Customer Rating: 
Summary: A Worthy Succesor To The Lord Of The Rings
Comment: As a person who read the previous incarnations of this tale in The Silmarillion and The Unfinished Tales, it's safe to say that I was already a fan of this book before it was ever released. However, I'm pleased to see that this was more than just a cheap attempt to milk the cow by putting out the same story multiple times as George Lucas keeps doing with his Star Wars re-releases. The Children of Hurin contains several never before seen chapters and illustrations which help to further expand the story.
As it goes, this is probably the darkest of the tales J.R.R. Tolkien ever wrote. It's very bleak and grim, but that's where the magic of this story takes place. Rather than manufacture artificial escapes for the heroes of this book as he did in The Lord of the Rings, the heroes in this book really get their butts handed to them. The heroism of the good guys in this story stems from their resilience in the face of overwhelming odds, not necessarily their victories. The one thing I truly love about Tolkien's fantasy universe is that evil is not this single entity that you can confront and destroy. It's built into the very fabric of the world and proves to be indestructible by any means known to the inhabitants of Middle-earth.
The main character Turin, is as complex a character as has ever been devised in fantasy. Because of his father's defiance of Morgoth, the original dark lord of Middle-earth, Turin spends the better part of his life trying to dodge the curse that has been called down upon him by Morgoth. Turin's family suffers dearly because of Morgoth's curse. Turin's greatest defense against the power of Morgoth, is his resilience, which proves to be the highest level of valor that he can acheive in the face of Morgoth's unrelenting evil.
This is a tragedy not unlike Hamlet or Oedipus, except it draws upon familiar Tolkienesque conventions for its impact. This book takes place during the First Age of the Middle-earth when the world was just taking shape and the race of men had just been introduced into it. The world is ruled by all-powerful gods called Valar. Hence, the battle between good and evil is more primeval than in the later ages of the world.
As in Tolkien's previous books, Middle-earth proves to be a world rich with history. It's a joy to be able to take a glimpse into his world in its founding days long before Hobbits or Ring Wraiths roamed the earth. It's a showcase of the best that Tolkien has to offer and clearly points to the fact that his tales are less about magic than they are about the power of the human spirit and our role in the unfolding of the world's history.
I would recommend The Children of Hurin to any lover of classic fantasy, especially since it's unlikely we'll ever see books like this written again by any writer of our generation.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very engaging. A book for Tolkien fans and lovers of Medieval style lore.
Comment: This is the first Tolkien book that I have read since the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. I found it engaging and exciting. I had to get by, as some critics noted, the long list of who's who in Middle Earth (I am not into ME lore), but gliding through the names and their lineage I was well rewarded. The personalities are well developed. The story is very dark and tragic with interesting insight by the author on human, Dwarfish and Elvish behavior. This book is a good stand alone book, I enjoyed it without having read the other posthumously published works.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: A Dark, Gripping Tragedy
Comment: Anyone expecting to read a happily ending Tolkien tale of Hobbits returning home at the end of a grand adventure and setting things right, will be disappointed. However, if you want to read a tragedy that is as gripping as Oedipus, then you have found your book. Tales as ancient as Oedipus have been woven into a coherent story on a Northern European canvas; Tolkien created a story loaded with hubris. It is time well spent reading a modern interpretation of excessive human pride and the damage it can create. Alan Lee has several illustrations which draw out some of the inner details of the characters.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Impossible to read. Like the parts of the old testament that bored you to tears
Comment: This book is amazingly terrible. I picked it up thinking it was going to be like the "lord of the rings", which i loved. It wasnt
In reality, if the lord of hte rings is like "tom clancy", this book is like a mistranslated 18th century copy of the really boring parts of the old testament.
It is written in an amazingly out of date style, kind of a weird third person. There are PAGES of "herengebold married therenfellen, and they begat shinzabar, who was a warrior king, who after warring in the west, he begat thooflinabor by way of herrenfarvegnugen". Pages of it. and NONE OF THESE PEOPLE MATTER. There is geneology upon geneology of people who then NEVER reappear anywhere else in the story. I started skipping pages upon pages, and it didnt matter- since there is almost no real plot, you can skip around all you want. The fact that no human could ever remember the geneologies doesnt matter, because these characters dont actually a) reappear or b) have personalities.
This is some sort of weird attempt at an alternative archaic history- but who actually reads archaic history? the lord of the rigns is AMAZING- this is like LOTR's version of the old testatment "begat" section- we dont read OUR begat secton, why should we read Gandalfs?
It is hard for me to say this, but this book is one of the biggest disappoinments ever- i actually threw it out ceremonially.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Must read for Tolkien Fans
Comment: This is one of those amazing things that you didn't see coming. A book by an author who has been dead a very long time. True, Christopher Tolkien is not dead (he put this whole thing together and finished undone sections and chapters), but his father wrote the genesis of this book, and he is dead. J.R.R. Tolkien is my favorite author and he's part of the reason I became a fantasy writer. I loved this book and enjoyed going back to Middle-earth again. It is such a tragic tale and you can read other reviews to know what the story line is about, but suffice it to say that bad things happen. The art in the book is amazing as well and I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever loved Lord of the Rings. You don't need to read The Silmarillion to understand this novel.
The Children of Hurin is a tale I shall never forget.
Paul Genesse
Author of The Golden Cord
Book One of the Iron Dragon Series
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