The Children of Húrin - New Tolkien book!

[RevZeek]

From the Myspace review! I'll be reading this if I can get it from the library...there's quite a list for it already.

The Children of Húrin
by J.R.R. Tolkien
Novel
A new book by an iconic author who’s been dead for thirty-four years, The Children of Húrin is the work not only of J.R.R. Tolkien, but of his son, Christopher Tolkien. The literary executor of his father’s estate, the younger Tolkien pieced The Children of Húrin together from his father’s unfinished manuscripts, without adding any words of his own. The result is a seamless J.R.R. Tolkien novel that also includes evocative illustrations by Alan Lee, the singularly talented illustrator and conceptual designer behind much of the look of The Lord of the Rings movies.

Another legend of Middle-earth, The Children of Húrin takes place long before the time of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, in the days when Morgoth, Sauron’s even more evil forerunner, waged and won a war of aggression. Morgoth’s special nemesis was Húrin, a valiant leader of men, and his children, Túrin, Urwen, and Nïenor. The book begins when Morgoth’s forces enslave Húrin and drive Túrin from his family home. Knowing instinctually that “if in the end we cannot overcome [Morgoth], at least we can hurt him and hinder him,” Túrin travels “long and evil roads” among elves, orcs, dwarves, and men, ever struggling to defeat an omnipotent enemy. Túrin’s transformation from a warm-hearted boy to a righteous and angry man is compelling, as are the emotional and physical journeys of the novel’s other characters. These include the childlike elf Nellas, whom Túrin outgrows along with his innocence, the gentle Aerin, a quiet force for good in the face of great evil, the treacherous Glaurung, a greedy and malodorous dragon, and Húrin’s sisters, Urwen, who dies young of a primitive form of biological warfare, and Nïenor, who appears late in the novel to play an epic, completely out-of-left-field central role.

Like the Odyssey or Beowulf, which inspired Tolkien, The Children of Húrin is an old-fashioned, completely unironic tale of the great deeds of men. It is also as fresh as anything written today, thanks to Tolkien’s unparalled storytelling abilities.

[MarkLee]

Good luck, I hope you like it. I'm a big fan of Tolkien's, and I brought this book on the Music Boat Cruise a few weeks back. It took everything within me to get through the first three chapters. If you can muscle through Tolkien's hardcore stuff like The Silmarillion, you'll probably like this one. For the rest of us, we've always got Bilbo and Frodo :)

[woman4life]

Good luck, I hope you like it. I'm a big fan of Tolkien's, and I brought this book on the Music Boat Cruise a few weeks back. It took everything within me to get through the first three chapters. If you can muscle through Tolkien's hardcore stuff like The Silmarillion, you'll probably like this one. For the rest of us, we've always got Bilbo and Frodo :)

LOL. :)

I saw that listed on myspace as well, but when I went to the site the book didn't show up, so I was wondering about it.

[Mr.Supervious]

i'm almost done with the book..i think it is very good..but is sad :(....i find it much easier to read it compared to the Silmarillion....and its not as complex and not as sesquipedialinized (it means long...lol)

[kiwimobro]

i'm almost done with the book..i think it is very good..but is sad :(....i find it much easier to read it compared to the Silmarillion....and its not as complex and not as sesquipedialinized (it means long...lol)
Um ... in which language does it mean 'long'? I can't find it in English dictionaries! )or is it just in Tolkien's language?

[Mr.Supervious]

oh...i read it in a book (not this one)..then i looked it up in like a huge unabridged dictionary....

i also might have mispelled it...sorry...

[Mr.Supervious]

oops...i only read part of the definition..it means:

Given to or characterized by the use of long words..or having many syllables

[mcgreen311]

oops...i only read part of the definition..it means:

Given to or characterized by the use of long words..or having many syllables

That's my favorite word! Which book did you read it in?

[Mr.Supervious]

really?...thats crazy....i read it in this book called freddy the magician(i think..there are several freddy books....)

[Unstereotypical]

Christopher Tolkien / J.R.R. Tolkien - "The Children of Hurien" (The Silmarillion part 2 basically).

(It was alright, but it was an expanded story of the part of "The Silmarillion" about Hurien, and Gondorloien.

This is allueded to in the songs "Mirror, Mirror" and "A Dark Passage" from Blind_GuardiaN.

I wish that Christopher Tolkien would do an expanded story on Beruin and Lothien. (I don't think I spelled that right).

But with this book here: It wasn't bad, and it goes into fine detail and expanded from what it talks about in about 1 chapter of "The Silmarillon".

I did not know that Hurien's entire household was put under a curse by Melkor. I know that Feanor's elf household was put under a curse, but I didn't know that Hurien's human household was).

Reading this book today completely reminded me of the "Nightfall in Middle-Earth" CD from Blind_GuardiaN.

But it was cool to read a brand new book from Tolkien that came out this year instead of a book that came out from him in the 40's or 50's.

[Gandalf]

Good luck, I hope you like it. I'm a big fan of Tolkien's, and I brought this book on the Music Boat Cruise a few weeks back. It took everything within me to get through the first three chapters. If you can muscle through Tolkien's hardcore stuff like The Silmarillion, you'll probably like this one. For the rest of us, we've always got Bilbo and Frodo :)
I think the first time I tried to read The Silmarillion, I didn't get far into it, but the second time (and every time since), I loved it (the musical aspects of Creation, etc. were really cool) - the time I first got through it, I had read LOTR recently, and was in the "Middle Earth" mindset already. :) I think I'll be putting this one on my Christmas list, but it doesn't strike me as one that would likely be a best-seller.

[mcgreen311]

really?...thats crazy....i read it in this book called freddy the magician(i think..there are several freddy books....)

Ah...the first place I read it was in "The Professor and the Madman."

I think the first time I tried to read The Silmarillion, I didn't get far into it, but the second time (and every time since), I loved it (the musical aspects of Creation, etc. were really cool) - the time I first got through it, I had read LOTR recently, and was in the "Middle Earth" mindset already. I think I'll be putting this one on my Christmas list, but it doesn't strike me as one that would likely be a best-seller.

I loved that part of the Silmarillion as well, although that's about as far as I got. This thread makes me want to start it again.

[Unstereotypical]

This is the Tolkien music CD I was referring to:

DEFINITELY check it out.

It is "The Silmarillion" book put to music.

It is the un-official soundtrack of that book.

Read the reviews on that CD, and you will see what I am talking about:

http://www.amazon.com/Nightfall-Middle-Earth-Blind-Guardian/dp/B00000HYXB/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/103-2382230-6312659?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1185591325&sr=1-2

Even the CD cover is the story of Beren and Luthien from Chapter 19 of "The Silmarillion" book.

The wolf on the CD cover is Beren in disguise, and Luthien is the woman dancing in front of Melkor, The 1st Dark Lord, and Sauron, The 2nd Dark Lord, is the guy with the huge shield standing right behind Melkor's Throne. The Silmarils are the gems in Melkor's crown on the CD cover. All the things around the edges of the cover are orcs and goblins that are also in Lord of The Rings.

Keep in mind, "The Silmarillion" happens centuries before anything in the "Lord of The Rings" books. "The Silmarillion" is part 1 of a 5 part story.

1. The Silmarillion
2. The Hobbit
3. Fellowship of The Ring
4. The Two Towers
5. Return of the King


Another messageboard that completely deals with all things Tolkien:

http://www.blind-guardian.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=12&sid=b0dbceaa4a4764428fae3 16e8c07184f

[Veni Vidi Velo]

I haven't read "Children of Hurin" yet, but I will tell anyone that is interested in reading it that you absolutely MUST read the Silmarillion. You will need the background of the Silmarillion to make sense of the story of Hurin's children & the world they are set in. I've read a lot of Tolkien's notes on Hurin & his family, & you can tell he always wanted to expand on that story . . . glad to see Christopher was able to do that from his writings. It will be interesting to see if he attempts anything like Frank Herbert's son has done with the Dune series, which has been a fascinating read, but doesn't quite meet the level of his father's writing.

Has anyone well versed in the Silmarillion finished the Children of Hurin? What are your thoughts?

Galen

[Unstereotypical]

Keep in mind, there was a Dark Lord before Sauron. The guy's name is Melkor / Morgorth.

He beat the elfs to a pulp, and he used humans as his spies and as his slaves.

Hurien was a man who was used as a puppet for Melkor. Hurien tried to turn away from Melkor, and Melkor put a curse on him and his whole family and children that followed him that their entire family would always be tormented by Melkor, and some would be driven completely crazy from him.

[Pixie Wildflower]

I saw this in Sci-fi bookclub's periodical. Must add to the list. I love fantasy and Tolkein was such a master at this. I also love Alan Lee's art. That is quite a treat in itself for fantasy buffs!

[pamcharlie]

I have read tolkien's classics the hobbit and lord of the rings saga but not this one please do give more information about this one especially the storyline and plot :cool:

[Gandalf]

There's a sort of pre-history of Middle Earth called The Silmarillion that Tolkien wrote, telling the story of Creation and of the First Age, the origins of elves and men, of the Valar and Maia (angelic beings of sorts), etc. One of the primary epic stories in the Silmarillion deals with the son and daughter of a man named Húrin. The book The Children of Húrin is a stand-alone version of this story, which has the goal of being more accessible to "casual" Tolkien readers than The Silmarillion is. For those who've already read The Silmarillion, it'll be a familiar story, since very little is changed from the version in that book.

The text was all written by J.R.R. Tolkien, but not compiled into a single, publishable volume. His son, Christopher, who also compiled The Silmarillion from his notes and has written histories of how his father wrote the series, compiled this book as well, but the words are his father's, and there are few editorial notes aside from the Preface.

The Children of Hurin does pretty well as a stand-alone story that should be readable for even casual Tolkien fans. The Silmarillion is a little more hard-core, and so detailed that only more dedicated fans are likely to enjoy it.

[lilmikey]

I have to read LOTR first.