Children of Hurin, constructed by Tolkien’s son from his father’s notes and The Silmarillion, may become a
movie.
Time has an article on the book here.
Meanwhile, Spider-man continues to experience fallout from the possibility that Raimi may direct The Hobbit
Anyone read it yet?
Is it any good? The review didn’t really take a stand on whether the book was good or bad.
My Take
Okay, so I just finished reading The Children of Húrin, and this is my review.
The book takes place during the first age of Middle Earth, while LOTR occurs at the end of the second/beginning of the third (if I recall correctly). Elves abound throughout the land, and mankind is fairly new, having come from the East with no desire to return. Morgoth is the Dark Lord, attempting to take over all of Beleriand. (I found it helped immensely to keep referencing to the fold out map at the end of the book. Things made little sense otherwise.) Morgoth’s chief servant is a guy named Sauron. A very epic battle took place early in the book–the scale can be gleaned from the fact that was at least one Balrog in Morgoth’s forces. The battles throughout the remainder of the book were not so grand, as the defenders of the land never again marshalled such a great force.
The book has a much darker tone than the LOTR trilogy, and none of the humor. It is written as a tragedy. Because of Húrin’s defiance, the Dark Lord lays a doom on his children, mainly his son Túrin. And that doom comes to pass.
The book narrates events from the third person, but I never felt very connected to any of the characters. I guess I’d say that the narration was dispassionate and a bit disconnected. A good scriptwriter, however, could make a decent movie out of the events in the book.
Overall, I rate this book at 3 out of 5.
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