The Soddit or Let's Cash in Again is a 2003 parody of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit

The Hobbit

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, better known by its abbreviated title The Hobbit, is a fantasy novel and children's book by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published on 21 September 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the New York Herald...

, written by A.R.R.R. Roberts. The book jacket states: "Following on (inevitably, some might say) from the frankly unlikely success of Bored of the Rings

Bored of the Rings

Bored of the Rings is the title of a paperback parody of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. This short novel was written by Henry N. Beard and Douglas C. Kenney, who later founded National Lampoon...

comes a new book from an entirely different author that Tolkien's other (and undoubtedly shorter) masterpiece."

The book consists of primarily slapstick-style jokes, with characters of slightly different names from the original ones (for example, Bingo as opposed to Bilbo) and a slightly altered main storyline. As the book progresses, the story departs further and further from the original storyline that it parodies. It is also illustrated in 'Glorius Mono-colour' (again stated on the book jacket) by Douglas Carrel.

Plot summary

The story starts with a peaceful Soddit called Bingo who is visited by a wizard and a party of (bizarrely) Welsh dwarfs who ask Bingo to come with them on a quest to 'The Only Mountain' where 'Smug the Dragon' lives. After a few drinks, Bingo accepts, not knowing what they were actually searching for. "Gold, boyo gold, la, look you."

On the way, they have many adventures and close shaves. Bingo finds a 'Thing®' that was created by the Evil Sharon and is potentially the most evil Thing® in the world.

Bingo steals the Thing® and continues to escort the dwarfs and the hastily sickening wizard to the only mountain, where horror strikes.

Standard edition

343 pages, miniature edition. Published by Gollancz

Gollancz

Gollancz often refers to the British publishing house Victor Gollancz Ltd.Gollancz, a family name originating from the Polish town Gołańcz , is mainly known as the name of a prominent British Jewish family, including:* Sir Hermann Gollancz , rabbi* Sir Israel Gollancz , scholar of...

 of the Orion Publishing Group

Orion Publishing Group

Orion Publishing Group Ltd. is a UK-based book publisher. It is owned by Hachette Livre. In 1998 Orion bought Cassell.-History:Full history of the group can be found on Orion Publishing Group is owned by -Imprints:...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. ISBN 0-575-07554-6.

The story was also produced in Abridged Audiobook form by Orion Audio Books. The product contains three CDs, runs for 4 hours, and is read by Mark Perry

Mark Perry (impressionist)

Mark Perry is a British impressionist and his notable impressions include; David Dickinson, John Prescott and the late Robin Cook. Perry is known for playing various public figures in Dead Ringers and 2DTV. In 2007 he appeared in the radio comedy Bleak Expectations...

. ISBN 0-7528-6165-4.

Parodies

In 'The Soddit' there is a small message claiming that it is not "The first few minutes of a prologue of "A MAJOR NINE-HOUR EPIC!!!". Also, at the end, it has various fake books being advertised, including 'The Spuddit' which is a parody of 'The Soddit' where the parts are taken by potatoes. However, this is a joke and there is no such book (as yet).