The Children of Húrin by J.R.R. Tolkien
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm finally getting around to reading the Silmarillion side tales Tolkien worked on but never published in his lifetime, and I can say this for certain:

This one is a lot smoother than Beren and Luthien.

In fact, it just comes across as a collection of quite readable short stories following the line of Húrin from the First Age fighting Melkor in the north with its dragons, balrogs, and orcs action to the later days when all the grey elves were cut off from their folk and had to deal with the rise of man.

Primarily, however, we get a very character-oriented tale of misunderstood heroism and bullish pride and survival in hostile lands. A tale of falling from a great height, winding up lower than anyone else. :)

Quite good. Fascinating. But I wouldn't really recommend this for anyone other than fans of LotR and the Silmarillion. It's quite readable, but the story might come off as ... something usual. :)

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