2005 Author Reviews for
Ariel

What good can I not speak of this author, save to wish she would produce more gems for my greedy consumption? Ariel is what I would call a sure bet when it comes to fanfiction, and I make that statement with absolutely no reservations. Whether it is a ficlet or a multi-chaptered story, whether humorous, dramatic or sensuous, I have never been disappointed. She writes very cleanly, both technically and stylistically, with tight plots that ravel out to capture the imagination and draw the reader to follow her on that gorgeous path her words trace out with seeming ease. She has a true love for her characters and a deep comprehension of the changes life's unexpected turns can effect, and both are well in evidence in all of her work. There is a deep well of understanding, about the world of Lord of the Rings and about life and people in general, which forms and suffuses all the works that Ariel presents to us. Long or short, her stories enfold the reader into a fully rendered reality that I am always sorry to have to depart at the end. In particular, she does something I envy with all my love, and that is to lay out a gorgeously engrossing full-length story, as she has done with ?Fear?. Not a single loose thread, not a character out of balance through all those chapters! And the chapters themselves are lovely little masterpieces, whether introspective or highly interactive, that all push and pull together in unified motion to slowly ramp up the tensions to their wonderful climax. Several journeys are explored here, and none of them feels shorted, and they are deftly mingled with a masterful hand! There are a multitude of beautiful, uplifting, heart-rending reasons she occupies my recommendation list!