The Children of H?rin
by J.R.R. Tolkien
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Book Summary Information
Author: J.R.R. TolkienEditor: Christopher Tolkien
Illustrator: Alan Lee
Edition: Hardcover
Published: 2007-04-17
ISBN: 0618894640
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Book Reviews of The Children of H?rin
Book Review: A dark tale of evil and destruction - worth the wait!
Summary: 5 Stars
The Children of Hurin is the long-awaited addition to the Tolkien franchise. Started somewhere around 1916 - 1918 by J.R.R. Tolkien, then revised several times, it has taken his son Christopher Tolkien 30 years to finally complete it and form the tale of Turin Turambar and the other offspring of Hurin of Hador for publication as an independent work. It is the first, full-length, cohesive Tolkien novel to be published since The Silmarillion of 1977.
For Tolkien enthusiasts, the story will not be entirely unfamiliar because a short version of it appears in The Silmarillion, in the same way that a compressed version of The Lord of the Rings appears. You may also recognise snippets from other posthumous publications, specifically "Unfinished Tales" and "The Lays of Beleriand". However, if you are new to the franchise, it is still a wonderful tale, although expect it to be far darker than anything else you may have read.
The story takes the reader back to a time long before "The Lord of the Rings", in an area of Middle-earth that was to be drowned thousands of years before the story of the Ring. The great enemy was still the fallen Vala, Morgoth, and Souron only a lieutenant. Hurin, is captured by Morgoth in battle. When Hurin refuses to give Morgoth the information he demands, Morgoth sets a curse upon his bloodline. Thus, his family is destined for tragedy, despite the greatness of his warrior son Turin. In Turin's struggles through the lost world of Beleriand, everything he does fails or turns to bad.
Christopher Tolkien was granted the honour of becoming the J.R.R.'s literary executor by the author himself and insists that the majority of the text is the original word of his father. His only changes are grammatical and linguistic of "a stylistic nature". However, reading it, I can't help feel that there may have been a little more than that. Its style of writing feels more modern than The Silmarillion, for example, perhaps as a symptom of the 30 years that this work has been in progress. On the one hand, I think this is a good thing. For such a gloomy story, it has a readable quality that I believe some of the meandering parts of previous works lacked. Finally, for the real buffs among you - the new map and editorial notes are very interesting, plus wonderful Alan Lee illustrations that make this edition a joy to own.
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