Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    The Children of Húrin
    Unavailable
    The Children of Húrin
    Unavailable
    The Children of Húrin
    Ebook283 pages4 hours

    The Children of Húrin

    By J. R. R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    Listen to the audiobook instead
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateApr 20, 2009
    ISBN9780007322589
    Author

    J. R. R. Tolkien

    J.R.R. Tolkien (1892–1973) was a distinguished academic, though he is best known for writing The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion, plus other stories and essays. His books have been translated into over sixty languages and have sold many millions of copies worldwide.

    Read more from J. R. R. Tolkien

    Related to The Children of Húrin

    Related ebooks

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      History behind MIDDLE-EARTH

      Oct 6, 2022

      History behind MIDDLE-EARTH
      8 min read

    • Article

      The Lord Of The Books

      Mar 8, 2023

      The Lord Of The Books
      6 min read

    • Article

      A Warning To The Fortean

      Jul 14, 2022

      A Warning To The Fortean
      9 min read

    • Article

      There Is A Lushness To This Expanded Letters

      Jan 25, 2024

      THE PUBLICATION OF LETTERS BY twentieth-century scholars is an uncommon enterprise, especially when they are issued by a trade press. But then Tolkien was an uncommon scholar. “I was brought up on the Classics,” he recalled later in life, “and first

      4 min read

    • Article

      On Literature and Consciousness

      Feb 18, 2021

      This is the greatest opening line in imaginative literature, because it’s the first one ever written. How can the invention of fiction itself be topped? The post On Literature and Consciousness appeared first on The Millions.

      12 min read

    • Article

      The Magic Of The Moors

      May 27, 2020

      The Magic Of The Moors
      5 min read

    • Article

      A Year in Reading: Matt Seidel

      Dec 9, 2017

      I tend to buy used books in bunches, which means the haul from some expeditions stays buried for weeks, months, years even. For this entry, I highlight three finds that, breaking custom, I bought and read almost immediately this year: Hugo Charteris’

      6 min read

    • Article

      History

      Sep 21, 2022

      History
      14 min read

    • Article

      Michael Wood On...

      Feb 18, 2021

      It’s time for a book clear out. I’ve been avoiding this moment for some years, but (and I’m sure many readers feel the same) our house is sagging under a lifetime’s accumulation of history books, especially from second-hand bookshops. Arlington and L

      3 min read

    • Article

      Family Drama

      Feb 18, 2021

      Family Drama
      4 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Sep 5, 2022

      Books
      6 min read

    • Article

      Time Makes Ruins Of Us All

      Sep 20, 2023

      Time Makes Ruins Of Us All
      6 min read

    • Article

      On Dreams and Literature

      Dec 28, 2020

      Dreaming and reading are unified in being activities of fully created, totally self-contained realities. The post On Dreams and Literature appeared first on The Millions.

      18 min read

    • Article

      Peace Comes With A Smile

      Nov 11, 2019

      Peace Comes With A Smile
      8 min read

    • Article

      The William Trevor Reader: “The News from Ireland”

      Mar 7, 2023

      “The News From Ireland” is the second novella in The Collected after “Matilda’s England,” a stout 25-pager that feels to me just a bit longer than a short story. Or that is to say, it seems to do more things than a short story does or can. Not all of

      3 min read

    • Article

      The King Of Westminster

      May 24, 2023

      The King Of Westminster
      5 min read

    • Article

      'A Column of Fire' Is Half Historic Epic, Half Thriller – All of It Engaging

      Sep 12, 2017

      Ken Follett returns with the final (we think) Kingsbridge story, now skipping ahead a couple of centuries to the Elizabethan era.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Philip Womack

      Aug 4, 2021

      Philip Womack
      2 min read

    • Article

      Retreading The City

      Nov 2, 2023

      It’s hard to pinpoint when and how inspiration strikes for a novel, but I know exactly when it did for The Detective. The Waiter and The Cook were the first two books in my Kamil Rahman thriller series about a disgraced policeman from Kolkata who co

      6 min read

    • Article

      Life Before The Fall

      Mar 19, 2020

      Life Before The Fall
      4 min read

    • Article

      Reviews

      Sep 9, 2021

      Reviews
      6 min read

    • Article

      On The Hobbit Trail

      Jun 28, 2023

      On The Hobbit Trail
      5 min read

    • Article

      Chitchat

      Nov 24, 2023

      Chitchat
      12 min read

    Reviews for The Children of Húrin

    4/5

    1,595 ratings70 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      A must-read for diehard Toliken fans. The text of this work was written much earlier than The Hobbit or The Lord Of The Rings, and as such the prose has a more "grand" (or perhaps "literary") style, more like The Silmarillion or The Fall Of Gondolin. For all that, it's still very readable.If you've only ever read The Lord Of The Rings, and want more, then I'd probably suggest The Silmarillion first. For everyone else, you already know you want to read this (or already have.)
    • 5/5
      The Children of Húrin by J.R.R. Tolkien is a tragic story of The Children of Húrin, one of the unfinished tales in The Silmarillion.Though The Children of Húrin was a great read, it was a tragic one, but I loved learning of what happened fully to Hurin's children, Túrin and Niënor. It has been years since I've read The Silmarillion, so this was a necessity read, for me.I highly recommend lovers of Tolkien's work to read this tale.
    • 5/5
      A great story of how pride and fate can overcome a man.
    • 4/5
      This book started out very slowly. It eventually morphed into a very good story. I had hoped it would tie into the Hobbit/Lord of the rings, which it didn't really do. The genealogy does link to Elrond of Rivendale. For the Lord of the rings fans out there, I think it is worth reading.
    • 3/5
      More enjoyable than "The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian". Christopher Lee speaks the various names in the various languages with gusto, which helps the book along. Basically, this is just a grim Scandinavian/Germanic myth of doom and battle, with a side-dressing of Morgoth and Elves and extra gods. It is unusual for one author to write such different kinds of books about one imaginary place. "The Hobbit" is a very different kind of book from "The Lord of the Rings" and this book is substantially different from both.Morgoth (and Sauron), never seem to be sufficiently goal oriented to be "good" bad guys.
    • 4/5
      Actually found this hard going due to the rambling, long-terminated style, but interesting and worth the effort.
    • 2/5
      I didn't finish this book. It just didn't catch my attention.
    • 4/5
      Really a lovely book, with not-at-all-cheesy, atmospheric b/w and color illustrations by Alan Lee. Worth mentioning, 'cause it's so rare to see a book with actual illustration these days it seems!
      This, of course, is a story "put together" by J.R.R.'s son Christopher from Tolkien's copious unfinished writings. It's also featured in the Silmarillion, but this is a more complete version, including more details, and some revisions, about which Christopher Tolkien talks extensively.
      As a novel, it's good, but not great ficton on the level of the Lord of the Rings. As Christopher notes, Tolkien's "other" tales tended to be written in a very distanced manner. They're supposed to be "ancient tales" and one gets that feeling from the story, as if a teller were relating a legend of long ago. It's similar to reading stories of the Mabinogion or the Eddas, or something from Arthurian lore.
      The story itself lives up to that - it's high tragedy, and feels completely authentic. It really should be read by anyone who loves mythic fantasy. Still, it doesn't have the emotional immediacy - or the humor and charm - of Tolkien's better-known works.

      My biggest gripe with this book is that CHristopher T. makes mention of the fact that Tolkien began writing two different forms of this story in verse, as well, and gives brief stanzas as examples. He says that they were unfinished - but also that they were epic-ly long. I really think that this volume should have included the poetic versions, perhaps as a long appendix.
    • 5/5
      This is a great read. The stories give details of history that is only hinted at in The Lord of the Rings stories. You find out more details of these stories. My copy included drawings and pictures. Sometimes these can be too "cartoony" and take away from a story. However, these in my copy showed visually the details and were very well places. I loved having the sketch looking ones as well as the color ones too. The final note is that I had a map that is noted to be what Tolkien used for writing this world. Seeing it also added to it.

      I felt like I was reading an old fairytale book with elves, dragons, and far away kingdoms. It's an amazing tale and perfect for those who especially fell in love with his other works.
    • 1/5
      A completely unnecessary book, a money-grab. A rehashing of the material which has already been published and analyzed over the past 2 decades by C. T. Additionally, while C. T. is a very good literary scholar, he's either a terrible writer or unable to get the language of J. R. R. T.'s notes up to the level of his published writing; the prosody and flow are stilted and unmusical.
    • 5/5
      I loved the flow of this book. After reading Books 1 and 2 of the Lost Tales and the Silmarillion, the names and locations were familiar and even though I knew what was going to happen, it was still slightly different from the previous versions.
    • 5/5
      This is a great read. The stories give details of history that is only hinted at in The Lord of the Rings stories. You find out more details of these stories. My copy included drawings and pictures. Sometimes these can be too "cartoony" and take away from a story. However, these in my copy showed visually the details and were very well places. I loved having the sketch looking ones as well as the color ones too. The final note is that I had a map that is noted to be what Tolkien used for writing this world. Seeing it also added to it.

      I felt like I was reading an old fairytale book with elves, dragons, and far away kingdoms. It's an amazing tale and perfect for those who especially fell in love with his other works.
    • 2/5
      This book is a swiz. Anyone who has got Unfinished Tales has already read everything in it. Completists only.
    • 4/5
      Aaah! It felt so good being back in Middle-earth, even if only for such a short tale. Tolkien remains a marvel to read, even through his posthumously released work.

      The Children of Húrin is a beautiful and full tale of a man who cannot shed his doom. It contains a lot of story in only a few pages, so it is painted in broad brush strokes with sometimes years passing in a single paragraph. However, it remains a page turner as such and describes some important events from the Elder Days beautifully.

      Recommended for all Tolkien fans, but also other fantasy lovers.
    • 5/5
      I quite enjoyed this story. It's heroic and tragic in all the right ways, and it is more accessible, I think, than many of Tolkien's other "lost tales" and mythologies in his legendarium. It succeeds in being a well-structured story with a set of boundaries, and although there might be a few too many names to remember (and that's just referring to the names Túrin gives himself!), it is well worth the read.
    • 4/5
      With school coming to a close, reading the year's last book report was extremely hard. Although I enjoyed reading the book itself, time held me back from finishing it quicker than I wanted.One of Tolkien's "Lost Tales" kind of books, this story was edited by his son, Christopher Tolkien. It had beautiful watercolor paintings which divided the book up nicely and the style had a nice tone to it.The story covers the life of Túrin, son of Húrin, starting from when he was roughly nine years old. Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, was taking over Middle-earth, and Túrin's mother made him leave his family and flee to the safety of the Elves. He grew up there, but complications arose and he moved on, forming a band of outlaws and living in the woods. Throughout the story, Túrin moves from place to place, trying to escape the rage of the wingless dragon, possessed by Morgoth himself.The book read nicely, and I was able to enjoy sitting back and reading it, not as a thriller or suspense novel, but with the mind of it being a classic. I liked the protagonist immediately and enjoyed reading through his life.HOWEVER, and this is a major SPOILER ALERT---Nearly every significant character in this book dies, and in horrific ways at that. Túrin accidently kills his best friend, thinking he's an orc, his other friend dies in battle, his father he never sees again, his mother dies of heartbreak on the last page, his girlfriend dies when he's tricked into abandoning her, his sister committs suicide after she realizes she marries her brother, whom she thinks dies, her lover, who was jealous of Túrin, is hacked to pieces, and Túrin himself falls on his sword in grief by the end.This above makes the story's rating plummet. Tolkien must have been going through Poe-depression or something because this story was truly unsettling. I'm curious if there's a fan fiction out there with a happy version to this story.
    • 5/5
      A tale from the First Age of Middle Earth, this is a story to read when you want to dwell in beautiful despair. I appreciate the struggle of mankind presented, the almost poetic telling of it. Tolkien wrestles with the question of whether a curse can determine your life, or is it within you before it is spoken. The way in which the truth is revealed can be a lie, and we can blind ourselves. I would say The Children of Húrin is right up there with some of the finest Greek tragedies for heartbreaking beauty.
    • 4/5
      “Thankless fosterling, outlaw, slayer of your friend, thief of love, usurper of Nargothrond, captain foolhardy, and deserter of your kin.”- Glaurung the dragon taunts fallen hero Turin in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Children of Hurin" I really didn't enjoy reading "The Hobbit". I loved and have become obsessed with "The Lord of the Rings". Jumping deeper into the nerd world of Tolkien minutiae, I just finished "The Children of Hurin", a short novel cobbled together from J.R.R.'s manuscript pieces by His son, Christopher. And it’s very good.The story is an expansion of a tale from a previously published story within "The Silmarillion," Tolkien's book of legends and 'history' within his greater Middle-Earth universe. "Children" follows the family of Hurin as they carve out a cursed existence thousands of years before Frodo ever heard of a ring. The family curse, meted out by Morgoth, a First Age Evil who shades the world in a similar vein to Sauron, weighs most heavily on his son, Turin. But neither Hurin's wife, nor daughter avoid it's sting.“The shadow of my thought shall lie upon them wherever they go, and my hate shall pursue them to the ends of the world.”- Morgoth recites his curse on Hurin’s familyThe story reads like thick, weighty and substantive mythology. It's language is a bit archaic, but it only adds to its sense of history. The mythical themes will be recognizable - cursed hero finds that any happiness is merely shadow. Each heroic feat is mirrored by an equally heroic failure. The characters are quite simple. Subtlety resides within the connective elements of the plot, not within the personalities that are very broadly drawn.If you’re a fan of LOTR, this is a terrific read to expand your glimpse inside Tolkien’s vast world.
    • 4/5
      Of all the mythology of Middle Earth, this is probably the darkest tale. It’s essentially a tale of original sin, with Tolkien’s version of Satan rewarding Húrin’s defiance with imprisonment and a curse on his family which is enacted whilst all he can do is watch. The dark side might lose a few bodies and a battle or two but overall win the day. This isn’t even about some capriciousness of the gods, it’s about the cost of doing the right thing. Where Tolkien excels is in how Túrin almost always acts with the best of intentions but how his actions turn to darkness. As the author’s aiming for the breadth and sweep of European myth the unlikely coincidences of the story can be put down to chance being corrupted and the curse working its dark magic. Essentially we’re told up front that this will be a depressing read, but the hope that the characters can defy their decreed fate leaves a spark of hope to the end. It’s no spoiler to say that that hope goes unrewarded, with the last few scenes being as heartbreaking as Tolkien gets. Túrin does achieve some minor victories, but the misery he often unwittingly spreads tends to outweigh that. Powerfully written stuff, to the point you wouldn’t know it had to be reconstructed by the author’s son. It won’t convert those who find Tolkien forbidding and off-putting, but for those of us who grew up reading him and have never quite lost the taste for his works, it’s thrilling stuff and arguably a better place to start than The Silmarillion (a more coherent story), The Hobbit (more depth and breadth) or the weightiness of his most famous trilogy.
    • 4/5
      Good, but reinforces the basic pessimism of Tolkien's story-world. The only salvation in the First Age is via a literal deus ex machina -- which sort of spoils it for the irreligious.
    • 4/5
      My mother really didn't like The Children of Hurin, so I've been putting it off. Something about it being badly edited, and Christopher Tolkien's turgid prose... Coming from a recent read of The Silmarillion, it doesn't seem that bad to me. It doesn't sparkle as a finished draft would, knowing J.R.R.'s tendency to be a perfectionist, but it is perfectly readable.

      Having just read The Silmarillion, though, the fact that this story is in there with most of the detail, I can't help but feel a liiiiittle cheated. Still, it's a lovely volume, with Alan Lee's illustrations, and various supplementary materials. Worth it, for the fan or the Tolkien scholar.
    • 4/5
      Loved this book. You really don't need to be a die-hard Tolkien fan to enjoy it (I don't consider myself one either). Although the first chapter is full with names and places, the story begins soon after. All that is needed to understand the settings in which the story takes place is described in the introduction.

      Morgoth cursed all Húrin's family, and the story follows the path of his children, specially Túrin, as the bad luck and disgrace follows them. The plot was something that I really liked, and I really began emphatizing with the character and feeling sorry for him, even when he made bad decisions on the course of the story. This is a tragedy though, I wouldn't recommend it to people that need an happy ending on their stories.


      I also find that the voice narrating voice isn't very 'intimate' or personal, but kind of mantains a certain distance from the events. It gives the feeling of one of the old tales, kind of a legend to be told by the fire instead of a novel in which everything feels very close to us. I don't know how to explain this properly, but it's the kind of feeling it gives.




      Overall, a quick read, very entertaining and full of adventure and tragedy.
      If you liked Lord of the Rings, you'll probably like this, as long as you don't mind the increased distance from the characters.
      An awesome read though!

      (and goodreads should have a scale bigger than 1-5 in my humble opinion xD).
    • 4/5
      Perhaps the saddest of all Tolkien's stories: men and women cursed for defying a dark power far beyond them. Also perhaps one of his most moving, as those men fight on, knowing fate is unavoidable and courageously meeting it head-on nonetheless.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this story and it's great to be immersed in the world of Tolkien's First Age of Men, Elves and Dwarves. Christopher Tolkien has stitched together from his father's partially completed writings a very worthy addition to the legends of Middle-earth.

      The voice of The Children of Húrin lies somewhere between the "high tone" of the Silmarillion and the more direct, personal narrative of The Lord of the Rings, but tending more to the former. There is, therefore, a certain distance that stands between the reader and the characters that prevents me (at least) from fully empathising with their plights.

      I found Túrin the least sympathetic of Tolkien's heroes (or, perhaps I should say protagonists, as despite his bravery and incredible deeds of arms, I don't think he's a hero in the same way that, say, Beren or Aragorn are). He's self-centred, arrogant and lacks understanding of others' feelings and motivations. This may well be largely due to the curse of Morgoth, but also seems to be a basic character flaw. As he rarely has any insight into his own inner-world, there is little development of character and he seems to run on the rails of the doom that Morgoth has laid out for him.

      It need not have been so, for at a point in the story where Túrin's star is in the ascendant and he's becoming a figure of power in Beleriand, Morgoth worries that Túrin might escape his doom. So, it seems that Túrin's fate and the doom he brings to others is, at least in part, due to himself and not to Morgoth.

      What I found more interesting was the presentation of Morgoth as a "person" with motivations and ambitions, contrasting with Sauron in The Lord of the Rings, in which he is barely met with and is presented as an ultimate evil force without any personality. Both treatments work well in the their contexts, but it was interesting to have this Dark Lord a little more fleshed out.

      Overall, I really enjoyed the book, even if it doesn't sound like it from the above, but Tolkien sets himself some high standards to be held against. Just shy of a 5 star, I'd give it 4.5 stars if I could.
    • 5/5
      "The Children of Húrin" is a story which takes place in an older era of Middle Earth, before Sauron became the dark lord. Its forested setting is reminiscent of the legends of old Ireland. However, the tale told in this book surpasses the old legends I have read. J. R. R. Tolkien is a powerful writer, able to weave a satisfying and gripping tale with beautiful language. The special highlight of this book, which earns it a 5th star, is its emotional impact. As an adult, it has become rare for me to find a book which can move me, but "The Children of Húrin" was such a novel. "The Children of Húrin" is of a similar caliber to Tolkien's more well-known books, "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings."
    • 4/5
      While Tolkein's manner of writing can be rather archaic at times, "The Children of Hurin" is a wonder expansion on one of the most popular stories in "The Silmarillion." Not only does this book share the sense of being part of a grander mythology/history like "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings," but, for those who route for the bad guys and like to dip into schadenfreude every now and then, this story offers some great tragic moments. SOmetimes, it seems like the House of Hurin would better be styled the House of Murphy, for everything goes wrong in the life of Turin, son of Hurin. What makes things better is that he's not a particularly likeable character, so one doesn't feel too bad for him! Or maybe I just like the bad guys too much. Either way, if you like "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" but are intimidated by "The SIlmarillion," "The Children of Hurin" is a great way to enter into the history of Middle Earth.
    • 4/5
      The Children of Hurin provides some great historical material to Tolkien's world of Middle-Earth and adds even more richness to the Lord of the Rings. This addition to Tolkien's extensive historical background of Middle-earth fills in the gaps and fleshes out stories that have been mentioned and hinted at in other works by giving us a detailed and colorful look at the tragic story surrounding Túrin and Niënor (Hurin's children) and the ongoing battle against Morgoth, the master of the Lord of the Rings' evil character, Sauron.This is a well-told tale with engaging characters and plenty of action that keeps the reader interested throughout. While not as enthralling as the Lord of the RIngs Trilogy, or as entertaining and wonderful as The Hobbit, The Children of Hurin is a worthy addition to the Middle-Earth cannon and is a more complete novel than most other source material that is out there. It stand on it's own well and one does not need to have read any of the other histories to follow along with what is going on here.Overall, a solid work that I'd recommend to fans of Tolkien's works or epic fantasy in general.
    • 5/5
      This has been written/editted together well, making it one of the more readable tales from the early ages of Middle Earth. The prose defintely reads like traditional myth, so much so that I forgot sometimes that I wasn't reading a translation of an older text. I would recommend this for anyone interested in the history of Middle Earth beyond LOTR and the Hobbit.
    • 3/5
      Tolkien has far less excuse for his fatalism than the ancient Greeks from whom he so liberally cribbed in this tale. Still, worth listening to for Christopher Lee's narration if nothing else.
    • 3/5
      The character of Hurin is not the focus of the plot, title notwithstanding: his role is effectively a framing device for the trials of his son, Turin. Hurin joined the unsuccessful battle against Morgoth (Melkor), and though captured helps ensure the escape of a contingent of Elves and Men. Defying Morgoth's desire to know the location of the hidden city of Gondolin, Morgoth tortures Hurin and imprisons him in Angband. Through sorcery, Hurin must witness a curse slowly unfold Morgoth's malevolence upon his family. So much for the narrative frame: the remainder of the tale tells of Turin's efforts to find his way in the world, oppose Morgoth, and return to his family. Of the other two children of Hurin: his eldest daughter dies in childhood, and his youngest daughter remains with her mother, separated from both Hurin and Turin. A romantic tragedy in high fantasy.//If Tolkien provides distinct prose styles in The Hobbit, The Lord Of The Rings, and The Silmarillion, here he's provided another which fits somewhere between: more measured than the paternal storyteller of Bilbo's and Frodo's tales, but more lyrical and engaged than I recall from The Silmarillion. That may result from son Christopher's refined editing skills, or perhaps that Tolkien left a solid set of versions to work from. It works as advertised, a neat entry into the larger world of the History of Middle-earth, not as daunting or as much a slog as The Silmarillion, and I'll use it as a stepping off point for revisiting that work, perhaps looking at the various volumes published since then: BoLT, HoME, UT I and II.Hurin helps situate the distinctions between the First Age, Second Age, and Third Age in Tolkien's mythology. Hurin's tale is in fact one of three principle stories belonging to the First Age, the others being the Fall of Gondolin and the Tale of Beren and Luthien. The Second Age (according to Robert Foster) deals with the advent of Sauron, the forging of the Rings of Power, and Sauron's initial (temporary) overthrow. The Third Age is accounted for by both the events of Bilbo and Thorin & Company, and the later events of the Fellowship. It's tempting to see the Fourth Age as allegory for modern times here on Earth, but then Tolkien had a low opinion of allegory.The relation of Men and Elves is intriguing: a key subtheme, though not the focus of this story. But surely it's important that the two races have such close dealings, partnerships, intermarriage, and are allied against Morgoth. Whereas in the Third Age, superstition at least on the part of Men toward Elves, if not outright forgetting. Interesting, too, when realising that Men came out of the East "running from something dark" but not speaking of it. What does Tolkien make of that, I wonder.On a smaller scale, the forgetting and darkness cast upon Nienor by Glaurung (the original Dragon, creature of Morgoth and sire of Smaug), leading as it does to feral if enchanted behavior, and eventually to incest ... that, too, seems deliberately mythopoeic in the telling. But I may be forcing a reading which I admire in myth, which nevertheless is not here.//The map is arranged to fold out and remain visible while reading the book, and easily refolded until next reading session. Simple, clever, and highly functional. Alan Lee's illustrations are decorative rather than an added layer of visual interpretation. I'm impressed with how many there are, both full-colour as well as the pencil / line drawings scattered throughout.