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Originally Posted by William Cloud Hickli
No, that's exactly the case. Christopher views this book as a bridge for the ordinary reader from the Lord of the Rings to The Silmarillion, and felt that the general public could use at least part of his father's prized First Age legendarium in a form less 'rebarbative' (his word) than The Silmarillion. He was also partly motivated by the perception that, in the wake of the films, 'Tolkien' and 'Lord of the Rings' had become nearly synonymous, although his desire to publish a complete Narn dates back many years. (This is straight from the horse's mouth, BTW).
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But does CT feel he has 'failed' in what he set out to do - make his father's Sil accessible? We had The 77 Sil, presented without notes & background analysis/info, & that is seen as 'difficult', & we've had UT & HoM-e with notes & analysis by CT & they are viewed as even more difficult. CoH seems to be CT's final attempt at making his father's work available to the general reader. So, does he in some way feel that he has 'let his father down' in that the stuff he has given us so far has in many eyes the reputation of being either difficult or boring (or simply 'unreadable' )?
It also occurs to me whether some of us fans haven't contributed to that impression, with our in depth discussions & references to 'HoM-e vol 6 chapter 17.....' stuff which very few Tolkien fans actually know or have access to.
I'd hate to think that CT did feel he had in some way 'failed' his father. I think I've read everything CT has published of his father's work, & I'm immensely grateful for CT for the work he's done.