2005 Author Reviews for
Salsify

Salsify, like Werecat, is a bit all over the board, making it hard to group an author review. However, like Werecat, Salsify excels at finding the odd angles onto the story, the cracks in the ever-flowing narrative, and exploiting them to good end. Whether it's a nearly throw-away line about a vain young hobbit's gift from Bilbo, or the always marginalized views of women, or the complete and utter inversion of the story of ?ol (and in a completely believable manner at that!), Salsify exhibits a deft and confident hand. She doesn't just write to fill gaps, her gaps are chosen with care for their ability to say more than simply what happened between points X and Y. There's always an important reflective moment that sets her stories firmly within Middle-earth, and yet at that necessary distance that allows for a much more engaged and engaging story.

It's one thing to take an established canon character and give him a slightly new perspective. It's one thing to take a little known character or an original character and breathe into him new life during the course of a story. But it's antoher thing entirely to take an established canon character, rewrite his perspective entirely, and then present him as someone that nobody has understood until now. Which is exactly what Salsify does. It's one of the most daring characterizations I've ever seen, and it succeeds on all counts. Eol becomes an accessible, understandable character, who might not be entirely in the right, but no longer can he be seen as someone altogether in the wrong.

Salsify, like Werecat, is a bit all over the board, making it hard to group an author review. However, like Werecat, Salsify excels at finding the odd angles onto the story, the cracks in the ever-flowing narrative, and exploiting them to good end. Whether it's a nearly throw-away line about a vain young hobbit's gift from Bilbo, or the always marginalized views of women, or the complete and utter inversion of the story of ?ol (and in a completely believable manner at that!), Salsify exhibits a deft and confident hand. She doesn't just write to fill gaps, her gaps are chosen with care for their ability to say more than simply what happened between points X and Y. There's always an important reflective moment that sets her stories firmly within Middle-earth, and yet at that necessary distance that allows for a much more engaged and engaging story.

Salsify, like Werecat, is a bit all over the board, making it hard to group an author review. However, like Werecat, Salsify excels at finding the odd angles onto the story, the cracks in the ever-flowing narrative, and exploiting them to good end. Whether it's a nearly throw-away line about a vain young hobbit's gift from Bilbo, or the always marginalized views of women, or the complete and utter inversion of the story of ?ol (and in a completely believable manner at that!), Salsify exhibits a deft and confident hand. She doesn't just write to fill gaps, her gaps are chosen with care for their ability to say more than simply what happened between points X and Y. There's always an important reflective moment that sets her stories firmly within Middle-earth, and yet at that necessary distance that allows for a much more engaged and engaging story.