Yahoo Forum Archive

Title: ... and hear the song of salt and sea · Author: Cuthalion ·
Genres: Drama: The Steward's Family · ID: 98
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-07-29 01:42:05
From the promising beginning through the change, never clearly
understood, to a final parting before death, Finduilas goes back through
marriage, family, and the division duty introduced into her life.
Perhaps. It's impossible to pinpoint what made the decisive change, but
the ending does not come as a surprise.
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Title: Servant of the Tower · Author: Branwyn · Genres: Drama: Gondor
Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 95
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-07-29 01:42:18
A rather devastating glimpse into the mind of one of Denethor's
servants. We all know the pattern: O woe is me, the horrors I had to
endure in the carrying out of my duties! And it is always true, but
sometimes it is only an excuse. The last line gives the game away -
there's no defense so desperate as self-defense when the last thing
desired is to see clearly the weakness of that defense.
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Title: The Tide · Author: Branwyn · Genres: Drama: Gondor Fixed-Length
Ficlet · ID: 77
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-07-29 01:42:40
The tides ebb and rise, and at the moment, wrath is rising for Imrahil,
to whom falls the duty to bring Faramir back from Pelennor to the aloof
Steward of Gondor.
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Title: Dragons and Sailboats · Author: Acacea · Genres: Drama:
Remembering · ID: 74
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-07-29 01:42:54
A few threads of past lives are drawn out here. I particularly liked the
mutual realization that Aragorn could no more find the boy he remembered
in Boromir than Boromir could find the Captain he remembered in Aragorn.
Things change and are lost and can't be recovered. But it seems there's
some peace to be had in speaking of them with others.
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Title: Heirlooms · Author: annmarwalk · Genres: Drama: Remembering · ID: 72
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-07-29 01:43:13
A very sweet set of matched vignettes. I remember Winfrith and the
children's toys from Alawa's story very well--it was one of my favorite
passages, so it was lovely to see that expanded on a little across the
years and two lands. Forever absent uncles find ways into the lives of
newborn nephews. Eowyn's recognition of the toy helps connect it to a
feminine genealogy, too: from Morwen to her
great-great-granddaughter-in-law (I think), and not simply through the
stories Éomer and Faramir can tell, though those, too, are a part of it.
As always, Ann's attention to the craftwork that goes into the everyday
items shows through.
-----------------------------------
Title: Benison · Author: annmarwalk · Genres: Drama: Remembering · ID: 67
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-07-29 01:43:26
Ann writes with precision, capturing the secrets that lie hidden in the
domestic. The phrase [second-hand memories] evokes a sense of loss, of
being always given something used, something worn out that will never
quite fit the one to whom it is given. To a degree, this is true:
memories of others cannot be ours to a certain degree. The first hand
encounter with Finduilas' day book, where lies also Denethor's poetry, I
note, at last gives her a hold on the Lady of Gondor's life that is all
her own, unfiltered by the remembrances of others.
-----------------------------------
Title: The Household Accounts · Author: Branwyn · Genres: Drama: Gondor
Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 50
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-07-29 01:43:45
Eowyn's discovery of the 'cast offs', almost, of the last ruling
steward's family, speaks succinctly of lives cut off, like the lengths
of cloth themselves. She'll need some time to exorcise those ghosts,
clearly.
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Title: SpiderWebs · Author: Lindelea · Races: Hobbits: Children · ID: 783
Reviewer: Budgielover · 2006-07-29 03:47:58
Growing up with two older brothers, this story resonated with me. It was
sweet indeed to see a smaller girl win her revenge from the incessent
bullying of the lads! The author's hobbit children are written so
realistically that no one could doubt she knows children well. Pippin,
though a lad and therefore an annoyance, shines in this story, and I had
to laugh at one remark which summed up the essence of young Master Took
- he never starts out to cause trouble, but he always does. The
childrens' reinactment of Bilbo's adventure with the Spiders was
delightful, and SO what young lads would play at. The ending paragraph
was very good, returning to the theme of the story and also showing us
that our hobbit-lass can be just as stubborn as the lads.
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Title: Breeze · Author: illyria-pffyffin · Races: Hobbits: War of the
Ring · ID: 974
Reviewer: Budgielover · 2006-07-29 03:56:25
This is simply an astonishing story. Written in first-person from the
viewpoint of an errant breeze, we see the last days of Frodo and Sam's
journey to the fire mountain through its insubstantial eyes. The breeze
becomes a living character in this story, full of sorrow and grief and
anger at the evil being done to two small hobbits as they strive to
achieve the impossible. It seeks to comfort the Ring-bearer and does
what it can to ease his burden, lamenting that it is only a breeze and
can do no more. Seeing Frodo and Sam in their final extremes through the
breeze's long memory of evil and heroic battles against it forces the
reader to empathize with the breeze; we feel its helplessness and
sorrow. Written almost in prose, this is a story even the Professor
would have felt honored his masterwork.
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Title: Dear Diary · Author: Lily · Races: Hobbits: Pre-Quest · ID: 264
Reviewer: Budgielover · 2006-07-29 04:02:10
This is an amazing series of stories, detailing the pregnacy of Frodo's
mother Primula in a journal-format which both entices and charms the
reader. Each diary entry is self-contained yet builds into the main
story, a progression of events just like a pregnancy. Written in
first-person (for the most part), Primula reveals herself to be a hobbit
of wit, charm, and joy. Her gratitude for her condition, and her
absolute joy at the birth of her son are a treasure. Drogo, too, makes
appearances, seen through the eyes of a loving and sometimes exasperated
wife. Perhaps the best of all is her entries concerning the infant Frodo
- any mother would recognize the terror and joy and gratitude. I was so
moved by this story that I e-mailed the author to express my gratitude
for this story - it is one of the finest of its genre I have ever read,
and a credit to the fandom.
-----------------------------------
Title: In Stitches · Author: Pearl Took · Races: Hobbits: Children · ID: 132
Reviewer: Budgielover · 2006-07-29 04:18:31
The absolute shining joy of this story is the conversations(s) between
little Pippin-lad and his mother. A cohesive and well thought-out story,
the introduction of little details into the plot, such as Pippin's
dissatisfaction with his toys and their subsequent treatment, endear the
characters to the reader and builds in us a warm feeling. I think it's
called happiness. The relationship drawn between this little hobbit and
his mother encapsules all that is best about hobbit-folk; loving
indulgence, patience, cleverness, and the response given to love. Love
given and returned.
-----------------------------------
Title: A Change In The Weather · Author: Marigold · Races: Hobbits:
Fixed-Length Ficlet series · ID: 692
Reviewer: Budgielover · 2006-07-29 04:26:14
That this author knows and loves hobbits, and our four hero-hobbits in
particular, is evident in her every word. The thought and attention
given to describing each of their personalities, to each of their
pivotal moments, shows the planning that went into this deceptively
simple fic. At the core of each hobbit's strength is the Shire, and
through each trial each hobbit undergoes, that memory and that love of
home serves to ground them. We love our hero hobbits already, but even
more after seeing them endure and triumph in these four ficlets.
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Title: Cakes and Apples · Author: Ruby Nye · Races: Hobbits:
Post-Sauron's Fall · ID: 891
Reviewer: Budgielover · 2006-07-29 04:33:07
Set in the frightening and painful time immediately after the
destruction of the Ring, this is a wonderfully warming story of Merry
caring for the injured Pippin before Sam and Frodo awake from their
inforced healing sleep. The relationship drawn between Merry and Pippin,
their actions, their dialogue, shines with the love each has for the
other. Merry is worried and protective and frightened, and Pippin is
hurting and unhappy and frightened. He turns to Merry for comfort and
protection and love, as he has done all of his life. And when Pippin
wants something probably impossible to find, Merry does find it. And the
reader is included in that warm circle of love and even gifted with the
recipe for the object of Pippin's wistful longing.
-----------------------------------
Title: Stewardship · Author: Raksha the Demon · Races: Cross-Cultural:
Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 920
Reviewer: Linda Hoyland · 2006-07-29 12:22:37
I cannot recall reading this before,so it was a nice surprise to find it
here. Gandalf must be well pleased that he is leaving Middle-earth in
such capable hands.He is a prime example of a good Steward in contrast
to Dethethor, but Gandalf's "pupils" have been well taught and will
never abandon their heritage. With men like Aragorn and Faramir, and
Hobbits like Merry and Pippin trained by him, Gandalf can afford to be
well satisfied with his work.Legolas too,will be a good Steward until
the sea calls him.
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Title: The End of All Things · Author: Ariel · Genres: Drama: Featuring
Frodo or Sam · ID: 109
Reviewer: Mechtild · 2006-07-29 12:36:06
I was totally unsuspecting, totally unprepared for whose POV I was
reading. "Is it Bilbo? Is it Frodo? Who is it?"

Then, when I got to the end, I had to read it all over again.

And again.

What a terrific story. If it were longer, I could find things to tease
out of it to get you more points since length matters in this
competition (why does that sound porn-ish? *grin*). But let me say that
your story devastated me in the most gratifying way. I finished my third
read and my eyes are still all weepy, my breath quick, but pleasurably so.

This was a beautiful envisioning of the ends of two characters I love,
and one I had never imagined. Nor have I read any other fic that has
depicted it quite this way. It was perfectly plausible and felt so
"right," within the world of the source stories.

Super job, Ariel.
-----------------------------------
Title: Elfwine · Author: annmarwalk · Genres: Humor: Fixed-Length Ficlet
· ID: 70
Reviewer: Mechtild · 2006-07-29 12:42:59
I loved it! Only three paragraphs and what a vivid depiction of the
royal birth to this particular couple in this particular kingdom. The
POV of the unnamed character was perfect to take a picture of this
moment.

I loved that the baby boy came out of his mothers womb so lustily, too,
as if he already had a tankard of ale in one hand and the reins of a
charger in the other. I am not worried about the future of that boy at all.
-----------------------------------
Title: For the Moon to Lead, and All the Stars to Follow · Author:
annmarwalk · Genres: Romance: Gondor · ID: 200
Reviewer: Mechtild · 2006-07-29 12:43:42
In a short space, you set the scene and mood; a man at a social event,
gracefully doing his duty. Who is he? You do not say. An unknown woman
is watching. Is she married? Is she young? Is she old? She has been
watching him dance with every sort of partner. She was in love with the
mans father, Denethor, we learn, but Denethor did not return her love,
or, not in time. She married someone else. Who is she watching, Faramir
or Boromir? They have a habitual, amused exchange between them, him
always asking her to dance, she always declining. That sounds like
Boromir, not Faramir.

The easy, almost world-weary air of the piece changes with the flicker
of candlelight; it illuminates the dancer just as it blazes up in the
mind of the woman. Suddenly I find out that to this woman Denethor once
had been fiercely radiant, which makes me suddenly sad, thinking how he
will end up  with another sort of radiance, far more fierce. How doubly
sweet is Boromirs invitation (named at last) to lead her to the floor,
becoming for her the partner she would never be able to have.
-----------------------------------
Title: Today · Author: annmarwalk · Genres: Romance: Rohan · ID: 199
Reviewer: Mechtild · 2006-07-29 12:44:02
Ann, this was just gorgeous. Smart and sensual and elegantly written,
and so real; the style of the language suited to the story to a T,
giving it a great canon feel, and you made the content itself utterly
plausible. You seem to really know people and how they behave in both
formal and more intimate interactions.

I love the way you have portrayed these two men as two men, although
they are lovers. They have hot, pleasurable sex, obviously, but its
clear that the sex reinforces and celebrates the friendship, rather than
the friendship making the sex possible. Perhaps I didnt say that
effectively& Its as though you have in this relationship depicted a
manly friendship, but elevated, perhaps idealized, to a higher yet
more profound level through the two mens sexual intimacy. Perhaps
thats what the Greeks were after in their own ideal of manly love.

Knowing how things end for these two, especially Boromirs, which is not
just physically but spiritually tortured, I was filled with happiness to
imagine them, through your story, having had the chance to enjoy such
pleasure, such real friendship, and to have such confidantes in each
other. Would that we all might be so blessed!

One question: at the end, Theodred does not tell Eowyn that he has no
future, that he and Boromir will die young. How does Theodred know this?
This puzzled me. Is there more about Theodred having premonitions or
some form of The Sight in some other story youve written? It added
extra gravity to the ending, but I was just wondering.
-----------------------------------
Title: Too Few Words · Author: annmarwalk · Races: Dwarves · ID: 311
Reviewer: Mechtild · 2006-07-29 12:44:24
["She had crafted the brazier herself, spare and elegant; its design had
been widely copied throughout Erebor.]

This line struck me; it could be compared to this story. Spare and
elegant, and, if fic writers are smart, it will be widely copied
throughout ficdom. The [fine olivewood cups lined with pewter]. Things
like that. Not too much but just the right detail to reinforce the
picture of Zei as a craftswoman, but one of great taste; an artist. In a
way, the story is written in a way that reflects the persona of its
heroine.

Another example: You went a bit further describing the difference in the
sounds of the voices of the two races, Elf and Dwarf, and it was a
wonderful melding of the poetic and the informative, yet still spare. A
Dwarfs voice, not just big or deep or nice to listen to, but, [deep
and melodious as water rushing over rock.] Just one phrase, but it
calls to mind the rock the Dwarves love and the water that formed the
glories of Aglarond, while perfectly describing the voice at the same
time. For the Elf voice, you could have said it was also melodious but
lighter, but you said, [light, soft, like wind in the trees.] It made
me hear the sound of the voice, but also captured a sense of the literal
lightness of an Elf (Legolas not sinking into the snow at Caradhras) and
the trees they loved. Even the word light, used in this way, made me
think not just of sound that falls easily on the ear, but the light
that moves through those trees as the wind moved them. You pick up
the visual notion of light immediately, as you describe Legolas
perceptible light that needed no lantern. Beautiful.

The way you handled the silent exchange between Zei and Legolas was
sensitive, nuanced. Oh, perfect, I thought. But you made it better
still, with the understated little epilogue about the drawing of their
portrait (echoing the note about her portrait of Gimli at the storys
opening). The coda was made tear-jerkingly satisfying with the addition
of the sentence from the Appendices. So elegant, spare and simple, yet
so touching. The ending was made richer still by noting that although
the King kept the drawing of the two friends and admired and cherished
it, its provenance was unknown. Its like a statement about the story
itself: if this story turned up somewhere uncredited, readers who came
across it would admire and value it, wondering where it had been found
and why it had not been included in the canon text. At least Christopher
Tolkien could have included it in the HoME, they would say.

I enthused over this story when I read it in your LJ early this spring,
but a second reading only shows it off better. You really display your
craft in this story, Ann. I can see that writing short-forms has honed
your skills so that when you write something story-length, its not as
though you padded it with superfluous *stuff*, but retained your ability
to say a lot in few words, merely limning out your tale in greater depth.
-----------------------------------
Title: Aglarond · Author: annmarwalk · Races: Dwarves: Fixed-Length
Ficlet · ID: 68
Reviewer: Mechtild · 2006-07-29 12:44:46
I had completely forgot about Gimli and Galadriel, reading Too Few
Words. Can you believe it? No wonder Zei didnt stand a chance.

This was acutely observed, Ann, the way Gimli "composed" or "painted"
with a hammer (rather than a pen or brush) applied to stone.
-----------------------------------
Title: Lobelia's List · Author: annmarwalk · Races: Hobbits: General
Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 201
Reviewer: Mechtild · 2006-07-29 12:45:18
Number 4 on Lobelias list was a crack-up! -- That she would decide to
use Otho as a guard, but then have second thoughts - who would check up
on HIM, then?

It just goes to show just how savvy Lobelia was. Too bad she couldnt
put her intelligence to better use!

Very witty, Ann.
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Title: Thus Are Legends Born · Author: annmarwalk · Races: Men:
Fixed-Length Ficlets With Children · ID: 732
Reviewer: Mechtild · 2006-07-29 12:46:12
Both Faramirs openness to the "other" in life and his considered
seriousness are contrasted well with Boromirs more sceptical,
grounded-in-reality approach in what is really a little conceit about
something two boys see by the river bank. Carefully observed!
-----------------------------------
Title: History Becomes Legend · Author: annmarwalk · Races: Men:
Steward's Sons Fixed-Length Ficlets · ID: 737
Reviewer: Mechtild · 2006-07-29 12:46:33
I read this story in the light of your body of Boromir/Theodred stories,
for a lively connection between Rohan and Gondor is implied by the young
Rider coming to sing this elegy for Boromir, obviously an intimate
friend& the beloved companion to their Prince, the Rider said. I had
assumed the Rohirric lad had found Faramir in the noisy tavern, drowning
his sorrows, but perhaps Faramir is only learning of his brothers death
hearing the boys song? Because you have not given a precise time
reference, it is up to the reader to decide, which makes the drabble all
the more thought-provoking.

I liked, too, the way you reminded the reader that folk in the Mark
spoke a different language from the men of Gondor. I rarely remember it
when I am reading the canon text. And you brought in the notion of how
stirring and moving the singing of the horse people was famed to be.
What a lot you have packed in a little drabble!
-----------------------------------
Title: A Length of Haradric Silk · Author: annmarwalk · Times: The Great
Years: Gondor · ID: 69
Reviewer: Mechtild · 2006-07-29 12:47:00
Oh, Ann, what a charming story. Your sense of humour is always witty,
but warm, affectionate towards your characters. How you tweak Sams
cheek! Buy the silk to give to Lily Cotton  shell know what to do with
it  really! Im sure she will! Wont Rosie be pleased. (And if they
made a dress for Elanor from that fabric, Id be ecstatic.) And the bit
about his initials embroidered on his underwear  how I chortled.

But my favourite part of this fic was the description of the fabric
itself. I felt as though I could see it, touch it, feel the soft puff of
air when the shopkeeper shook it open. That she [snapped] it made me
think of a magician saying, Presto! And magical it was, such fabric. And
not wasted on a hobbit like Sam. A practical fellow, but with a strong
taste for what is high and beautiful.
-----------------------------------
Title: Kissing is Different · Author: Lady Bluejay · Genres: Romance:
Lothíriel & Éomer · ID: 280
Reviewer: Madeleine · 2006-07-29 15:24:35
First time meeting between Éomer and Lothíriel in  surprise  the royal
stables of Minas Tirith.
A delightful and tingling vignette, one you like to read again and
again. And you are still kept wondering who is besting whom in the end.

-----------------------------------