How does the new Tolkien book “The Children of Hurin” compare with the Lord of the Rings?
I haven’t read the latest book yet, but I’ve read the preceding ones and reviews of the new book. This isn’t the only book written this way. Tolkien left behind many unfinished writings. They’re part of the reason why Lord of the Rings is such a great book: you can really feel the complexity of the history of the world he was creating. Tolkien wasn’t just making up hints, though. He’d actually written all that stuff out. So when he drops a hint about the Feanor, the eldest son of Finwë, the High King of the Noldor, and then makes no more of it, you get the feeling of a well-thought out history because it really is all there. But those stories weren’t meant to be published. They were background material, almost like an artist’s sketches. They’re usually not particularly good reading unless you’re already captivated by the universe and want to know more. Some of them are even grander in scale than the Lord of the Rings, if you can imagine that: in the cosmic scheme of things Sauron was j
