2006 Author Reviews for
Branwyn

I?d like to commend Branwyn for her characterization of Denethor in the stories ?By the Light of ?arendil?s Star? and ?Last Defense of the City.? Far from the cartoonish madman of the film, her Denethor is a loving and compassionate father who has felt himself forced to present a powerful, controlled persona to his people. Every parent reading ??arendil? can empathize with his despair when he believes Faramir to be dead; share his elation and, moments later, worry when he discovers his child alive, but severely wounded. ?Last Defense of the City? presents a powerful vision of Denethor-who-might-have been, firm in his commitment to his duties as Steward, and resolute in his defense of the City of Kings.

Branwyn is a multi-talented author, one of a select few who can convey the everyday details of life in Gondor and Rohan in a fashion that is not pedantic, but part of the flow of her narrative. Yet she is also wonderfully skilled at telling tales of action and adventure. Branwyn writes brilliant scenes of battles, ambushes in multiple terrains, skirmishes and sieges, with a deceptively quiet tone that builds up the tension and pulls the author into the drama, pain, fear and exhiliaration of war. She has enough knowledge of weapons and strategy and tactics to craft believable battles and those who fight them, which is not often seen in Tolkien fanfiction. But though her adventure stories feature enough thrills and chills for any action junkie, their writer also laces the tales with humor and pathos and provides standout characterisation. There is humor both dry and flat-out funny; and the interpretation of core characters such as Denethor and Boromir is outstanding, and the original characters equally so. I usually do not care for OC\'s in Tolkien fanfiction, but Branwyn creates hers seemingly out of the fabric of Middle-earth itself, so they blend seemlessly into the tapestry of her work. Even the Orcs are not depicted as simplistic monsters, but as well-rounded sentient beings with individual priorities - which makes their fell deeds (and they are quite horrible) all the more monstrous. And the dialogue is excellent, from the Orcs\' bluster and threats to the interplay between humble Rohirric grandparents and grandchild, to the light-hearted and quietly loving conversations that encircle and calm the convalescent Faramir. Branwyn evokes terror quite well, knowing exactly how long to stretch the heart-stopping moments without drowning the reader in terror. Her most terrifying scenes involve young warriors captured by orcs, though the circumstances, and the characterisations and goals differ widely, but then there is also the slow torment of a father who fears for the lives of his children and eventually comes to believe that one of them is dead. And the sense of otherness, that intangible more-than-meets-the-eye quality with which Tolkien also imbued Middle-earth, appears in Branwyn\'s stories, at home amidst the prosaic earthy details and the tension and swagger of brave men and despicable orcs: the Palantir and its influence is seen, foreshadowing Denethor\'s eventual fall in the credence he gives what he sees there, the existence of purposeful ghosts, and the use of the Tale of Beren and Luthien as both a child\'s fairy-tale story and metaphor of hope.

Branwyn is one of those authors that has really captured my heart, and I mean that in both senses. Her stories always captivate me and affect me in one way or another (I like to think in the way that was intended!), but they also seem to have captured my own heart and experiences in the events she has happen to her characters. I often find myself reading her work and thinking to myself \"Gee, that has happened to me!\" That takes an insight into human character that not everyone possesses, and I don\'t think her writing would be so affective without it. Anyone who has read her in the past should not be surprised to find that she writes Boromir and Faramir in a three-dimensional and faceted way. Her shorter pieces only hint at a depth that seems to underrun all of her stories, yet they do not rely on each other so much that knowledge of all is necessary to understand one. But what did surprise me about this year\'s readings from her is just how many different genres she can write. I knew she wrote drama and reminiscing in a way I thoroughly enjoyed, and \"Pink Oliphaunts\" and \"The Household Accounts\" did not disappoint on this grounds, but the pacing and horror that kept me on the edge of my seat through \"The Fords of Isen\"... just wow. And the sensuous detail, penchant for historical accuracy, and compelling (and in-character) erotica in \"Book Learning\"... shall not go too far into that for a PG review, but suffice it to say that romance is not beyond the scope of her talent. This is an author that continues to surprise me in pleasant ways.

The stories are told in a elegant, lyrical style; never stilted, while still conveying a historical feeling, even in the excellent dialogues. This is reinforced by the evocative descriptions of details of everyday living in a historical epoch, used with palpable skill, but always subtly and unobtrusively interwoven into the flow of the narrative. Good feeling for atmosphere.

Another writer whose style permits distinctive atmospheric coloration. Branwyn does \'snapshots\' well--she\'s good at finding the moment and showing it as such. She knows what effects she\'s aiming for, and how to achieve them. Her characterization is good, and she can evoke incredibly vivid and unique images (I think of barnacled Boromir and damp and moldering Th?odred, both always dripping water, as well as the trees and the path leading north in one of her shorts) in a very short space--an enviable talent. She is also capable of condensing the heart of an alternate universe scenario into an extremely compact story, like a drabble, and thereby opening these brief, startling insights into something subterranean at work in the original storyline.

Another writer whose style permits distinctive atmospheric coloration. Branwyn does \'snapshots\' well--she\'s good at finding the moment and showing it as such. She knows what effects she\'s aiming for, and how to achieve them. Her characterization is good, and she can evoke incredibly vivid and unique images (I think of barnacled Boromir and damp and moldering Th?odred, both always dripping water, as well as the trees and the path leading north in one of her shorts) in a very short space--an enviable talent. She is also capable of condensing the heart of an alternate universe scenario into an extremely compact story, like a drabble, and thereby opening these brief, startling insights into something subterranean at work in the original storyline.

Another writer whose style permits distinctive atmospheric coloration. Branwyn does \'snapshots\' well--she\'s good at finding the moment and showing it as such. She knows what effects she\'s aiming for, and how to achieve them. Her characterization is good, and she can evoke incredibly vivid and unique images (I think of barnacled Boromir and damp and moldering Th?odred, both always dripping water, as well as the trees and the path leading north in one of her shorts) in a very short space--an enviable talent. She is also capable of condensing the heart of an alternate universe scenario into an extremely compact story, like a drabble, and thereby opening these brief, startling insights into something subterranean at work in the original storyline.

The stories are told in a elegant, lyrical style; never stilted, while still conveying a historical feeling, even in the excellent dialogues. This is reinforced by the evocative descriptions of details of everyday living in a historical epoch, used with palpable skill, but always subtly and unobtrusively interwoven into the flow of the narrative. Good feeling for atmosphere.

Branwyn is a multi-talented author, one of a select few who can convey the commonplace details of life in Gondor and Rohan in a fashion that is not pedantic, but part of the flow of her narrative. Yet she also presents snapshots of various times and places that touch the heart, in varying levels of intensity. She delivers the poignancy of a fatally ill mother\'s interaction with her two young sons (the younger of whom does not realize that his mother is ill) and the meeting of a young bride with the spirit of her husband\'s long-dead mother through the discovery and examination of the latter\'s household items and accounts - with sweeping emotions presented through the little details, and words, of everyday life. Branwyn also can deliver the dramatic wallop of Imrahil\'s seething anger as he bears his wounded nephew to the father who so coldly cast him into battle, or the situation of one of Denethor\'s servants, after the Ring War, isolated and marked by his obedience to madness. Branwyn\'s minimalist prose reminds me uncannily of that of famed fantasy/SF author Ursula K. LeGuin - the mingling of the elegant, spare prose, with the sure knowledge of the detail in the times and places she chronicles, to present the effect she desires in each work.

Branwyn is a multi-talented author, one of a select few who can convey the commonplace details of life in Gondor and Rohan in a fashion that is not pedantic, but part of the flow of her narrative. Yet she also presents snapshots of various times and places that touch the heart, in varying levels of intensity. She delivers the poignancy of a fatally ill mother\'s interaction with her two young sons (the younger of whom does not realize that his mother is ill) and the meeting of a young bride with the spirit of her husband\'s long-dead mother through the discovery and examination of the latter\'s household items and accounts - with sweeping emotions presented through the little details, and words, of everyday life. Branwyn also can deliver the dramatic wallop of Imrahil\'s seething anger as he bears his wounded nephew to the father who so coldly cast him into battle, or the situation of one of Denethor\'s servants, after the Ring War, isolated and marked by his obedience to madness. Branwyn\'s minimalist prose reminds me uncannily of that of famed fantasy/SF author Ursula K. LeGuin - the mingling of the elegant, spare prose, with the sure knowledge of the detail in the times and places she chronicles, to present the effect she desires in each work.

Branwyn is one of those authors that has really captured my heart, and I mean that in both senses. Her stories always captivate me and affect me in one way or another (I like to think in the way that was intended!), but they also seem to have captured my own heart and experiences in the events she has happen to her characters. I often find myself reading her work and thinking to myself \"Gee, that has happened to me!\" That takes an insight into human character that not everyone possesses, and I don\'t think her writing would be so affective without it. Anyone who has read her in the past should not be surprised to find that she writes Boromir and Faramir in a three-dimensional and faceted way. Her shorter pieces only hint at a depth that seems to underrun all of her stories, yet they do not rely on each other so much that knowledge of all is necessary to understand one. But what did surprise me about this year\'s readings from her is just how many different genres she can write. I knew she wrote drama and reminiscing in a way I thoroughly enjoyed, and \"Pink Oliphaunts\" and \"The Household Accounts\" did not disappoint on this grounds, but the pacing and horror that kept me on the edge of my seat through \"The Fords of Isen\"... just wow. And the sensuous detail, penchant for historical accuracy, and compelling (and in-character) erotica in \"Book Learning\"... shall not go too far into that for a PG review, but suffice it to say that romance is not beyond the scope of her talent. This is an author that continues to surprise me in pleasant ways.

Branwyn is one of those authors that has really captured my heart, and I mean that in both senses. Her stories always captivate me and affect me in one way or another (I like to think in the way that was intended!), but they also seem to have captured my own heart and experiences in the events she has happen to her characters. I often find myself reading her work and thinking to myself \"Gee, that has happened to me!\" That takes an insight into human character that not everyone possesses, and I don\'t think her writing would be so affective without it. Anyone who has read her in the past should not be surprised to find that she writes Boromir and Faramir in a three-dimensional and faceted way. Her shorter pieces only hint at a depth that seems to underrun all of her stories, yet they do not rely on each other so much that knowledge of all is necessary to understand one. But what did surprise me about this year\'s readings from her is just how many different genres she can write. I knew she wrote drama and reminiscing in a way I thoroughly enjoyed, and \"Pink Oliphaunts\" and \"The Household Accounts\" did not disappoint on this grounds, but the pacing and horror that kept me on the edge of my seat through \"The Fords of Isen\"... just wow. And the sensuous detail, penchant for historical accuracy, and compelling (and in-character) erotica in \"Book Learning\"... shall not go too far into that for a PG review, but suffice it to say that romance is not beyond the scope of her talent. This is an author that continues to surprise me in pleasant ways.

Branwyn\'s ability to express and describe the relationships between characters is excellent. Her stories are often succinct, but definitely well written and emotionally satisfying.

The stories are told in a elegant, lyrical style; never stilted, while still conveying a historical feeling, even in the excellent dialogues. This is reinforced by the evocative descriptions of details of everyday living in a historical epoch, used with palpable skill, but always subtly and unobtrusively interwoven into the flow of the narrative. Good feeling for atmosphere.

Branwyn is one of those authors that has really captured my heart, and I mean that in both senses. Her stories always captivate me and affect me in one way or another (I like to think in the way that was intended!), but they also seem to have captured my own heart and experiences in the events she has happen to her characters. I often find myself reading her work and thinking to myself \"Gee, that has happened to me!\" That takes an insight into human character that not everyone possesses, and I don\'t think her writing would be so affective without it. Anyone who has read her in the past should not be surprised to find that she writes Boromir and Faramir in a three-dimensional and faceted way. Her shorter pieces only hint at a depth that seems to underrun all of her stories, yet they do not rely on each other so much that knowledge of all is necessary to understand one. But what did surprise me about this year\'s readings from her is just how many different genres she can write. I knew she wrote drama and reminiscing in a way I thoroughly enjoyed, and \"Pink Oliphaunts\" and \"The Household Accounts\" did not disappoint on this grounds, but the pacing and horror that kept me on the edge of my seat through \"The Fords of Isen\"... just wow. And the sensuous detail, penchant for historical accuracy, and compelling (and in-character) erotica in \"Book Learning\"... shall not go too far into that for a PG review, but suffice it to say that romance is not beyond the scope of her talent. This is an author that continues to surprise me in pleasant ways.

Branwyn\'s skills extend to the depiction not only of romance, but of sensuality and sex itself, and all the dimensions in between those tangled things. Her grasp of the dynamics of a new marriage is stunning in both its consideration of the rank and background of the bride and groom, and the universal problems and delights of the honeymoon season. As a bride and groom start to share their lives together, there will be both, to which the newlyweds must learn to adapt. Branwyn succeeds magnificently in the one romance she has written, where one of Tolkien\'s most famous couples must cope with an unanticipated difficulty - that of not understanding each other\'s sexual needs or having the sexual experience to even make a good guess at them. Branwyn weaves this seriocomic tale with splendid grace, economy of words, and her customary humor, which ranges from dry to howlingly funny. The use of sharp, strong humor is something I have not seen in her other works, understandable, since Branwyn seems above all to be a writer who places plot and characterisation above all, and knows how to let the humor flow out of the situation rather than force a situation to create humor; though she is certainly a skilled enough writer to take advantage of the potential for humor and nurture it! (go read the third part of BOOK LEARNING if you doubt me. I defy you not to at least smile) She should really write romance more often. Not only can she write erotica that is tastefully sexy/sexual, but she brings out the true love and respect that the newlyweds feel for each other.

Branwyn is one of those authors that has really captured my heart, and I mean that in both senses. Her stories always captivate me and affect me in one way or another (I like to think in the way that was intended!), but they also seem to have captured my own heart and experiences in the events she has happen to her characters. I often find myself reading her work and thinking to myself \"Gee, that has happened to me!\" That takes an insight into human character that not everyone possesses, and I don\'t think her writing would be so affective without it. Anyone who has read her in the past should not be surprised to find that she writes Boromir and Faramir in a three-dimensional and faceted way. Her shorter pieces only hint at a depth that seems to underrun all of her stories, yet they do not rely on each other so much that knowledge of all is necessary to understand one. But what did surprise me about this year\'s readings from her is just how many different genres she can write. I knew she wrote drama and reminiscing in a way I thoroughly enjoyed, and \"Pink Oliphaunts\" and \"The Household Accounts\" did not disappoint on this grounds, but the pacing and horror that kept me on the edge of my seat through \"The Fords of Isen\"... just wow. And the sensuous detail, penchant for historical accuracy, and compelling (and in-character) erotica in \"Book Learning\"... shall not go too far into that for a PG review, but suffice it to say that romance is not beyond the scope of her talent. This is an author that continues to surprise me in pleasant ways.

Branwyn is one of those authors that has really captured my heart, and I mean that in both senses. Her stories always captivate me and affect me in one way or another (I like to think in the way that was intended!), but they also seem to have captured my own heart and experiences in the events she has happen to her characters. I often find myself reading her work and thinking to myself \"Gee, that has happened to me!\" That takes an insight into human character that not everyone possesses, and I don\'t think her writing would be so affective without it. Anyone who has read her in the past should not be surprised to find that she writes Boromir and Faramir in a three-dimensional and faceted way. Her shorter pieces only hint at a depth that seems to underrun all of her stories, yet they do not rely on each other so much that knowledge of all is necessary to understand one. But what did surprise me about this year\'s readings from her is just how many different genres she can write. I knew she wrote drama and reminiscing in a way I thoroughly enjoyed, and \"Pink Oliphaunts\" and \"The Household Accounts\" did not disappoint on this grounds, but the pacing and horror that kept me on the edge of my seat through \"The Fords of Isen\"... just wow. And the sensuous detail, penchant for historical accuracy, and compelling (and in-character) erotica in \"Book Learning\"... shall not go too far into that for a PG review, but suffice it to say that romance is not beyond the scope of her talent. This is an author that continues to surprise me in pleasant ways.

Branwyn is a multi-talented author, one of a select few who can convey the commonplace details of life in Gondor and Rohan in a fashion that is not pedantic, but part of the flow of her narrative. Yet she also presents snapshots of various times and places that touch the heart, in varying levels of intensity. She delivers the poignancy of a fatally ill mother\'s interaction with her two young sons (the younger of whom does not realize that his mother is ill) and the meeting of a young bride with the spirit of her husband\'s long-dead mother through the discovery and examination of the latter\'s household items and accounts - with sweeping emotions presented through the little details, and words, of everyday life. Branwyn also can deliver the dramatic wallop of Imrahil\'s seething anger as he bears his wounded nephew to the father who so coldly cast him into battle, or the situation of one of Denethor\'s servants, after the Ring War, isolated and marked by his obedience to madness. Branwyn\'s minimalist prose reminds me uncannily of that of famed fantasy/SF author Ursula K. LeGuin - the mingling of the elegant, spare prose, with the sure knowledge of the detail in the times and places she chronicles, to present the effect she desires in each work.

Branwyn is a multi-talented author, one of a select few who can convey the commonplace details of life in Gondor and Rohan in a fashion that is not pedantic, but part of the flow of her narrative. Yet she also presents snapshots of various times and places that touch the heart, in varying levels of intensity. She delivers the poignancy of a fatally ill mother\'s interaction with her two young sons (the younger of whom does not realize that his mother is ill) and the meeting of a young bride with the spirit of her husband\'s long-dead mother through the discovery and examination of the latter\'s household items and accounts - with sweeping emotions presented through the little details, and words, of everyday life. Branwyn also can deliver the dramatic wallop of Imrahil\'s seething anger as he bears his wounded nephew to the father who so coldly cast him into battle, or the situation of one of Denethor\'s servants, after the Ring War, isolated and marked by his obedience to madness. And there is the subtly splendid [The Road Not Taken], a vignette marking Boromir\'s departure from Rohan to paths unknown, where Branwyn\'s prose practically takes off and flies with lyricism, save for the eerie sense of fate with which she imbues the piece. Branwyn\'s minimalist prose reminds me uncannily of that of famed fantasy/SF author Ursula K. LeGuin - the mingling of the elegant, spare prose, with the sure knowledge of the detail in the times and places she chronicles, to present the effect she desires in each work.

The stories are told in a elegant, lyrical style; never stilted, while still conveying a historical feeling, even in the excellent dialogues. This is reinforced by the evocative descriptions of details of everyday living in a historical epoch, used with palpable skill, but always subtly and unobtrusively interwoven into the flow of the narrative. Good feeling for atmosphere.

Another writer whose style permits distinctive atmospheric coloration. Branwyn does \'snapshots\' well--she\'s good at finding the moment and showing it as such. She knows what effects she\'s aiming for, and how to achieve them. Her characterization is good, and she can evoke incredibly vivid and unique images (I think of barnacled Boromir and damp and moldering Th?odred, both always dripping water, as well as the trees and the path leading north in one of her shorts) in a very short space--an enviable talent. She is also capable of condensing the heart of an alternate universe scenario into an extremely compact story, like a drabble, and thereby opening these brief, startling insights into something subterranean at work in the original storyline.

Another writer whose style permits distinctive atmospheric coloration. Branwyn does \'snapshots\' well--she\'s good at finding the moment and showing it as such. She knows what effects she\'s aiming for, and how to achieve them. Her characterization is good, and she can evoke incredibly vivid and unique images (I think of barnacled Boromir and damp and moldering Th?odred, both always dripping water, as well as the trees and the path leading north in one of her shorts) in a very short space--an enviable talent. She is also capable of condensing the heart of an alternate universe scenario into an extremely compact story, like a drabble, and thereby opening these brief, startling insights into something subterranean at work in the original storyline.

Branwyn is a multi-talented author, one of a select few who can convey the commonplace details of life in Gondor and Rohan in a fashion that is not pedantic, but part of the flow of her narrative. Yet she also presents snapshots of various times and places that touch the heart, in varying levels of intensity. She delivers the poignancy of a fatally ill mother\'s interaction with her two young sons (the younger of whom does not realize that his mother is ill) and the meeting of a young bride with the spirit of her husband\'s long-dead mother through the discovery and examination of the latter\'s household items and accounts - with sweeping emotions presented through the little details, and words, of everyday life. Branwyn also can deliver the dramatic wallop of Imrahil\'s seething anger as he bears his wounded nephew to the father who so coldly cast him into battle, or the situation of one of Denethor\'s servants, after the Ring War, isolated and marked by his obedience to madness. She can also write a magnificent AU Denethor, who chooses his Stewardly duty over the despair that claims him in ROTK. And there are streaks of humor in some of her work; Branwyn has a masterful sense of when and how to wield humor, as well as drama. Branwyn\'s minimalist prose reminds me uncannily of that of famed fantasy/SF author Ursula K. LeGuin - the mingling of the elegant, spare prose, with the sure knowledge of the detail in the times and places she chronicles, to present the effect she desires in each work.

Another writer whose style permits distinctive atmospheric coloration. Branwyn does \'snapshots\' well--she\'s good at finding the moment and showing it as such. She knows what effects she\'s aiming for, and how to achieve them. Her characterization is good, and she can evoke incredibly vivid and unique images (I think of barnacled Boromir and damp and moldering Th?odred, both always dripping water, as well as the trees and the path leading north in one of her shorts) in a very short space--an enviable talent. She is also capable of condensing the heart of an alternate universe scenario into an extremely compact story, like a drabble, and thereby opening these brief, startling insights into something subterranean at work in the original storyline.

Branwyn is one of those authors that has really captured my heart, and I mean that in both senses. Her stories always captivate me and affect me in one way or another (I like to think in the way that was intended!), but they also seem to have captured my own heart and experiences in the events she has happen to her characters. I often find myself reading her work and thinking to myself \"Gee, that has happened to me!\" That takes an insight into human character that not everyone possesses, and I don\'t think her writing would be so affective without it. Anyone who has read her in the past should not be surprised to find that she writes Boromir and Faramir in a three-dimensional and faceted way. Her shorter pieces only hint at a depth that seems to underrun all of her stories, yet they do not rely on each other so much that knowledge of all is necessary to understand one. But what did surprise me about this year\'s readings from her is just how many different genres she can write. I knew she wrote drama and reminiscing in a way I thoroughly enjoyed, and \"Pink Oliphaunts\" and \"The Household Accounts\" did not disappoint on this grounds, but the pacing and horror that kept me on the edge of my seat through \"The Fords of Isen\"... just wow. And the sensuous detail, penchant for historical accuracy, and compelling (and in-character) erotica in \"Book Learning\"... shall not go too far into that for a PG review, but suffice it to say that romance is not beyond the scope of her talent. This is an author that continues to surprise me in pleasant ways.