The Children of Hurin

By: J. R. R. Tolkien

Narrated by: Christopher Lee

Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

There are tales of Middle-earth from times long before The Lord of the Rings. The story told in this book is set in the great country that lay beyond the Grey Havens in the West: lands where Treebeard once walked, but which were drowned in the great cataclysm that ended the First Age of the World.

In that remote time, Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in the vast fortress of Angband, the Hells of Iron, in the North; and the tragedy of Túrin and his sister Nienor unfolded within the shadow of the fear of Angband and the war waged by Morgoth against the lands and secret cities of the Elves. Their brief and passionate lives were dominated by the elemental hatred that Morgoth bore them as the children of Húrin, the man who had dared to defy and to scorn him to his face. Against them he sent his most formidable servant, Glaurung, a powerful spirit in the form of a huge wingless dragon of fire.

Into this story of brutal conquest and flight, of forest hiding-places and pursuit, of resistance with lessening hope, the Dark Lord and the Dragon enter in direly articulate form. Sardonic and mocking, Glaurung manipulated the fates of Túrin and Nienor by lies of diabolic cunning and guile, and the curse of Morgoth was fulfilled.

The earliest versions of this Tolkien story go back to the end of the First World War and the years that followed. But long afterwards, when The Lord of the Rings was finished, he revised and greatly enlarged it, enhancing complexities of motive and character. It became the dominant story in his later work on Middle-earth. But he could not bring it to a final and finished form. In this book, Christopher Tolkien has constructed, after long study of the manuscripts, a coherent narrative without any editorial invention.

©2007 J. R. R. Tolkien Copyright Trust and Christopher Reuel Tolkien (P)2007 HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, London, UK

at last!

someone got a clue! fabulous, perfect narrator, now please: the silmarillion, the ring "trilogy" and the whole tolkein corpus, unabridged and with narration of this quality, should mr. lee prove unavailable for the enirety of such a mammoth project. how can no one have done this yet?!

A Tragic account to the likes of Shakespeare

You will find yourselves calling the characters idiots and asking yourself why.... but isn't that what a tragedy is about. Good story telling makes you care and curse the tragic protagonist .

Christopher Lee excellent narration!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes if they were into dark tales or a Tolkien fan. I would, however, add the warning - there is a lot of lineage and history that sometimes bores non-Tolkien enthusiasts.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Children of Hurin?

Battle with Glaurung

What does Christopher Lee bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I sometimes linger over pronouncing names/words when reading Tolkien. It interferes with my reading enjoyment. Mr. Lee's narration was superb, bringing Tolkien's work to life in my mind and remedied my issues. I'm a huge Tolkien fan so I read along as I listened. :-D

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed it becaue it is a work of Tolkien but it is a very dark tale.

Fantastic

That was an incredible tale!! I must have more !! Christopher keep at it find more or write new, that was amazing

Tolkien & Lee

With Tolkien's tragic epic and Lee's remarkable voice, one would have to try to not enjoy this work.

Amazing Story

Would you listen to The Children of Hurin again? Why?

I always get more from the story the second and third time I listen to the story

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Children of Hurin?

The set up for the story is great.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Christopher Lee?

I feel Lee lacked as a Narrator. I wanted a greater range in inflection but don't know whp else would be better.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

The next in the Tolkien World

That was different.

This is a pre-curser to the Hobbit and Lord of the rings. Nothing to do with either story but has some back history. Very different from the Lord of the rings. Very slow at the first couple of chapters. Then it starts to get interesting.

Tolkien is always a great choice for a good read

even when he is no longer with us he can still fill us full of longing to go to middle earth.

Christopher Lee is perfect!

Christopher Lee was the perfect voice for this. Didn't feel like 7 hours. Well done.

A good listen for Tolkien fans, LOTR better

I wanted another Middle Earth story and this definitely delivered. I was engaged the whole way through the book. The story isn't as great as LOTR but written in beautiful Tolkien style so I am satisfied and would recommend.