The Children Of Hurin by JRR Tolkien

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Rating 6.5/10

A worthwhile read for die-hard Tolkien fans. Middle-earth's pre-history.

The Children of Hurin is the bringing together of many of JRR Tolkien's unfinished works by his son Christopher Tolkien.

There are tales of Middle-earth from times long before the Lord of the Rings, and the story told in this book is set in the great country that lay beyond the Grey Havens in the West: lands where Treebeard once walked, but which were drowned in the great cataclysm that ended the First Age of the World.

Unfortunately The Children of Hurin does not give us much of what we have no already had. The Silmarillion was excellent, in its own dry way, of providing Tolkien fans with the pre-history that they so badly wanted.

However, what The Children of Hurin does do is expand upon stories only lightly touched upon in The Silmarillion. The Fall of Nargothrand is arguably the highlight of the book.

This publication has received much criticism with some saying that it is purely cashing in on the Tolkien "brand". I feel this is a bit harsh and that the book does serve a purpose and it is evident that a lot of care and dedication went into the editing of this work.

I would still recommend that one wishing to understand the pre-history of Tolkien's world would be better served by reading The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales but there are definately a few chapters within The Children of Hurin which make reading it a worthwhile venture for die-hard fans and newcomers alike.

The Children of Húrin (Amazon.co.uk)

Author: J. R. R. Tolkien
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 336
Publication date: 2008-04-01
Publisher: HarperCollins

RRP: £8.99
Lowest new price: £0.44
Lowest used price: £0.01

Painstakingly restored from Tolkien's manuscripts and presented for the first time as a fully continuous and standalone story, this illustrated paperback of the epic tale of The Children of Hurin will reunite fans of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings with Elves, dragons, Dwarves and Orcs, and the rich landscape and characters unique to Tolkien.
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The Children of Hurin (Amazon.co.uk)

Author: J. R. R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 336
Publication date: 2008
Publisher: Mariner Books

RRP:
Lowest new price:
Lowest used price: $0.01

From Msgr. Eric R. Barr's blog:http://anamchara.blogs.com TOLKIEN'S NEW WORK: A Parable on Humanity's Inability to Conquer Evil Without a Redeemer Already the reviews are pouring in, and most are favorable for J. R. R. Tolkien's The Children of Hurin. Rather than focus on the usual stuff of criticism, I want to look directly at Tolkien the Catholic author and what he does with this material. The man who talked about the necessity for a happy ending and the triumph of good over evil has produced a tale of woe, betrayal, and tragedy that turns the most optimistic of us to tears. Therein lies the genius of this work. Born out of the despair of World War I, treasured in his heart for his entire life but never really given final form, a window into the complex heart of this Catholic author, The Children of Hurin is a brilliant portrayal of the power of evil even in the midst of God's
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