On June 1st, Middle Earth fans everywhere rejoiced. One of Tolkien's works, Beren and Luthien, has finally been released to the world, 100 years after it was originally written. The story of these two characters was published in shorter form in The Silmarillion, but this book will tell the story in much greater detail.

Even as a massive fan of all things Middle Earth, The Silmarillion was hard for me to get through, there were so many different stories with so many little details all packed into one book, that it became difficult for me to keep up with. But, Beren and Luthiens story was one that stuck out to me, and remains my favorite from the book.

This story meant a lot to Tolkien. The grave that he shares with his wife Edith, has the names Beren and Luthien carved into the tombstone. The character of Luthien was based on Edith, and a lot of their experiences together influenced his writing. The first manuscripts were also written shortly after he returned from serving in World War 1, during a time when he used his writing as a way of coping with the horrible things that he had seen during that time.

Tolkien's son Christopher has chosen to keep the writing in it's original form, meaning that it will differ slightly from the story that was told in The Silmarillion. I can imagine that if details from the other versions are contradicted, that there will be many arguments among fans over which version of the story is considered to be "canon"

Fan arguments aside, it's going to be interesting to see this new telling of the story. And as someone who has been attached to Beren and Luthien for years, reading this book is definitely going to be an emotional experience for me.