Mark Sommer of the Examiner.com reviews The Children of Hurin:

The Children of Húrin (published by Houghton Mifflin in the United States, and by HarperCollins elsewhere) is indeed about a curse. Christopher Tolkien tells us in the Introduction (p.18) that JRR Tolkien’s proposed alternative title was Narn e-‘Rach Morgoth, The Tale of the Curse of Morgoth. However, in making such a generalized statement (“In Middle-Earth, curses work.”), the reviewer misses the point. The curse “works,” not because of some innate quality within Middle-Earth, but because of who Morgoth is. As Christopher Tolkien goes on to tell us, “Morgoth is not ‘invoking’ evil or calamity on Húrin and his children; he is not ‘calling on’ a higher power to be the agent: for he, ‘Master of the fates of Arda’ as he named himself to Húrin, intends to bring about the ruin of his enemy by force of his own gigantic will.”

But Tolkien would remind us that all stories are just a snapshot or painting–a “fragment of the Seamless Web of Story.” (Tree and Leaf, Harper Collins 1988, p. 80) They do not show us the ending. Perhaps what is lacking in The Children of Húrin is not the eucatastrophe, but the promise of Grace and Consolation to come.

Complete review here

I intended to get this book and just never got around to it.

What did you think of the review? Have you read the book?