JRR Tolkien's final work?

A link from Ghost of a Flea led to this article in The Australian:

The "new" work does not include characters such as the elves Arwen and Legolas. It is much darker and is based on the Kalevala, an epic poem from Finland. Tolkien, who died at 81 in 1973, took the tale and weaved his own story around it.

The Children of Hurin will tell the story of the family of an elf warrior taken prisoner by Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, held responsible for torturing elves and producing the first orcs, a race of evil goblins.

Hurin, the elf warrior, is given powers by Morgoth to foresee what will happen to his children.

"Death you may yet crave from me as a boon," Morgoth tells him.

One son, Turin, is manoeuvred into having sex with his sister Nienor and becomes a carrier of doom, triggering the death of everyone close to him.

One Tolkien expert, William Ferguson, said last weekend: "Turin makes folks like Othello and Hamlet and Oedipus look like lucky devils."

Yikes! Sounds like the book will appeal to a very different mix of audiences than the LOTR and The Hobbit.