to the hobbit. It would have been nice to read an original story in that world.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bailey Beldon is living a simple life. He is a norbit living in the solar system's asteroid belt, where he mines the area. Like most nobrits, Bailey is more than happy to avoid adventure. Unfortunately, things are about to change when a group of clones all sharing the familial name Farr along with the mysterious Gitano in the hopes of getting him to join them on an adventure for the ultimate prize.

Well, if all of this sounds familier, it should! This is really a reimaging of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien wit a science fiction setting. Murphy actually did a great job with doing just this. Not only has she really taken the major moments and characters (the characters actually share initiials with their Tolkienian selves) of the original work and adapted them fir the new setting, but she did so in an interesting way. It was easy to want to keep turning the pages.

There are a few times when the plot gets booged down by little essays exploring space science. In a way, it reminded me a bit of Moby Dick, which has chapters alternating between the actual plot and information relating to whaling. I really found myself wanting to skim through these sections, particularly since they dealth with topics (like wormholes) with which I was already familiar.

This is really worth giving a try!

[Tony Calder · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lovingly retold version of Tolkien's The Hobbit, altered to be a space opera. It is full of joy and whimsy and was a complete delight to read. If you've never read The Hobbit, you should still enjoy this as a charming story - if you are a fan of Tolkien's classic children's tale, you will have the added enjoyment of seeing how Murphy translates each of the elements of the original into her SF story without making it seem forced at any stage.

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great re-working of the story of The Hobbit as a space opera. When I'd read the first chapter or two I wondered if I should have re-read The Hobbit before starting, but as it turned out I remembered enough to enjoy many of the story's tongue in cheek similarities. I'm not sure how much I missed, but it really does not matter.

It is a fun story in its own right with much of the tempo and tone of the original. It involves a small homely person and a set of clones going of on an adventure to hunt for a Snark at the centre of the Galaxy. Each chapter starts with an excerpt from the poem The Hunting Of the Snark by CS Lewis. Now I have to go and get a copy of that poem and read it all as, oddly, it is not one I know!

[Dexter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a cool adventure. The Hobbit in space. I mean, how much more do you really ned to hear in order to pick this book up?

It's done so well. Not only as a retelling, but also just as a scifi adventure. It's just awesome.

I'd completely forgotten about the Snark stuff, so that was a pleasant surprise when I started rereading it. The Hobbit AND Lewis Carroll. Beautiful.

I highly recommend this book to fans of Tolkien, science fiction, and adventures in general.

[David]

An asteroid miner, Bailey, ends up (with mixed feelings) joining an adventure to the galactic center with a group of women "clones" (with some variations added for individuality.) Simply en route to the women's space habitat, going to meet a museum curator to get info, going through one region of space to get from one wormhole to another, etc., they run into Trancers (who mesmerize people,) Resurrectionists (who take people to harvest their organs,) giant space spiders, pirates... So, well into the book, the plot is the hurdles to get almost to their original destination.

The destination turns out to be an alien facility inside a moon. At least what is said in the book, the facility is a vast collection / library of hi-tech maps of wormhole travel. There do not seem to be any flesh and blood aliens there.

There are many "exploring alien artifact" SF books. Generally, in such books when there are no living aliens, the humans feel free to look around, maybe try things out and perhaps take items away with them. I think it's worth noting: When the explorers reach their destination, they learn that when the previous human expedition tried to get into the alien facility and eventually used explosives, an alien spaceship emerged and attacked the human camp. When Bailey finds a way into the facility, he senses two presences, one of which is wary of Bailey being in the facility. When Bailey finds alien wormhole "maps," he takes one and starts to head toward the exit. He senses that the presence doesn't want him to do that, but he continues. When the humans realize the alien spaceship which responded to the first expedition's explosives is coming out as a result of the alien map being taken, the humans don't even consider, "Maybe we should return this alien map which doesn't really belong to us."

It's something for scientists and writers to think about: When can you break into a building / structure and freely examine the place and take things that interest you? Think about life on Earth in 2021. You move to a new town. There's a house with architecture that fascinates you. Your neighbors tell you they've never seen anyone living there. It seems to have been unoccupied for decades. Do you just find a way to enter the building, look around and pocket anything you want? Doing so might be safer than breaking into an alien artifact... OK, so if there really nobody home at an alien artifact, it might be argued that the potential scientific benefits outweigh the reasons to stay out. But what if a security mechanism has responded to humans entering in the past, and the security mechanism begins to respond to the second human break-in... Then, there are the risks of violence and also the question of breaking into a place that clearly is not entirely abandoned.

[Peter Goodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

“There and Back Again, by Pat Murphy (Tor, 1999). A fun space opera, and openly acknowledged tribute to Tolkein. There’s the title, for example, which was what Bilbo wanted to call his memoirs.There is Bailey the norbit (they live in orbit in the asteroid belt) in his asteroid cavern, nice and round, and the only place he really wants to be. But he finds himself on an adventure, led by the extraordinary adventurer Gitana (gender-switched Gandalf without the magi). He finds a strange bracelet, that lets him slow, stop or speed up time so that he is essentially invisible. There is even a version of Gollum, a robotic creature so tortured by his evil captors that he hates everything and only wants his bracelet. Anyway, there are battles and adventures, and trips to the black hole at the center of the galaxy, etc. One non-Tolkeinism: The epigraphs before each chapter are verses from Lewis Carroll’s “The Hunting of the Snark.” Quick, well-written, clever. Oh, and Pat Murphy also writes as Max Merriwell. I am sure they have their reasons.

http://www.brazenhussies.net/murphy/

[Joseph Sobanski · Rating 3 out of 5]

There and Back Again (the name should give it away), is just a retelling of The Hobbit, but in space. And I don't mean that really as a criticism, Murphy does a fine job with this book, and even carries over the same humor and mood from Tolkien's novel. To me though this felt more like a writing exercise, and didn't really add anything to really stand out, for me.

2.5/5, rounded up cause...it's The Hobbit...in SPAAAACCCCEEEE. How can you hate on that?

[Sybylla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book and I have a strange and long history. Nick was reading it in middle school, and I found the idea fascinating. Then no one ever heard of the book again (likely because of the dispute with the Tolkein estate).

It was so wonderfully imaginative, fun, whimsical, and felt like such a tribute to the Hobbit and the world of Science Fiction in general. I adored the pataphysician's symbolism and all the philosophies and cultures of the universe. I loved that almost all the characters were women, and would have loved it even more at thirteen when it came out, and there were so few women in the sci fi and fantasy I was reading.

[Conscious Senses · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty delightful. It’s been some 20 years since I read the Hobbit, so it’s hard to say how close this matched up, but it felt like a very original homage with a handful of scenes that were recognizable in a mythic way—following an archetype set by the Hobbit but completely recontextualized. I really enjoyed the hard sci-fi, character work, world-building and narrative voice.

[Melinda · Rating 1 out of 5]

In starting this book, I was rather shocked at what a total rip-off it is of Tolkien's much better written "The Hobbit". I wondered, "how did the Tolkien estate feel about this?" and then I discovered that in an interview with the author Pat Murphy, "The Estate of J.R.R. Tolkien contends this novel is an infringement of J.R.R Tolkien’s classic work The Hobbit. I contend that my novel does not infringe but is rather a transformative feminist commentary. Nonetheless my publisher and I have agreed to discontinue the publication of the novel to avoid further dispute." Interview with Pat Murphy by Carl Slaughter, March 16, 2016. "
See https://www.jwkbooks.com/pages/books/...

Not much of an original plot here, and if you've read "The Hobbit" you've read the better writer. I don't think there were "flaws in the original" at all, but there are in this book. I found the characters very flat. The wormhole science was marginally interesting.... but I just didn't get much fun from the book.

Tolkien doesn't talk down to his readers, whether they are children or young people or adults. This book felt very juvenile.

[Juan Sanmiguel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essentially the story of The Hobbit translated to a science fiction world. This takes away a lot of the surprise but it makes up for it in execution. Its interesting to see what the science fictional counterpart of a hobbit, Gollum or Smaug is. An interesting look at a classic story.

[Jenise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good solid scifi. My favorite book to read when i want something light and the good guys always win.

[LS Combs · Rating 4 out of 5]

a crazy funny reimagining of a journey in space

[Edward Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the few books i recommend to others i have lent this book out 5 times

[Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

After I watched the latest Peter Jackson Tolkien adaptation a few weeks ago, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey which left me scratching my head as to how they will milk two more movies out of The Hobbit, I decided to pick up this space opera homage of my favorite of the stories of Middle Earth. I have to admit, I have not read many science fiction novels in the past, but I felt Murphy's melding of the adventure With the Asteroid Belt taking the place of the Shire and a syndicate of clones taking the place of the dwarves, the story follows the innovative "Norbit" Bailey as he accompanies them on their journey to uncover a new wormhole which could allow easier, faster transportation across the galaxy.

After all, due to the laws of relativity, space travel remains rather difficult with years or centuries passing on one's home planet (or asteroid) while only weeks pass for the light speed traveling space explorer. An innovative, even progressive retelling, Bailey is surrounded by strong characters of a variety of genders as the various memorable scenes of the Hobbit are cleverly recreated with many fun tweaks and interesting interpretations. However, as close as the story hews to its inspiration there are relatively few true surprises and little tension is maintained for the requisite happy ending. In any case, "There and Back Again" is a fun space romp that offers some refreshing interpretations of Tolkien.

[Scriptrix · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has been on my TBR list for SO LONG and now I've finally read it. And it was so great! :D Even though it was a retelling, the worldbuilding was done really well and the characters had quirks and personalities unique to the setting. I loved that a large majority of the cast in this book was female, especially given the depressing lack of women in "The Hobbit" (made obvious by the fact that they had to actually invent a female character in the most recent movies). I also liked Rattler and the invention of the Moebius band. An entertaining and fun sci-fi spin on a classic, and worth a read!

(also, when I was reading it in public, so many people went, "What's that book?" and got really excited when I told them it was "The Hobbit" in space.)

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book very carefully reproduces the whole of The Hobbit, except transposed to space opera. Which is kind of a fascinating exercise to watch unfold, but not in a way which makes it a very good book. Mostly you spend the whole book thinking things like "OK, how's she going to work the barrels in .. oh, there they are!" instead of reading the book.

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Hobbit! In Space! Woooo!

So this book is pretty much The Hobbit turned into a space opera. And it actually works quite well. You can clearly see which events from The Hobbit match their counterparts here, but at the same time it manages to not feel too forced. Putting aside the re-telling aspect, it's a pretty entertaining reading on it's own.

[Kiki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had I read this in my preteens or early teens, I would have absolutely loved it. This is a fun sci fi adventure that does a good job of introducing concepts such as numerals in base twelve, wormholes, or cargo cults.

The story does hinge on very convenient things happening for no other reason than luck, but especially knowing how The Hobbit goes, there's no real tension.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” re-envisioned as a science fiction story. Believe it or not, it works, and makes for a marvelous adventure that will have you cheering the characters on just like in the original.

[MJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather annoying parallel to the Hobbit by Tolkein, only far into the future when Bailey the asteroid miner is duped by "wizard" Gitana into going on an adventure with a group of clones. I like Murphy's storytelling ability though, and will look for other titles.

[Mace · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was just okay. Parts of it felt like writing exercises that got put into a book. Other parts were very captivating. I'm going to read more by this author, but so far Adventures in Time and Space with Max Merriwell has captured me the most.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining space opera based on "The Hobbit," which will be most enjoyable for those who are fans of both trashy Science Fiction and the Tolkien book. This was the second read for me, since I remember it fondly from about five years ago. A nice low-key summer book.

[B. Pope · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you like The Hobbit? Do you like Science Fiction? If you answered yes to both questions, read this book. It was a whole lot of fun and different enough from Tolkien that it wasn't a complete retelling of the original.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun retelling of The Hobbit as a space opera.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

a remake of 'the hobbit' kind of a wierd read if you've already read the hobbit, but it's set in outer space if that makes a difference