The Children of Hurin – Book Review

The events of The Children of Hurin by J. R. R. Tolkien or as I would prefer to call it The Series of Unfortunate Events that Befell the Children of Hurin, take place probably thousands of years before The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

There are elves, dwarves, and Men, a wingless dragon, and lots of sadness and destruction.

The main idea behind the story is that Hurin curses Morgoth in his face, so the latter curses Hurin and his family, making Hurin watch his children unknowingly destroy themselves.

"I am the Elder King: Melkor, first and mightiest of all the Valar, who was before the world and made it. The shadow of my purpose lies upon Arda, and all that is in it bends slowly and surely to my will. But upon all whom you love my thought shall weigh as a cloud of Doom, and it shall bring them down into darkness and despair. Wherever they go, evil shall arise. Whenever they speak, their words shall bring ill counsel. Whatsoever they do shall turn against them. They shall die without hope, cursing both life and death."

The Children of Hurin opens with an info dump of the people in the book and who married who, including several names we never actually meet. There is a genealogy tree at the end of the book, which honestly should have been at the beginning because I had to go back to it several times while reading. The info dump wasn't necessary but just got me confused.

Hurin had three children: Turin, who is the main focus of the story, his sister Urwen, and his other sister Nienor who appears towards the end and is dragged into the curse laid upon father by Morgoth.

"The doom lies in yourself, not in your name."

What my book looks like after reading

The language is really tough to get around. True, I've been reading modern and contemporary fiction but this was a tough read. Reading this book, one sees how the elements of fiction have changed over time. There is no showing versus a lot of telling. The description is simpler and there aren't many alternatives to "said".

There is minor character development for Turin. Sometimes he's likeable and sometimes he isn't. But it is easy to sympathise and connect with him. In terms of imagery, there aren't many, but there were several sections of rich descriptions.  

One of the things that The Children of Hurin has gotten me excited about is rereading The Silmarilion, where there is a powerful tale of Beren and Luthien. People in the story make many analogies between Turin and Beren. I also have The Book of Lost Tales part 2, which I plan to finally start.

"This man is not Beren. Even if he be both as fair and as brave. A doom lies on him; a dark doom."

It is interesting to learn that The Children of Hurin was originally written as a poem – a very long one "running over 2,000 lines", according to the notes section after the novel.

Overall rating: 3 stars

Elven Jewel by Kasper Beaumont - Book Review

Elven Jewel by Kasper Beaumont is the first instalment in the Hunters of Reloria series, which for me feels like it has many similarities with The Lord of the Rings. Elven Jewel, however, is written for a much younger audience.

Elven Jewel opens with the halflings having fun but suddenly see invading Vergai beasts, described as “reptilian creatures”. I couldn’t help but picture them as walking crocodile-like creatures.

Soon, we are thrown into a quest to seek out the elves and warn them of the incoming Vergai, who seek to steal the jewel that maintains the safety of the planet. However, the halflings and others become part of a bigger company that journey to battle the Vergai and rescue Princess Shari-Rose and the planet.

The idea of 'halflings' is reminiscent of the Hobbits in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy; however the halflings of Reloria are bound by their bond-fairies, whom they can’t live without. This is sometimes helpful but can be disagreeable, as in the story told by Sir Varnon towards the end of the novel. 

On p. 171, there is “King under the mountain”, which is a direct reference to The Hobbit. Similarly, the dwarves living under the mountain is broader reference. The company, named “the Hunters of Reloria”, is reminiscent of Tolkien's Fellowship of the Ring.

The emotions Fendi feels for Sienna are also reflected in those between their fairies, Fendi-La and Sienna-Li. Still, as readers we don't know much about fairy relationships but they are obviously easier than human-halfling ones.

We are told that the elves are "aloof", which is clearly seen in the princess and her bad temper. However, she is obnoxious! Her haughtiness shifts to wailing and the typical representation of a woman crying. For some reason, I, as a reader, felt that her emotions are fake, considering how haughty she had been a few seconds earlier.

There is a contrast in the characters of the two boys and a starker contrast between the two women: Sienna and Shari-Rose. Sienna is confident and deals with loss much better than the princess who is six years her senior.

In a confrontation between the independent and indignant Sienna and the proud princess, the reader can't help but be sympathetic towards Sienna and have the urge to smack the princess even if she is the most important character to the events of this story.

It is said at the beginning of the novel that elves are haughty. We see it in the princess and again in Daeron, her guardian, whose lengthy speech on p. 155 is too long and annoying. In it, he defends the obnoxious nature of his charge, whom he has been guarding since birth but has not tried to help or fix. The reader hopes the ordeal the princess undergoes will teach her a thing or two about humility and good manners. 

“[Randir] decided he would never understand that irksome elf. “When she’s not being an absolute troll!”

Several times in the novel, I got the feeling that the characters talk too much. An example is on p. 266, when Sir Varnon praises Fendi’s negotiation skills, and on p. 267, when Fendi talks to a half-asleep Sienna. Sir Varnon is, often, too formal at times, especially when talking with the younger characters like Fendi.

There are, of course, some memorable quotes and images in Elven Jewel. Asher tells Shari Rose: “To be kidnapped once may be unlucky Princess, but twice is exceedingly careless.”

Even though Shari-Rose is supposedly the centre of the story, we don't see her much, which is a good thing considering her temperamental character. Still, it is interesting that there is no main or single protagonist in the story. We have several heroes with different abilities and ideas. This gives a great depth to Beaumont’s Elven Jewel. There is no single protagonist; there are several heroes and the reader is free to choose their favourite.

My overall rating for Elven Jewel is 3 stars and I look forward to embarking on the rest of the journey with the Hunters of Reloria in Hunters’ Quest.

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