J.R.R. Tolkien’s posthumous novel The Children of Húrin appeared in 2007.
Christopher Tolkien edited the book from material his father had written across several decades. The completed volume was published on 17 April 2007, with illustrations by Alan Lee. It presents the story of Túrin Turambar and his sister Nienor, children of Húrin during the Elder Days of Middle-earth.
Unlike a completely new novel written after Tolkien’s death, The Children of Húrin assembles and edits versions of a story that Tolkien had developed in prose and verse. Christopher Tolkien used related manuscripts and earlier published material to create a continuous narrative, while preserving Tolkien’s language and tragic tone.
The story belongs to the First Age, long before the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. It is connected with the wider mythology later represented in The Silmarillion, but it was issued as a separate book. Alan Lee also illustrated editions of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, making him a familiar Tolkien artist.