Yes, they were going to suck, but not in my opinion because of the length disparity (didn't help though) -- rather Jackson's philosophy, which fit LotR okay, whiffs hard on the Hobbit. They're completely different types of book. The short version is that the Hobbit is actually a kid story. Whimsical. LotR ain't (even if it actually has a happier ending, sort of). So Jackson rightly made LotR with this grim fantasy-realism feeling heavily in mind. Great. But I knew in advance he was going to try that shit on the Hobbit -- ruined the moral, the plot, the tone, the characters even. Takes two days to read 'em. The prose is gorgeous, the plot fulfilling. The descriptions evocative. If you don't come out of the experience wanting to up and move to anywhere in Middle-earth, whack yourself on the head and try again.