2005 Author Reviews for
Altariel

When someone mentions Altariel, I usually think of Gondor and the Steward's family. But now I have to amend that because the story "Moss and Stone" is about as far from Minas Tirith as you can get. Altariel deserves kudos upon kudos for making me like Tom Bombadil. I usually tolerate him as a character, but never has anyone made me look closely at him and understand just how remarkable his priorities are. Or how much they probably reflect Tolkien's own values. Insightful as always, Altariel puts everything into a greater perspective using Gandalf's eyes, and the result is incredible. Fantastic writing, but considering it's Altariel, it's hard to expect anything less.

Like several of my favorite authors, Altariel has a gift for making brevity an advantage. She was the original brevity queen insofar as my fanfic reading was concerned?ironically, since one of the first things I read of hers was "A Game of Chess"?no short fic, that! But Altariel really is the master of the concise turn of phrase. I love the subtlety of her work, the absolute precision she strives for and often attains, and the symmetry that governs the flow of many of her works. The drabble form suits her very well, and she's given us some of the most gorgeous drabble sets I've ever read?series which have an incredible breadth in terms of the settings and possibilities covered and explored, but that aren't simply shallow evocations either. They are thematically powerful, exploring hope, despair, love, and the long links that tradition forms over generations and which help support the aforementioned themes. At the same time, she's able to access obscure corners of Tolkien's world and make them feel full, alive, and significant in just one hundred words: I think particularly of her drabble on Malbeth in "Gloria Mundi". It doesn't get that much more obscure, yet she evokes a whole life, in its rise and fall, pride and folly, wisdom and fading; Malbeth acquires gravity and a personality and function far beyond what Tolkien gave him. And of course, no one writes Faramir like Altariel writes him, and in her AU drabble series about him and ?owyn, she hits several major possibilities for the two of them in her characteristically understated yet forceful style. The cumulative effect of these individual drabbles is staggering and should do much to convince any skeptics that a drabble can be an effective form of fanfic.

Once again, Altariel shows us what you can do with the right words, even if there aren't a lot of them, and she tackles some tough moments: a ritual oath of allegiance that might've occurred between the written lines, the next war after the War of the Rings, and the life of T?rin focusing on his final choice of death. Despite their brevity, these fics have gravity?Altariel excels at giving her fics weight. Fluff you will not find, but thoughtful reflection and works tight as a wire are her specialty, and she doesn't shy away from heavy, potentially painful topics.

Once again, Altariel shows us what you can do with the right words, even if there aren't a lot of them, and she tackles some tough moments: a ritual oath of allegiance that might've occurred between the written lines, the next war after the War of the Rings, and the life of T?rin focusing on his final choice of death. Despite their brevity, these fics have gravity?Altariel excels at giving her fics weight. Fluff you will not find, but thoughtful reflection and works tight as a wire are her specialty, and she doesn't shy away from heavy, potentially painful topics.

Like several of my favorite authors, Altariel has a gift for making brevity an advantage. She was the original brevity queen insofar as my fanfic reading was concerned?ironically, since one of the first things I read of hers was "A Game of Chess"?no short fic, that! But Altariel really is the master of the concise turn of phrase. I love the subtlety of her work, the absolute precision she strives for and often attains, and the symmetry that governs the flow of many of her works. The drabble form suits her very well, and she's given us some of the most gorgeous drabble sets I've ever read?series which have an incredible breadth in terms of the settings and possibilities covered and explored, but that aren't simply shallow evocations either. They are thematically powerful, exploring hope, despair, love, and the long links that tradition forms over generations and which help support the aforementioned themes. At the same time, she's able to access obscure corners of Tolkien's world and make them feel full, alive, and significant in just one hundred words: I think particularly of her drabble on Malbeth in "Gloria Mundi". It doesn't get that much more obscure, yet she evokes a whole life, in its rise and fall, pride and folly, wisdom and fading; Malbeth acquires gravity and a personality and function far beyond what Tolkien gave him. And of course, no one writes Faramir like Altariel writes him, and in her AU drabble series about him and ?owyn, she hits several major possibilities for the two of them in her characteristically understated yet forceful style. The cumulative effect of these individual drabbles is staggering and should do much to convince any skeptics that a drabble can be an effective form of fanfic.

Once again, Altariel shows us what you can do with the right words, even if there aren't a lot of them, and she tackles some tough moments: a ritual oath of allegiance that might've occurred between the written lines, the next war after the War of the Rings, and the life of T?rin focusing on his final choice of death. Despite their brevity, these fics have gravity?Altariel excels at giving her fics weight. Fluff you will not find, but thoughtful reflection and works tight as a wire are her specialty, and she doesn't shy away from heavy, potentially painful topics.

It's a simple fact that Altariel is one of the best when it comes to Faramir. Or anything having to do with the Steward's family, but Faramir in particular is especially strong whenever Altariel gets hold of him. And "Flame of the West" is no different from any of Altariel's other stories in this aspect. Faramir is brilliant. And even though Aragorn is a very noticeable presence (with some amazing dialogue and spot-on characterization) the story is clearly about Faramir. The beginning and end make certain of that, and I think making him the focus of a story that could have so easily been about both Steward and King gives it a focus and a drive it might not otherwise have. It's a subtle stroke on Altariel's part but an important one, and making certain all those little things are addressed is the mark of a very good author. Well written!