The Children of Húrin | J.R.R. Tolkien | The Children of Hurin: Deluxe Edition

The Children of Húrin | J.R.R. Tolkien | The best edition of any Tolkien title in print in the U.S., bar none

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The Children of Húrin

	The Children of Húrin J.R.R. Tolkien Houghton Mifflin, 2007 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 262 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The Children of Hurin: Deluxe Edition

This edition exceded our expectation. My son requested this book for Christmas and I ordered it blindly. When it came I was pleased with all the detail in the book and how well it was packaged. He will enjoy this book for years to come.

The best edition of any Tolkien title in print in the U.S., bar none

I am here reviewing this 'deluxe" edition of The Children of Hurin, not the content or text itself.

This is a truly outstanding edition/book. The leather quarter-binding is very fine quality, as is the cloth covering the rest of the boards. The heavy paper is excellent, and the print quality is sharp, dark, and consistent in a beautiful face of good size. The signatures are full-sewn and snug without tending to crack or break when reading. The slipcase is of excellent quality, though I am unsure whether it is leather or some simulated material (in any event the material is THAT good, the difference is hard to spot).

The only flaws I can spot are that the foil-stamped helm on the slipcase is much smaller than as depicted in the photo on Amazon, and the touted "frontispiece" illustration is simply the same image as appears on the cover of the standard hardcover first edition of CoH, in a presentation no better than that (though without the embossed title and other text of the standard edition). Otherwise this book contains the same Alan Lee illustrations as in the standard editions, which are lovely and well presented as glossy color plates, as well as fine pencil/charcoal drawings at chapter headings.

This book, unlike most Houghton Mifflin Tolkien books, was printed and bound in Europe. One of the nice details, as a result, is the Euro practice of binding the leather quarter-binding (e.g. the spine and first 2 inches of the over) UNDER the cloth. In the US this is almost always reversed, with the quarter-binding of whatever material sealed OVER the cloth (or paper as the case may be). What this means is a MUCH more durable binding, since the tendency is for one's thumb to rub towards the spine, and peel the quarter-binding up and away from the book, IF the book is bound in the American fashion. This one is not, so years of handling will leave it intact. You will clearly see what I mean when you examine this book. There are several other features of construction that are as outstanding and as rare. Though difficult to describe to the non-bibliophile, they will each and all become very apparent to anyone who can recognize something that is well made, regardless.

Many other Tolkien titles (as well as loads of others) are jobbed out to printers and binderies in Asia these days, and a European made book is instantly apparent as a superior object (Some American-made books are quite good too, but other than small and art presses, few hardcover titles are printed or bound here anymore, alas). These outsourced books suffer most glaringly from uneven inking and print quality. This edition of The Children of Hurin is IMPECCABLE in both consistency and quality of impression and inking. Truly a rarity, and without ANY flaw in execution, and ARGUABLY none serious (taste being moot) in design as well.

I recommend this edition of Children of Hurin most highly, and without any reservation whatsoever. It will become an heirloom and treasure for the Tolkien buff, or any lover of fine books, without doubt. It is simply the best edition of any Tolkien title now in print in the United States (superior even to the very substantial 2004 US 50th anniversary Lord of the Rings) and stands among the very best (and very expensive in the US) HarperCollins/UK Tolkien editions (like the 2004 UK 50th anniversary LOTR, or the recent premium editions of The Hobbit and Silmarillion). If you are not a book collector, conservator, or special collections librarian, you may never have owned a book this well made before. The Amazon.com price is a minor miracle, as well. A very great edition (look elsewhere for reviews of the story itself)! Let us hope (and lobby) Houghton Mifflin sees fit to bring out similarly beautiful and enduring editions of The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion, in the near future!

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A very interesting story in Middle Earth

This book, The Children of Hùrin by JRR Tolkien, is a book published after his death by his son, Christopher Tolkien. The story is about Tùrin, Hùrin's son and Nienor, Hùrin's daughter. While Nienor does not play a large part most of the story, she is a very big portion in the last parts of a story. The story begins at about 9 years after the Battle of Sudden Flame where Morgoth send his armies out to break the siege of Angband. The details of all the prior happenings in Middle-Earth are in the introduction so you don't have to be experts on Middle-Earth to understand what is going on. Tùrin is sent away from his home to the Elves to escape becoming a thrall in his homeland. The book reads easier than the Silmarillion. However the first chapter can be boring because it is describing the genealogy of Tùrin and his family. If you read this book it is important to remember that after the first chapter the story gets much more interesting. In general this book is a good addition to any Tolkien fan's collection

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Chidren of Hurin

Not a bad book, not Tolkiens best either. Its worth the money and the time it takes to read it.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, page 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

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