LONDON: An unfinished book by the late J.R.R. Tolkien, author of the Lord of the Rings, has been completed by his son Christopher and will be published early next year, he said on Tuesday.
Tolkien began working on The Children Of Hurin in 1918 but failed to complete it. His son has spent about three decades completing the story from the many drafts produced by his father.
Some extracts from the book -- which again features the elves and dwarves which people Tolkien's three-volume masterpiece -- have been previously published, but the whole story will now be pulled together in one book.
"It has seemed to me for a long time that there was a good case for presenting my father's long version of the legend of The Children Of Hurin as an independent work, between its own covers," he said in a statement.
Christopher Tolkien, who drew the distinctive maps which accompanied the Lord of the Rings and has previously edited another of his father's works, The Silmarillion, is one of the author's three surviving children.
He was opposed to the blockbuster film versions of his father's work by director Peter Jackson, which brought the tale to a worldwide audience and reaped a haul of Oscars.
The new book will be published in Britain by HarperCollins.
"This epic story of adventure, tragedy, fellowship and heroism stands as one of the finest expressions of J.R.R. Tolkien's skills as a storyteller," said the publisher's chief executive Victoria Barnsley.
"With a narrative as dramatic and powerful as anything contained within The Lord Of The Rings, it can now be read and enjoyed as Tolkien originally intended, and will doubtless be a revelation for millions of fans around the world."
