New Tolkein book emerges!

[jdinca]

I've lost track of how many times I've read LOTR over the years. I also own the directors cut of all three movies. That said, the Silmarillion almost did me in. As for the six books put out by his son, I found them even more difficult than the Silmarillion.

Now, if we can just get Robert Jordan to finish up the WOT before he kicks off, Terry Goodkind to wrap up the Sword of Truth series and George Martin to put out the next installment of the Fire and Ice saga, life will be much better in the fantasy literary world.

 

[mrhnau]

Review of Children of Hurin

These works were, after all, largely unreadable -- dense, hard to follow histories and legends of Tolkien's vast, imaginary world, crammed with complicated genealogies, unfamiliar geography and hard-to-pronounce names. Readers who took up such books hoping for another Rings saga or charming yarn such as "The Hobbit" abandoned them after a few pages.


"The Children of Hurin" is the book for which these readers have been longing.

 

[OnlyAnEgg]

Yay!
Although, I wouldn't say 'unreadable'.

 

[stickarts]

I just ordered the new book. i am looking forward to reading it. The review seems promising.

 

[Steel Tiger]

I've lost track of how many times I've read LOTR over the years. I also own the directors cut of all three movies. That said, the Silmarillion almost did me in. As for the six books put out by his son, I found them even more difficult than the Silmarillion.

Now, if we can just get Robert Jordan to finish up the WOT before he kicks off, Terry Goodkind to wrap up the Sword of Truth series and George Martin to put out the next installment of the Fire and Ice saga, life will be much better in the fantasy literary world.

I can understand someone struggling through the various books released by Christopher were really full of background material that JRR had never considered publishing. The Silmarillion was the heavily edited version of all that stuff. I suppose Chris just wasn't happy with the huge amount of money from the original publications.

 

[exile]

I suppose Chris just wasn't happy with the huge amount of money from the original publications.

Or with profits from the Hovercraft patent... I think you got it exactly right, ST.

The Oxford philologist as cash cow... what a strange world we live in...

 

[redfang]

Tolkien also did 'Farmer Giles of Ham' and 'The Smith of Wotten Major', if I'm remembering the titles correctly. They were more short story, novella length maybe with an English fairy tale feel. Light reads, enjoyable. Seems there was something else, not LoTR related, but its 6:00 and it is escaping me.

Liked Silmarillion, but as has been said, its a slow read.

 

[zDom]

I dunno...while reading The sil was more like reading The Old Testament, I still enjoyed it immensely!

I agree.

I would advise any Tolkien fan to go ahead and read The Silmarillion.

It DOES start out kind of slow and difficult, but once you make it past that part there are some great stories, epic tragedies.

Having read The Hobbit, LotR and the Sil several (a dozen?) times each, I have to say The Silmarillion is my favorite.

 

[exile]

Tolkien also did 'Farmer Giles of Ham' and 'The Smith of Wotten Major', if I'm remembering the titles correctly. They were more short story, novella length maybe with an English fairy tale feel. Light reads, enjoyable. Seems there was something else, not LoTR related, but its 6:00 and it is escaping me.

Liked Silmarillion, but as has been said, its a slow read.

I think it was just plain Smith of Wotten Major. And yes, that's exactly what they were... very different from the magisterial stuff we usually associate with Tolkien, but very good of their kind.

 

[Touch Of Death]

I'll wait for the cartoon.:ultracool
Sean

 

[JBrainard]

As a piece of writing I think the Silmarillion is better than LOTR...

Wow. I thought I was the only one who held that opinion.

Tolkien also did 'Farmer Giles of Ham' and 'The Smith of Wotten Major', if I'm remembering the titles correctly. They were more short story, novella length maybe with an English fairy tale feel. Light reads, enjoyable. Seems there was something else, not LoTR related, but its 6:00 and it is escaping me.

Perhaps "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil" is the title that was escaping you?

 

[Bigshadow]

I guess I am going to have to pull Sil off the book shelf, dust it, and read it.

 

[Steel Tiger]

Wow. I thought I was the only one who held that opinion.

I suppose it is because it is a contracted version of all JRR background material. LOTR, which I have read many, many, many, many times is a good read but there are long sections that are quite tedious, and then there's Frodo and Sam and their plodding.

All the stuff Christopher has published over the years since the Book of Lost Tales is really the full version of the Silmarillion. Taken as a whole it is almost incomprehensible.

That has just made me think. The Children of Hurin will be at least the third version of the story. There is a version in the Silmarillion and a somewhat different, extended version in the Book of Lost Tales. I can't recall if there is another version amongst the other five tomes.

 

[tradrockrat]

Now, if we can just get Robert Jordan to finish up the WOT before he kicks off,

sorry dude - Jordan lost me the first time he spent 15 pages describing a field of wheat ... The story could have ended three books ago. I have this insane idea that he's getting paid the same way Dickens did - by the word (JMHO)

 

[Steel Tiger]

sorry dude - Jordan lost me the first time he spent 15 pages describing a field of wheat ... The story could have ended three books ago. I have this insane idea that he's getting paid the same way Dickens did - by the word (JMHO)

Jordan being paid by the word makes the Wheel of Pain, sorry, Time, make a lot more sense.

 

[jdinca]

sorry dude - Jordan lost me the first time he spent 15 pages describing a field of wheat ... The story could have ended three books ago. I have this insane idea that he's getting paid the same way Dickens did - by the word (JMHO)

I feel your pain. I've actually slogged through the whole thing twice. I'll go back and read Knife of Dreams when the next book comes out but I can't do the whole thing again. It's really too bad because there are some superb books in the series.

Now, The Sword Of Truth series by Terry Goodkind I'll be reading a number of times over the years.

 

[tradrockrat]

I feel your pain. I've actually slogged through the whole thing twice. I'll go back and read Knife of Dreams when the next book comes out but I can't do the whole thing again. It's really too bad because there are some superb books in the series.

Now, The Sword Of Truth series by Terry Goodkind I'll be reading a number of times over the years.

I thought the first three and a half books were great, but you couldn't pay me to read five and six again - and that's where I stoped with Jordan.

Believe it or not, I have never read a Goodkind book. (Almost done Robert Crais and ready to go back to Sci/fi - fantasy so maybe thats next)

 

[Sukerkin]

The Wheel of Time is a difficult one, this is true.

Part of the problem is that Jordan got 'distracted' by his Conan works and WoT suffered as a result.

I originally thought we would have a septology (seven seals, seven books ... made sense to me) but now I'm not sure where the end point will lie.

The world is so rich with so many power groups and interesting characters that I almost don't mind it not ending yet but ... :lol:.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

The Silmarillion was okay but hard to read. The Lord of the Rings was really good but long. The Hobbit was fantastic and fun. Just my thoughts. Let's hope the new book is good.

 

[jdinca]

I feel your pain. I've actually slogged through the whole thing twice. I'll go back and read Knife of Dreams when the next book comes out but I can't do the whole thing again. It's really too bad because there are some superb books in the series.

Now, The Sword Of Truth series by Terry Goodkind I'll be reading a number of times over the years.

Go get Wizards First Rule. You won't be disappointed.