** spoiler alert ** The Children of Hurin is a beautiful book. I bought the hardcover collector's edition for a small fortune as books go ($75) and let me just say that Alan Lee's illustrations are exquisite. I read the book immediately and will say that it is a must for any lifelong Tolkein fans. Tolkein's works were a huge part of my childhood and my mom would read them to me before I could read. She had to stop reading them because I would ask too many questions so I read them myself when I was eight or nine.

This story is one of Tokein's oldest. He started the tale of Turin Turambar in 1910 in the form of epic poetry (iambic pentameter if I remember correctly). The story appears in condensed form in The Silmarillion. Here, the narrative is fleshed out and edited by Christopher Tolkein because J.R.R never finished it. This is really strange to me because it is said that J.R.R. most identified with the tale's hero, Turin, out of any of his other characters.

That being said, I wouldn't recommend this work to anyone except hardcore Tolkein fans. The narrative is mired tightly within Tolkein's obscure legends of Middle Earth. The narrative reads like a Greek tragedy. Turin is cursed from the start. Hurin, Turin's proud and valiant father, is captured by Morgoth, the enemy, after the loss of the War of Unnumbered Tears. Morgoth curses Hurin's children and keeps him alive to watch their misery from atop a mock throne for most of his life.

Turin becomes a great warrior both proud and noble yet falls victim to the curse of Morgoth. He accomplishes many great deeds yet destroys or perverts everything close to him. He slays his best friend unawares, marries his sister having never known her, and causes the destruction of one of elf kind's greatest civilizations. These are just some of the many of the consequences of Morgoth's curse. One could argue that Turin's own pride brought these horrors upon his own head. I really enjoy Tolkein to this day because of these crisp complexities. You can choose to read the book on its most simple levels and be just fine. But if you choose to delve into its deeper themes, I promise you will be rewarded with gold (or mithril - if you're a true fan).