2004 Author Reviews for
Isabeau of Greenlea

This would be Isabeau doing what she does best: character study. Here she demonstrates her skill in using five characters who are really bit players at most in the books, and in creating believable, disctinct personalities for each. All the characters are so well realized; empathy with them comes naturally, as does sympathy.

Isabeau is a phenomenal writer under any circumstance, but the vignette about Gimli's axe is especially good. The story is focused and follows the axe's repair, but along the way, it picks up as many details as it can, such as Moria plunder, dwarven customs, and dwarven respect for their weapons. Isabeau allows none of these tidbits to slow the story, but they're definitely present and make for a very enriching look at dwarves in general and Gimli in particular. I love Isabeau's repetition of the phrase "My axe was notched" and how these words mean so many different things to Gimli. Excellent writing.

Isabeau writes impressively. Taking such a small thing like repairing an ax and making it say so much. That takes a gift and Isabeau surely has it.

Isabeau's ability to characterize along a full continuum of human emotion is her greatest strength, I think. Situations that would be ridiculous in other hands work when she writes them, and it's not surprising that her stories are character-driven. She fears no original character, whether female or male, and some of her most memorable moments revolve around them. And although she is capable of putting the reader through the emotional wringer, she rarely descends into the realm of bleak, preferring usually to write in just that touch of hope, nobility, and light for our heroes and heroines. This means her chapters, however long, always read quickly, and I'm always wanting more once I finish one.

A good writer who unfortunately for me prefers to write about an unbelievable woman hero falling consecutively from one love interest into the next and every time with another noble LotR character.