2005 Author Reviews for
Isabeau of Greenlea

Isabeau doesn't usually do "short", or at least, that's not her reputation after "Captain My Captain", to say nothing of a few fairly lengthy WiPs still out there. But she can, and when it comes to the Dol Amroth crew, there's no one better at capturing, in a few lines, the mischief, the humor, the familial interplays, than Isabeau. Her drabbles are an excellent example of this phenomenon: they are witty, romantic comedies that have their timing down pat and which make the most of their one hundred words. Delightful, focusing on the human relations rather than the political ones, Isabeau's skill shines through in them.

Isabeau is a wonder with Imrahil and his family, but in the two drabbles here, she proves she's also a wonder with humor. You see it in the longer pieces, but the ability to weave that very wry sense of humor into these drabbles is nothing short of remarkable. A lot of Isabeau's success has to do with timing. Each drabble has a steady build to it, and Isabeau times the moment of her humor to coincide with the moment when the reader begins to wonder exactly what is happening. Even if the reader has an inkling as to what is going on, the timing still adds punch to the humor and Isabeau adds fans to the already lengthy list of admirers.

I've been impressed with Isabeau's ability to write humor, but in most cases, that humor was ironic, wry, or subtle. The kind of blatant, almost parody humor in "The Old Dwarf and the Sea" is a fantastic change of pace, and Isabeau shows that she can write long, dramatic epics as well as bold satires. Isabeau has always been good with timing, originality, and ingenuity, but all three are taken to new heights in this story. I dearly hope it is continued soon, because such talent is desperately needed. Thank you for sharing as much as you have, and I urge you continue to share more!

Original characters are Isabeau's strong suit. She has no trouble populating her fics with them, or even taking them on in the first person for fifty-three chapters. They have a depth that is often lacking, even in canon characters?they are emotionally multi-faceted, even when one or two particular moods predominate (for example, Andrahar is certainly more or less given to cantankerous irrascability and proud distance, yet over the course of Isabeau's writings we've seen him as believably relaxed, amused, in love, gentle, paternal, enraged, sarcastic, and despairing, and it never feels false or forced). Her characters are diverse: young children such as Brand or L?thien the instrument-maker's daughter, feel like children, yet are distinctly different from each other; the cynets of Dol Amroth are believable and well-defined (I include them as originals because they are only names in an appendix only) at various stages of their lives, from childhood through adolescence through adulthood; her healer character Cuilast is a delightfully irreverent personality; Andrahar, as I've said already, is emotionally complex almost in spite of himself and certainly can't be mistaken for any other voice. Readers who want well-done interactions between canonical characters and original ones should give Isabeau's work a try.

Isabeau is, of course, famous for epic fics about the Rangers of Ithilien and brilliant OC characterization, but in the two stories here ("Well Favored" and "The Best Gift of All") we see another of Isabeau's talents that is sometimes overlooked: timing. Emotional stories and stories with twists in the end require a very keen sense of timing. The pacing has to be exactly write or the revelation feels forced and the emotions fall flat. There has to be a good build and there has to be enough background work laid that the big surprise at the end remains the only surprise the reader has to puzzle through. Isabeau manages to pull all this off in both stories, creating a very enjoyable read that hits exactly when it should hit and pulls back exactly when it should pull back.