The Children of Húrin (Pre-Lord of the Rings)

This book is a curious case. Having looked over some of the other reviews, I would say people who are likely to read this book already have, and few who are not already semi-hardcore to hardcore fans of Tolkien will not find much here that is of interest to them. I would classify myself as a semi-hardcore fan of Tolkien. I have read The Silmarillion, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings three times each over the course of my life, and have recently embarked upon my fourth deep dive into the Middle Earth literary experience. It is at the outset of this fourth voyage that I picked up both the Unfinished Tales and Children of Hurin, which added a good deal to my experience of Tolkien's world. I have no real interest in exploring the copious and editorial-heavy "Histories of Middle Earth" series, as I already found my patience for the extensive notes and half-finished narratives taxed by "Unfinished Tales," as rewarding as that book is overall. That is where I draw the line between semi-hardcore and hardcore fandom. As for Children of Hurin, overall I really found this to be a fabulous reading experience, especially because I had not yet read the version offered in Unfinished Tales, which would have made very little of the text of CoH new to me. As it stands, having only read the version offered in Silmarillion, there is much new material to enjoy here that really fleshes out the main story of Turin, Morwen and Nienor. It is also really enjoyable to see such a well presented volume with new artwork by Alan Lee, showcasing several full-color prints and smaller black and white sketch-style pictures that bookend each chapter. The new material, at least in terms of adding to the Silmarillion version, is downright epic. I especially enjoyed the fuller sections on the confrontation between Hurin and Morgoth, Turin's trial in Thingol's court, as well as the episode where Turin and the band of outlaws dwell with the dwarf Mim underground. I also really enjoyed the fuller version of Turin's return home in his search for his mother and the chaos that ensues. Some have said that Turin is a static character that shows little growth throughout the narrative. I disagree. The very nature of a character that challenges himself not to remain in the comfort of safety in the realms of the Elves, but to charge out and meet his fate multiple times, going from adopted Elven Prince to outlaw to Military Commander, facing defeat many times, utter ruination in one case, and still enduring to settle in a forest town and finally know love, albeit a tragic one, is of a man prone to change and growth. His story is profound and stirring. Turin's fatal flaws of pride, rashness, volatility and being quick to violence are constants of course, but the idea that the character doesn't show progress or a propensity for evolution is absurd. Turin is a man of his times and lived under Morgoth's curse, still managing to achieve many victories amidst his follies, and rallying himself to twice confront one of the greatest scourges of the Earth, Glaurung the father of dragons, one of the vilest and most demonic dragon characters ever written, being a veritable extension of his master's will and malice. Where Morgoth is full of pride and a will toward domination, Glaurung lives only to destroy and gleefully revels in the death, fear, torture and destruction he unfurls. There are many episodes here that entertain, although overall this is one of the darkest chapters in all of Tolkien's stories and apart from being inspired by the bravery and chivalry on display, this is most definitely a downer of a story, although even tragedies have their value as any fan of Shakespeare can validate. Some have accused this of being a blatant ploy on Christopher Tolkien's part to add a superfluous volume to the cannon for the sake of money alone. I disagree. While there isn't much new material here on the whole, it is a worthy addition to the material already released, if for no other reason than providing an excuse for Alan Lee to contribute more artwork to his already profuse Tolkien-inspired offerings. As with all of the volumes published by C.T. after the death of his father, it is evident that these are true labors of love for him and that a great deal of painstaking labor and reverence for the writer and material went into these volumes. There is of course the rather difficult question of who this work would appeal to and where exactly it fits in relation to the rest of the published works. I am confident in suggesting that if one is not already familiar with The Silmarillion, there is no point in reading this book. So many of the characters and locations are integral to the overall mythology offered in The Silmarillion that, while one could feasibly read this book without having read it, the experience of reading CoH is immeasurably enriched if one has already read The Silmarillion. CoH basically includes the material contained in Chapter 20 and 21 of The Silmarillion while greatly expanding the text with new material, and then at the end (somewhat annoyingly) tacks on a very abridged version of the first few pages of Chapter 22 as if to just say "oh, and this is what happened to Hurin." The full text of Chapter 22 in The Silmarillion offers a broader and more complete account of Hurin's last days after being released from Angband following the events of CoH. If anyone reading this has actually not yet read either Children of Hurin or The Silmarillion and has only read The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, I would recommend reading The Silmarillion through Chapter 20, then stopping, reading Children of Hurin for the full story of Turin and Nienor, and then continuing The Silmarillion from Chapter 22 on to avoid redundancy, or reading the entire Silmarillion and then reading CoH after, although then you would know the whole story and it would somewhat spoil any surprises. If one has already read both the Silmarillion and the expanded version of CoH offered in Unfinished Tales, there really isn't too much that is new here, however it is still worth a read especially if you enjoyed this particular story and haven't read the Unfinished Tales in a long while.

This review is designed to enumerate a few features of the Deluxe Edition. But first, some notes on the text. As a semi-obsessed Tolkien fan who owns the Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales and has begun to dip into the History of Middle-earth series, I was predestined to be thrilled with the publication of this volume -- the most complete rendering to date of a remarkable work of mythology. And I was not disappointed. But as other reviewers have noted, "The Children of Húrin" will be more accessible to casual readers than the aforementioned works, falling somewhere between the Silmarillion and LOTR in its style and structure. I say *more* accessible, not perfectly accessible. I'm sure many prospective fans will tune out after the first paragraph, which is devoted to Húrin's immediate geneology. But this story was very close to Tolkien's heart -- he labored over it for years -- and fans with a serious literary interest, a little patience, and an open mind (no Hobbits or happy endings to be found) will be rewarded. "Children" isn't Tolkien's most polished work (its manner of posthumous construction makes that inevitable) but there are gems aplenty. I am particularly struck by the figure of Húrin himself, bound to the mountain of the Dark Lord, matching wits and wills with the very Devil of Middle-earth. (Fans hungry for more would do well to seek out the History of Middle-earth Vol. XI, "The War of the Jewels", for the quasi-sequel narrative "The Wanderings of Húrin" -- too fragmentary to include here, but worth reading nonetheless!) I would also encourage readers to take the time to read the informative introduction by Christopher Tolkien, especially if you haven't read the Silmarillion. Combined with the fold-out, two-color map, it will help set the stage. If it seems a little complicated, don't worry ... it should seem less obscure as you progress through the text. Now, some words about the American Deluxe Edition. The final product differs significantly from the pictured product at Amazon (at least, as of May 18, 2007), which looks identical to the UK edition save for the publisher's logo and the large foil insignia. On the final book, the blue seems richer and the slipcase insignia is on the other side (and smaller). (Pictures I have seen of the UK version on eBay seem to match these details.) The Tolkien rune is still on the spine, with Tolkien's name beneath it, but the title of the book is written out across the length of the spine (running top-to-bottom rather than left-to-right) and is not written in all-caps ("The Children of Húrin" rather than "THE CHILDREN OF HÚRIN"). The spine also seems a little more rounded than the pictures indicate. The gold foil insignia on the slipcase is nicely duplicated on the book's front cover, and the Tolkien rune is inlaid in foil on the back cover. The boards are thick and sturdy, with a nice tight binding. The paper is thick, of a very nice quality, and a blue silk ribbon place-marker makes a classy finishing touch. The cover artwork for the regular hardcover edition has been reproduced as frontspiece art. And of course, all the other illustrations -- both color plates and chapter-heading sketches -- are included. In short, the Deluxe Edition is FAR superior to the regular edition, which felt entirely too ordinary and insubstantial to my hand. The text on the back insert (not attached in any way, just stuck under the shrink-wrap) claims this edition of the book is "limited", but I don't know how limited exactly. Fans would do well to grab a copy while they can, especially at Amazon's current sale price. For those of you who already bought the regular edition a month ago (it's unfortunate that both editions weren't released at the same time), the significant improvement in presentation makes it worth the upgrade, in my opinion. In short, this book is a real treat for Tolkien fans, and for fans of high fantasy in general who are willing to tolerate a certain formality of style, and who aren't expecting another rambunctious Hobbit tale. It will please die-hards most of all, but many casual fans will find themselves drawn to it in a way that earlier publications perhaps did not inspire. The American Deluxe Edition in particular is a magnificent production worthy of any bookshelf. I know it will sit proudly next to "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" on mine.

The Children of Hurin live in the first age of Middle Earth - a time where the orcs and their allies have the upperhand. The orcs are slowly taking over. The elves live a long time, but often live with pieces missing, that the orcs have removed. They tend to live in mysterious towns that are hidden in the mountains or underground. They build wonderful structures - such as a stone bridge, that turn into liability, because they cannot be blown up when the orcs are coming (illustr. p .97). This book is about heroic vision, but heroic vision that doesn't pan out, misunderstanding and suicide. It is a tragedy. There is a good but mainly absent dad - Hurin. He has information that the bad guys want about the location of Gondolin - a special city only for elves (spectacularly illustrated by Alan Lee on p.32 ). He refuses to divulge even under torture. Hurin tells Morgoth - the evil Lord - "You are not the Lord of Men ... Beyond the Circles of the World you shall not pursue those who refuse you." (p. 65) To which Morgoth replies: "Beyond the circles of the World there is nothing. But within them, they will not escape me, until they enter into nothing." "You lie" says Hurin. "You shall see and you shall confess that I do not lie" said Morgoth. At this point, Hurin is chained to a chair of stone on a high place, where he is condemned to watch the rest of the book (illustrated on p 65) in time out. Mordor curses him "with my eyes you shall see, and with my ears you shall hear, and nothing will be hidden from you." Hurin has three children -two daughters and a son. Turin is the oldest - and most of this book concerns Turin. But unlike Bilbo and Frodo who have wonderful adventures - Turin is going to have a bogus journey. The next born is a girl. Her name is Urwen, but she is called Lalaith, which means laughter because she laughs all the time (exact opposite of Turin). She does not make it past chapter one. She dies of a horrible childhood disease. Hurin and Morwen have one more girl - Nienor. She becomes a main character at the end of the book. Hurin is a POW of Mordor, Turin is nine years old, and his mom is pregnant. Turin's mom, Morwen, decides that it would be safer if Turin was raised by King Thingol, overlord of the grey-elves - but she, against Hurin's counsel to "Go Swiftly! Do not wait for me!" decides to stay put because she expected her husband to soon return. She "would not yet humble her pride to be an alms-guest, not even of a king. Therefore the voice of Hurin, or the memory of his voice, was denied, and the first strand of the fate of Turin was woven." The next bad thing happens to Turin when he is 20, and Saeros, an elf that is racist against humans, says something very mean to Turin. He critiques Turin's long hair - something you don't do in Tolkien books- He says "...there is no need to leave your head untended as a thicket of brambles. And maybe if your ears were uncovered you could heed better what is said to you", and to make matters worse, Saeros says"If the Men of Hithlum are so wild and fell, of what sort are the women of that land? do they run like the deer clad only in hair?" At this point things get ugly. Saeros ends up dead, after trying to run away from Turin who is sticking a sword in his buttocks and yelling "Run, Run, mocker of women!...And unless you go swift as the deer I shall prick you on from the behind" (p.89). Saeros attempts and fails a jump over some high rocks, and falls to his death. Turin feels like he will be tried for murder, even though Saeros's death is not his fault, so he runs away from Doriath, and becomes the leader of a bunch of outlaws. The journeys of Turin take him all over Middle Earth, and his mother and sister eventually decide to look for him. His sister does eventually finds Turin, who is then calling himself Turumbar - but they don't recognize each other - and against advice they end up getting married. The book ends in tragedy. All of this happens 6500 years before the Council of Rivendell. This book is not as consistantly as good as The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings, but it is much better than most other fantasy books, and takes place in the same fantasy world of good and evil. Essentially this is a book of scraps of stories that Tolkien wrote over the years. His son, Christopher Tolkien, has cleverly put together these scraps of stories into a novel - and it works! It is 99% father Tolkien, and only 1% son Tolkien. It is quite a good book for a dead author. The magic of Middle Earth happens one more time - but in this one the bad guys win, and the heroic vision is not realized. This middle earth is more like our earth earth. There is a beautiful map and list of names, which I referred to constantly as I read the book. This book takes more effort to read than fiction written by living authors. I think it is appropriate reading for teenagers, but it is not a children's story. It would not make a very good movie - but it might make a very good game. There is a strong sense of place, and the battle between good and evil gives evil a slight edge. One of the reasons Frodo succeeds while Turin fails is that Frodo travels in a fellowship of good friends and takes advice, while Turin allows himself to be overcome by evil.

I love all of Tolkien's writings, this bus just another reason that he is the father of the fantasy genre.

THE QUESTIONS To address the questions that most people have: * This is an easier read than The Silmarillion. * It is a greatly expanded version of Chapter XXI of The Silmarillion, "Of Túrin Turambar", BUT... * Reading The Silmarillion is not necessary. * It is told in a narrative voice. * The narrative voice is archaic. * The so-called archaic voice falls somewhere in between The Silmarillion and LOTR in style. * Húrin is a great hero amongst men. * His son, Túrin, is whom this story is chiefly about. His daughter Nienor makes a late, but significant, appearance. Significant enough for this book to be called The Children of Húrin. * You will recognize a few names from LOTR, but don't look for furry-footed Hobbits. A Balrog makes a brief appearance, as does a dragon. * Unlike some posthumous publications of Tolkien's, there is only one footnote in the entire narrative, and it doesn't interrupt the flow of the story. It's inclusion wasn't necessary, but the information was nice to know. * There is an Index of Names at the back of the book to help the reader keep track of who is who. * As always, a well detailed map is included. * Read the Introduction. Christopher Tolkien does a wonderful job preparing the reader who hasn't read The Silmarillion for what is to follow. I can't emphasize the last point enough. One reviewer noted that you wouldn't know who Melkor was, and that this was detrimental to the reading of The Children of Húrin. Not so! Melkor (known later to Elves and Men as Morgoth, which translates to "Dark Foe" in Sindarin) is discussed in the Introduction. In the event that you ignore my advice, Morgoth is the original Dark Lord, for whom Sauron was but a mere Lieutenant. Think on the malevolence of Sauron, and imagine him serving something far more powerful and foul. That is Morgoth. Indeed, "malice that wakes in the morning is the mirth of Morgoth ere night." Between the Introduction and the first chapter, you have everything you need to know. Regarding the first chapter: it starts slow. It feels biblical: "Glóredhel wedded Haldir son of Halmir, lord of the Men of Brethil; and at the same feast his son Galdor the Tall wedded Hareth, the daughter of Halmir. Galdor and Hareth had two suns, Húrin and Huor..." But for those of us who are confused names, that's the worst of it, and as noted above, there is an Index in the back to help you keep track if necessary. THE STORY Húrin was a great warrior of Men, and fought with the elves against Morgoth in the Fifth Battle of Beleriand, called Nirnaeth Arnodediad in the Sindarin tongue of the grey-elves, meaning The Battle of `Unnumbered Tears'. It is aptly named, for many lords - elf, dwarf, and man - died that day. Húrin, though, was captured, for Morgoth wanted more than his life. He demanded from Húrin the location of the hidden city-kingdom of Gondolin, the last great stronghold of the elves. But Húrin defies Morgoth, mocking him, and in his wrath, Morgoth places a curse on his children: "Wherever they go, evil shall arise. Whenever they speak, their words shall bring ill counsel. Whatsoever they do shall turn against them. They shall die without hope, cursing both life and death." And as final punishment, he binds Húrin in a chair high above the kingdoms of Men, so that he may look down "upon the lands where evil and despair shall come upon those whom you have delivered to [Morgoth]." After Húrin was thus bound, Túrin was sent to Doriath and grew up in Menegroth, with the elf-King Thingol, who claimed him as "foster-son". There Túrin was taught the craft of those who would live in the woods, the language of the elves, how to hunt, and how to fight. He quickly became a great warrior, as lithe as an elf yet with the great strength of a man. He accepts from Thingol the Dragon-helm of his father, and fights against the Orcs in their skirmishes in the marches of Doriath. Many came to love him, and the Orcs fear the Dragon-helm, but as he is Húrin's son, Morgoth's curse followed follows him. Envy soon finds its way into the councils of Thingol, and Túrin leaves, believing that he has lost the favor of the king; but ever prideful, he believes that he has been wronged and refuses all ties to Doriath. (A word about Orcs. They are the twisted creation of Morgoth. Many believe they are directly descended from the Quendi [elves], whom Morgoth imprisoned and then bent to his will, filling them with his malice and hatred of light.) The tale follows Túrin as he goes from place to place: taken in with a band of outlaws; their encounter with the "Petty-dwarves"; Túrin's time in Nargothrond (a great elven kingdom); his love of the fair Níniel; and his great battle with Glaurung, father of and greatest, perhaps, of all the dragons. And where Túrin goes, so does the curse of Morgoth follow, leaving only despair in its wake. SOME COMMENTS One criticism of Tolkien is that he plays softball, whereas other authors - Stephen R. Donaldson in the late 70s and early 80s, and more lately George ("the other R.R.") Martin - play hardball. One interpretation of this metaphor is that Tolkien didn't put his characters through "the wringer" like Donaldson did with Thomas Covenant, and he didn't kill off any of his main characters, something that Martin seems to have devilish fun doing. (There are other interpretations, but I'll just address this one.) Obviously, anyone making this claim never read any of Tolkien's posthumous work or given any real thought as to what Frodo endured as the ring-bearer. Anyone reading this review knows that the cute little hobbit that was Frodo left Middle Earth from the Grey Havens with a broken, shattered soul. When thinking of Túrin, think more along the lines of Frodo's ending, and less Sam Gamgee's. Morgoth's curse is heavier than Frodo's burden in that through Túrin it touches the lives of hundreds, perhaps thousands of Men and Elves alike. Many will ask, "Should this have been published? Is it good enough to stand next The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, etc.?" A very loud YES to both. It's the only complete narrative of Tolkien's that hasn't been published, and that alone means that it should be published. That said, Tolkien was never satisfied with his own work, and was constantly editing and rewriting. What would *he* think? If it were possible for him to be looking down on this, my hunch is that he is wincing, and dying to edit the daylights out of this book (pun intended?). It's not a perfect work. Some passages feel uncomfortable, a few are out of place, but overall, I'll take Tolkien's imperfect work over virtually every other writer of fantasy's BEST work. Reading the appendices, I was struck that Tolkien was, perhaps, a man misplaced in time. His work, poetry and prose alike, rivals (if perhaps they do not exceed), the depth and quality of any who have come before him. Imagine him as a commissioned scribe, or someone who, like Martin or Jordan or Rowling today, made enough money from their work to do it full time. So much of what Tolkien left us is unfinished. Would that it were not so. We would be the better for it. (By the way, the cover art for Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-Earth depicts Mîm with Túrin and the outlaws, with Mîm pointing to Amon Rûdh.)

I bought this on the recommendation of a friend, as a readable, stand-alone companion to Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit. As advertised, it's much more accessible than The Silmarillion (which contains a shorter version of the same tale); however, that doesn't mean it's another LOTR... it's not. Tolkein seems to have imagined on an epic scale, but implemented on a human scale; that is, LOTR and TH are together merely one small chapter in his overall vision. Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, they remain the only fully realized chapter. Most of the rest of Tolkein's writing feels like stage directions... you get the plot, but the characters aren't fully developed, and it's easy to get lost in all the (largely unexplained) details. In terms of readability, Children of Hurin is somewhere in between The Silmarillion and LOTR. It's closer to being fully realized than the former, but still a long shot from the latter. So if you want a glimpse of what life under Morgoth might have been like, read this book; but be warned, its emotional power starts to fade about five minutes after you finish it.

This is the best Middle Earth novel outside of the Trilogy.

I consider myself to be typical of a reader who is familiar with and has enjoyed some of J.R.R. Tolkien's previous works: meaning, I've read/loved The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and read /was bored with The Silmarillion. Given that background, I approached The Children of Hurin with cautious optimism. What I found was that I enjoyed the writing, but I appreciated the editing even more. The Children of Hurin powerfully displays Tolkien's distinguishing characteristic: namely, the ability to marry classic mythological themes with a complex, yet entirely believable, fantasy world. This world populated with dragons, elves, dwarves, magic swords, and god-like dark lords, seems entirely realistic thanks to Tolkien's strong characterizations and solid narrative. Once classic themes such as a hero with a fatal flaw are added to these other characteristics, the story achieves a depth that is rarely reached in works of fantasy. Yet, despite the depth that is present in The Children of Hurin, there are frustrating hints that Tolkien intended to delve more deeply into the story (a condition acknowledged in the book's Introduction). The scenes in Amon Rudh and Brethil contain enough gaps that it seems likely that Tolkien had more to say about these parts of the story. Adding additional story might also answer some of the literary issues that Tolkien poses, like "Is mankind flawed to the point that it will bring about its own destruction?" and "Are we slaves to fate?" While it is frustrating to have these hints of further story, one still has to admire the job that Christopher Tolkien has accomplished in editing the narrative that makes up The Children of Hurin. From his notes in the Appendix, it is clear that there was quite a bit of material from which he could use to create this book. The narrative that he distilled from this material both flows nicely and highlights all the qualities that made his father's writing noteworthy. Of particular help were the introduction and the index of names (for which this reader is very grateful). Despite a sense that not the entire story made it on to the page, there is still much to admire and enjoy in The Children of Hurin. Thanks to Christopher Tolkien's superlative editing, both casual and rabid Tolkien fans will find this book to be a worthwhile addition to the Middle-Earth canon.

I didn't read the book yet, but as you can see Amazon delivered this book in perfect state: - a beautiful matt slipcover without damage - fits perfectly with the other Harper Collins collection of Tolkien - nice pictures on special paper and some black/white sketches of Alan Lee in the book - foldable map at the end of the book So according to me a perfect book for any Tolkienlover! Thanks Amazon!

good

Je suis loin d'être une fan de Tolkien, je n'ai jamais réussi à lire le Seigneur des Anneaux en entier tellement je m'y ennuie, et le Hobbit, si je l'ai plutôt apprécié, m'a semblé quand même bien enfantin. Mais là j'ai pris une claque. Quelle splendeur! Dire que j'ai découvert ce roman par hasard! C'est beau, c'est terriblement sombre et tragique. Je retrouve les mêmes sensations qu'en lisant des sagas islandaises. Le style est sobre et va droit au but, les dialogues sont percutants, acérés comme une lame d'épée, les personnages taillés dans le roc et pourtant tellement humains. Une violence sauvage, une malédiction qui s'acharne jusqu'au bout contre les deux héros, des forêts profondes, des gouffres, un dragon à faire pâlir Smaug... On en sort en ayant l'impression d'avoir vécu une vie entière. Lisez ce livre, même si comme moi vous vous fichez des Seigneurs des Ténèbres, orcs, sorciers et autres tolkieneries. Vous ne le regretterez pas.

Only Tolkien can create such epic worlds and weave such complex but intriguing narratives. The amount of detail and interlinked characters are mind boggling. All praise to Christopher Tolkien for such wonderful job of editing his fathers works and bringing to us this epic tale. Must read for all fantasy readers and hope to see movie adaptation in the future

Masterpiece