J.R.R. Tolkiens The Children Of Hurin
The first new proper book by J.R.R. Tolkien for twenty years was released worldwide yesterday and immediately sold out in many stores throughout the UK. The Children Of Hurin deals with the race of men, and Hurin, a hero of the first age. Set long before the time of The Lord Of The Rings, it’s set in middle earth long before there was any sign of Hobbits. The story features Elves and Dwarves, though a more sinister race than the ones we know and love from the Lord Of The Rings. In this book, Sauron is only the lieutenant of Morgoth, the fallen Valar, rather than being the uber villain we have grown up with.
Tolkien senior began to write the story in 1918, and revised it numerous times, but still never managed to complete it before his death in 1973. His son Christopher has spent the last thirty years rewriting and completing the text ready for publication, and it was finally launched on the public yesterday. A brief version of the same story formed the basis of chapter 21 in The Silmarillion, which itself was a posthumous release in 1977.
There have been numerous books released covering short stories and the backgrounds of middle earth races and characters since Tolkien’s death, but this is the first full length version of the story released in it’s entirety. The Lord Of The Rings has sold more than 50 million copies to date and has obviously been successfully converted into Hollywood films, bringing Tolkien’s work to a whole new generation.
Whether this new book becomes as well loved as The Hobbit and it’s contemporaries, it’s certainly a novel which has been long in the coming and hugely anticipated.
JRR Tolkien, J.R.R. Tolkien, The Children Of Hurin, The Hobbit, Lord Of The Rings, Sauron, Morgoth, Vala, Christopher Tolkien, The Silmarillion, Hollywood, UK
April 18th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
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