I first read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings in 5th and 6th grade way back when. I re-read the trilogy in anticipation of the movies back in 2000 and the adventures of Bilbo most recently with my daughter as a bedtime story.
But The Children of Hurin sounds darker and more complex. Closer to the root myths that Tolkien was so interested in but also more like a mature modern novel. Very intriguing indeed.
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From Chapter 21 of The Silmarillion:
Morwen sent Turin forth over the mountains with two aged servants, bidding them find entry, if they could, into the kingdom of Doriath. Thus was the fate of Turin woven, which is fulltold in that lay that is called Narn i Hin Hurin, the Tale of the Children of Hurin, and is the longest of the lays that speak of those days.
And lo and behold, we have it "fulltold" at last.
