2006 Author Reviews for
Gwynnyd

Gwynnyd may be aiming for the title queen of the gap-fillers. She tackles the places where Tolkien leaves you wondering \'How on earth was *that* supposed to play out?\' and finds a way to force logic upon the recalcitrant text, all in a nicely dramatic manner. She characterizes well, whether she\'s writing Aragorn or Gilraen, elven twins or fickle Valar, can find the ridiculous in a situation and exploit it at need, and she knows how to cut through the inessential to get at the episodes that really matter to developing a character\'s history. Although she writes a variety of characters and situations, her first love is clearly Aragorn, which is a good thing for his adoring fangirls and -boys, who can always use more good tales of our favorite Ranger-king.

I\'ll admit that before I first read Gwynnyd\'s fiction I did not feel that deeply for Aragorn. He always seemed a bit boring, I guess because we never see him going through any sort of growth in the corpus of Lord of the Rings. The material\'s there, but it\'s buried. However, through discussions with Gwynnyd and through reading her stories, I have begun to see more of the gaps that ferment into story nuzguls for her. Gwynnyd\'s stories range from the events surrounding Arathorn\'s death and Aragorn\'s moving to Rivendell, through his reign as king of Gondor. In all of these different situations she is very aware of the real-world historical precedents that faced similar situations and uses these models to good use. Of course Aragorn and Gilraen both living in Rivendell would be a tip-off to Aragorn\'s identity. But I did not even think that this was a difficulty that needs to be explained until I started reading Gwynnyd\'s fiction. The best thing about her plots is that they do not *add* to Tolkien in a way that feels artificial. Instead, reading one of her stories is like going on an archaeological dig and discovering what was already there, just waiting to be unearthed. Reading one of her pieces is always a treat.

The thing that strikes me about Gwynnyd\'s work as a whole is the attention to detail. I know she\'s laughing for me to say that, given the differences in our styles, but the thing I admire most about her work, regardless of the sub-genre, is that all the layers match. She has an extraordinary consistency in characterization, and in both the physical and emotional worlds in her writings. Her facts are grounded in research, be it canon or real-life history and that lends an admirable depth of reality to her body of work.

Gwynnyd\'s great strength is her ability to take an idea ? whether that\'s a puzzle set us by what Tolkien wrote, her own natural curiousity about some aspect of Tolkien\'s world, or a sly joke ? and pursue it tenaciously until she\'s resolved it to her own satisfaction. She is then capable, for our delight, of weaving those answers into richly textured stories in which we can share her knowledge, understanding and wit.

Gwynnyd may be aiming for the title queen of the gap-fillers. She tackles the places where Tolkien leaves you wondering \'How on earth was *that* supposed to play out?\' and finds a way to force logic upon the recalcitrant text, all in a nicely dramatic manner. She characterizes well, whether she\'s writing Aragorn or Gilraen, elven twins or fickle Valar, can find the ridiculous in a situation and exploit it at need, and she knows how to cut through the inessential to get at the episodes that really matter to developing a character\'s history. Although she writes a variety of characters and situations, her first love is clearly Aragorn, which is a good thing for his adoring fangirls and -boys, who can always use more good tales of our favorite Ranger-king.

I\'ll admit that before I first read Gwynnyd\'s fiction I did not feel that deeply for Aragorn. He always seemed a bit boring, I guess because we never see him going through any sort of growth in the corpus of Lord of the Rings. The material\'s there, but it\'s buried. However, through discussions with Gwynnyd and through reading her stories, I have begun to see more of the gaps that ferment into story nuzguls for her. Gwynnyd\'s stories range from the events surrounding Arathorn\'s death and Aragorn\'s moving to Rivendell, through his reign as king of Gondor. In all of these different situations she is very aware of the real-world historical precedents that faced similar situations and uses these models to good use. Of course Aragorn and Gilraen both living in Rivendell would be a tip-off to Aragorn\'s identity. But I did not even think that this was a difficulty that needs to be explained until I started reading Gwynnyd\'s fiction. The best thing about her plots is that they do not *add* to Tolkien in a way that feels artificial. Instead, reading one of her stories is like going on an archaeological dig and discovering what was already there, just waiting to be unearthed. Reading one of her pieces is always a treat.

The thing that strikes me about Gwynnyd\'s work as a whole is the attention to detail. I know she\'s laughing for me to say that, given the differences in our styles, but the thing I admire most about her work, regardless of the sub-genre, is that all the layers match. She has an extraordinary consistency in characterization, and in both the physical and emotional worlds in her writings. Her facts are grounded in research, be it canon or real-life history and that lends an admirable depth of reality to her body of work.

I\'ll admit that before I first read Gwynnyd\'s fiction I did not feel that deeply for Aragorn. He always seemed a bit boring, I guess because we never see him going through any sort of growth in the corpus of Lord of the Rings. The material\'s there, but it\'s buried. However, through discussions with Gwynnyd and through reading her stories, I have begun to see more of the gaps that ferment into story nuzguls for her. Gwynnyd\'s stories range from the events surrounding Arathorn\'s death and Aragorn\'s moving to Rivendell, through his reign as king of Gondor. In all of these different situations she is very aware of the real-world historical precedents that faced similar situations and uses these models to good use. Of course Aragorn and Gilraen both living in Rivendell would be a tip-off to Aragorn\'s identity. But I did not even think that this was a difficulty that needs to be explained until I started reading Gwynnyd\'s fiction. The best thing about her plots is that they do not *add* to Tolkien in a way that feels artificial. Instead, reading one of her stories is like going on an archaeological dig and discovering what was already there, just waiting to be unearthed. Reading one of her pieces is always a treat.

Gwynnyd\'s great strength is her ability to take an idea ? whether that\'s a puzzle set us by what Tolkien wrote, her own natural curiousity about some aspect of Tolkien\'s world, or a sly joke ? and pursue it tenaciously until she\'s resolved it to her own satisfaction. She is then capable, for our delight, of weaving those answers into richly textured stories in which we can share her knowledge, understanding and wit.

Gwynnyd may be aiming for the title queen of the gap-fillers. She tackles the places where Tolkien leaves you wondering \'How on earth was *that* supposed to play out?\' and finds a way to force logic upon the recalcitrant text, all in a nicely dramatic manner. She characterizes well, whether she\'s writing Aragorn or Gilraen, elven twins or fickle Valar, can find the ridiculous in a situation and exploit it at need, and she knows how to cut through the inessential to get at the episodes that really matter to developing a character\'s history. Although she writes a variety of characters and situations, her first love is clearly Aragorn, which is a good thing for his adoring fangirls and -boys, who can always use more good tales of our favorite Ranger-king.

I\'ll admit that before I first read Gwynnyd\'s fiction I did not feel that deeply for Aragorn. He always seemed a bit boring, I guess because we never see him going through any sort of growth in the corpus of Lord of the Rings. The material\'s there, but it\'s buried. However, through discussions with Gwynnyd and through reading her stories, I have begun to see more of the gaps that ferment into story nuzguls for her. Gwynnyd\'s stories range from the events surrounding Arathorn\'s death and Aragorn\'s moving to Rivendell, through his reign as king of Gondor. In all of these different situations she is very aware of the real-world historical precedents that faced similar situations and uses these models to good use. Of course Aragorn and Gilraen both living in Rivendell would be a tip-off to Aragorn\'s identity. But I did not even think that this was a difficulty that needs to be explained until I started reading Gwynnyd\'s fiction. The best thing about her plots is that they do not *add* to Tolkien in a way that feels artificial. Instead, reading one of her stories is like going on an archaeological dig and discovering what was already there, just waiting to be unearthed. Reading one of her pieces is always a treat.

Gwynnyd\'s great strength is her ability to take an idea ? whether that\'s a puzzle set us by what Tolkien wrote, her own natural curiousity about some aspect of Tolkien\'s world, or a sly joke ? and pursue it tenaciously until she\'s resolved it to her own satisfaction. She is then capable, for our delight, of weaving those answers into richly textured stories in which we can share her knowledge, understanding and wit.

The thing that strikes me about Gwynnyd\'s work as a whole is the attention to detail. I know she\'s laughing for me to say that, given the differences in our styles, but the thing I admire most about her work, regardless of the sub-genre, is that all the layers match. She has an extraordinary consistency in characterization, and in both the physical and emotional worlds in her writings. Her facts are grounded in research, be it canon or real-life history and that lends an admirable depth of reality to her body of work.

Gwynnyd is especially good in weaving politics and social issues into entertaining stories, with good dialogues, characterisations and character interaction. She also has the ability to \"gap-fill\" or extrapolate believably from brief allusions in the books, often offering fresh perspectives.

The thing that strikes me about Gwynnyd\'s work as a whole is the attention to detail. I know she\'s laughing for me to say that, given the differences in our styles, but the thing I admire most about her work, regardless of the sub-genre, is that all the layers match. She has an extraordinary consistency in characterization, and in both the physical and emotional worlds in her writings. Her facts are grounded in research, be it canon or real-life history and that lends an admirable depth of reality to her body of work.

Gwynnyd\'s great strength is her ability to take an idea ? whether that\'s a puzzle set us by what Tolkien wrote, her own natural curiousity about some aspect of Tolkien\'s world, or a sly joke ? and pursue it tenaciously until she\'s resolved it to her own satisfaction. She is then capable, for our delight, of weaving those answers into richly textured stories in which we can share her knowledge, understanding and wit.

I\'ll admit that before I first read Gwynnyd\'s fiction I did not feel that deeply for Aragorn. He always seemed a bit boring, I guess because we never see him going through any sort of growth in the corpus of Lord of the Rings. The material\'s there, but it\'s buried. However, through discussions with Gwynnyd and through reading her stories, I have begun to see more of the gaps that ferment into story nuzguls for her. Gwynnyd\'s stories range from the events surrounding Arathorn\'s death and Aragorn\'s moving to Rivendell, through his reign as king of Gondor. In all of these different situations she is very aware of the real-world historical precedents that faced similar situations and uses these models to good use. Of course Aragorn and Gilraen both living in Rivendell would be a tip-off to Aragorn\'s identity. But I did not even think that this was a difficulty that needs to be explained until I started reading Gwynnyd\'s fiction. The best thing about her plots is that they do not *add* to Tolkien in a way that feels artificial. Instead, reading one of her stories is like going on an archaeological dig and discovering what was already there, just waiting to be unearthed. Reading one of her pieces is always a treat.

Gwynnyd is especially good in weaving politics and social issues into entertaining stories, with good dialogues, characterisations and character interaction. She also has the ability to \"gap-fill\" or extrapolate believably from brief allusions in the books, often offering fresh perspectives.

Gwynnyd may be aiming for the title queen of the gap-fillers. She tackles the places where Tolkien leaves you wondering \'How on earth was *that* supposed to play out?\' and finds a way to force logic upon the recalcitrant text, all in a nicely dramatic manner. She characterizes well, whether she\'s writing Aragorn or Gilraen, elven twins or fickle Valar, can find the ridiculous in a situation and exploit it at need, and she knows how to cut through the inessential to get at the episodes that really matter to developing a character\'s history. Although she writes a variety of characters and situations, her first love is clearly Aragorn, which is a good thing for his adoring fangirls and -boys, who can always use more good tales of our favorite Ranger-king.

I\'ll admit that before I first read Gwynnyd\'s fiction I did not feel that deeply for Aragorn. He always seemed a bit boring, I guess because we never see him going through any sort of growth in the corpus of Lord of the Rings. The material\'s there, but it\'s buried. However, through discussions with Gwynnyd and through reading her stories, I have begun to see more of the gaps that ferment into story nuzguls for her. Gwynnyd\'s stories range from the events surrounding Arathorn\'s death and Aragorn\'s moving to Rivendell, through his reign as king of Gondor. In all of these different situations she is very aware of the real-world historical precedents that faced similar situations and uses these models to good use. Of course Aragorn and Gilraen both living in Rivendell would be a tip-off to Aragorn\'s identity. But I did not even think that this was a difficulty that needs to be explained until I started reading Gwynnyd\'s fiction. The best thing about her plots is that they do not *add* to Tolkien in a way that feels artificial. Instead, reading one of her stories is like going on an archaeological dig and discovering what was already there, just waiting to be unearthed. Reading one of her pieces is always a treat.