Narn I Chin Hurin: The Tale of the Children of Hurin
by J.R.R. Tolkien
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Book Reviews of Narn I Chin Hurin: The Tale of the Children of Hurin
Book Review: Fantasy of the Year
Summary: 5 Stars
This has got to be the best fantasy novel that has come out in decades, as strange as it is that the author has been deceased for decades. It is rife with fantastic originality, thoroughly developed plot-lines, foreshadowing of myth, and intricate symbolism, all of which are often lacking in today's fantasy. the depth of character development in such a short work is astounding, and the tragedy woven within is Shakespearean in complexity. Here we see a totally new side of Tolkien, much different than in all the works of the master storyteller that we've seen so far.
Though the comments of previous reviewers who have said that The Children of Hurin is somewhere in style between The Silmarillian and The Lord of the Rings are hitting close to the mark, I think a better comparison can be made. To me the book is closer in style to The Return of the King specifically; though it takes on a somewhat archaic feel like that of the later chapters of The Lord of the Rings, it is still brimming with rich dialogue, description, and character developement, all of which are somewhat lacking in The Silmarillion. Also, Tolkien gets dark in this book, and we really haven't seen that side of him until now. I used to wonder where the petty crime and neutral evil were in Middle Earth- and now I know. They just weren't important to the tale of the Ring. They are of great importance in "The Children of Hurin," and here Tolkien takes on an almost Robert E. Howard feel, though admittedly via a much more scholarly writing style.
I had read the tale before in The Silmarillion, and remember thinking that it had a strong plot, nearly as strong as LOTR itself, and also remeber wishing that Tolkien had lived long enough to see it done as a full novel. Though it's been many years since then, and I had completely forgotten the details and names of the story, I was able to jump right into this book without consulting any Tolkien lore, due in part to the excellent introduction by Christopher.
I hope that Christopher can find it in himself to do the same with the tale of Beren. Even if he does have to employ some "invention," it would be well worth it, at least to this fan, and after seeing the great work he's done on "Hurin" I actually trust him with it!
J. Lyon Layden
The Other Side of Yore
Book Review: An Early Glimpse of Middle earth
Summary: 5 Stars
The Children of Hurin is a tale dating from the very early years of J.R.R. Tolkien's mythical worlds. He began writing it as early as 1918 and continued to work on it off and on for the rest of his life. Other versions of the Tale have been included in The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales, but now we have the story as close to the way J.R.R. Tolkien intended it as his son Christopher could recreate.
The Children of Hurin takes place in Middle earth thousands of years before the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, specifically in Beleriand, a region that by the time of The War of the Ring had long since sunk beneath the Sea. During the First Age Elves and Men (the Eldar and the Edain) were locked in combat with the Great Enemy Melkor/Morgoth, of whom Sauron in The Lord of the Rings was a mere servant. At the Tale's beginning Morgoth has conquered the greater portion of Beleriand and now rules it from his fortress of Angband in the mountains of Thangorodrim. The Elvish kingdoms of Doriath, Nargothrond, and Gondolin are hidden and for the moment still safe. The Edain have been less fortunate and are now scattered and largely demoralized. Hurin, the Heir of the House of Hador, seeks to rally Men to continue the struggle. Morgoth captures Hurin and places a curse on his family. Hurin's children Turin and Nienor must deal with the curse and its consequences for the rest of their lives.
This is a dark story full of tragedy, deceit, and violence. Tolkien's models were the Germanic sagas, but there are also elements of Greek drama, in particular in the role Fate plays in the lives of so many characters. There are also many elements readers of Tolkien's later works will recognize: dragon-guarded treasures, swords and other talismans with unknown powers to be reckoned with,and proud men and women who meet their destinies with grim determination. Although the story is complete in itself, there are hints of more Tales to come, and it is to be hoped that Christopher Tolkien will provide the full "Fall of Gondolin" among other stories still left to be completely told.
An additional pleasure are the very fine but sombre paintings Alan Lee has provided to illustrate The Children of Hurin. They perfectly match the mood of the story and greatly enhance it.
Book Review: Mae govannen
Summary: 5 Stars
I open with a typical Elvish greeting to let those that read this know the obvious: I'm a Tolkien geek. Smitten with the story upon reading Tolkien's famous works more than 30 years ago I delved into the man, the scholar, and even his biographical history many years ago.
This book is turned out to be everything I hoped it would be---a fuller, richer, and exactly as I would've imagined it version of the tale I've loved so well for the past 30 years when the original sketching was published in The Silmarillion.
I don't recommend it to folks that don't enjoy epic tales in the style of old mythologies even though some casual readers might well like it because the "voice" is eminently readable, but waaayyy too many people won't be able to adjust themselves to the facts:
The Hobbit was told as a bedtime story to Tolkien's children and originally wasn't intended to be part of the Middle Earth of The Silmarillion.
Tolkien explains that as he wrote LotR that the "sequel" to TH was "irresistibly drawn into that older world..." as he wrote it. Many who liked TH but not LotR simply don't appreciate that each was done with something very different in mind at their inception, TH being a simple children's fantasy and LotR meant to be built upon the epic sagas similar to the Norse legendarium. That is, LotR was meant to be done in the style of heroic tales of the oral tradition that is a bit remote from the modern taste and perspective.
The Silmarillion, being begun before either, is even MORE steeped in this tradition and therefore alienated the vast majority of readers who were terribly disappointed that the children's invention (hobbits) were nowhere to be found in the very mythological-like Sil.
I will be forever grateful to Christopher Tolkien for persevering with this tale, though, as from my first reading of the Silmarillion 30 years ago this tale "smote (my heart) like a sword" and for that entire time I've wanted to write a screenplay version of it. I couldn't possibly be more satisfied with the fruits of "young" Tolkien's labour (he's now older than his father was when the elder Tolkien passed away).
Lacho calad! Drego morn! (Flame light! Flee night!)
Andrew Alexander
Book Review: A Dark Tale From the First Age of Middle Earth
Summary: 5 Stars
'The Children of Hurin' - in many ways an expanded chapter of 'The Silmarillion' - is the dark and tragic tale of Turin, the great Hero of Men in the First Age of Middle Earth.
Thousands of years before the events of 'The Hobbit' or 'The Lord of the Rings' the race of Men is proud and the Elves have yet to start their long decline which culminated with their leaving Middle Earth at the end of LOTR. The struggle between Morgoth and the Free Races in 'The Children of Hurin' is the struggle between great powers at their height. There are no reluctant heros in this tale.
After 'The Battle of Unnumbered Tears' Hurin, Human King of Belirand, was captured by Morgoth. When Hurin refused to give Morgoth the location of the hidden Elven city of Gondolin, Morgoth cursed Hurin's children. 'The Children of Hurin' is their tortured story.
Other reviewers have recounted the basic plot and I won't bore you by rehashing it. Instead, I'll give you my impression of the book.
'The Children of Hurin' is Tolkien at his darkest. You imagine this Middle Earth as a dark and frightening place, where even the power and fierceness of those on the side of 'good' is terrifying. This is the story of a cursed man. There are no bright spots, no comic turns, no Samwise Gamgee or Pippin to lighten the mood. This is a story where every character is some version of Boromir, Farimir, and the Last Steward of Gondor. Pride, deceit, struggle, violence and defeat dominate.
The language is slightly more archaic than that of 'The Lord of the Rings' but far less so than 'The Silmarillion,' giving us a very readable story. 'The Children of Hurin' is full of all the same detail and history that we are used to from Tolkien's other works. This story is every bit as good as the rest of the Tolkien canon. The Dragons, the swords, the magical cities and power of fate that Tolkien gave us in 'The Lord of the Rings' is here in spades.
For any true Tolkien fan, 'The Children of Hurin' is unmissable. For those who enjoyed 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'The Hobbit' but failed to get through 'The Silmarillion' this new posthumous release is a great inroad into the history of Middle Earth.
Book Review: A Return to Tolkien
Summary: 5 Stars
The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings were the works that started me on a lifetime journey of reading. Read in junior high, these books are relatively easy to digest and understand. It was only after reading LOTR about half a dozen times that I tackled the Silmarillion, the Book of Lost Tales volumes 1 and 2, and Unfinished Tales.
If The Hobbit is junior high and LOTR is high school, the latter works are certainly college and even graduate level material, depending upon how much you want to invest in them. It is no exaggeration that Tokien created an entire world, complete with languages, cultures and customs.
The subject of the reviewed work, The Children of Hurin, is one of the mythological tales underlying Tolkien's universe. Taking place 6,000 years prior to LOTR, the adventures of Turin Turambar were addressed in both The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales, but not in this completely fleshed out version. It is certainly a pleasure, as a lifelong Tolkien fan, to take up the task of refamiliarizing myself with the geneologies and physical landscape of the First Age. As one who spent many hours doing so in the past, the challenge is minor compared to a Tolkien beginner.
The question must be asked, "What is the best way for a reader to proceed if encountering Tolkien for the first time?" Certainly the recent release of the movie versions have piqued the interest of many potential readers. I can't help but believe that the style of some of the deeper works might be an instant turn off to some potential devotees. While I can't really recommend the Hobbit to adult readers, LOTR would certainly be a good starting point. Those that want more (and who wouldn't) can delve as deeply as they wish into the more cerebral offerings of Silmarillion and Lost Tales.
One thing that I appreciated about Children of Hurin was the design of the book as it relates to the map. While reading any Tolkien offering, I wear out the pages constantly referring to the geneologies and maps. In this book, the map is designed such that it can be unfolded and extended outside the margins of the page, making unfolding and refolding unnecessary. You can read the map and the book at the same time.