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Title: Home Again · Author: Súlriel · Times: Early Third Age:
Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 863
Reviewer: Angmar · 2006-08-19 21:22:47
The mysterious Queen Beruthiel of Gondor, the wife of King Tarannon
Falastur, twelfth King of Gondor, was one of those tantalizing subjects
about whom Tolkien wrote only a sketchy outline. He left the rest of the
details about her and her ten cats up to the imaginations of the
readers. In this story, we get a "behind the scenes" glimpse of the love
life of one of those lovely feline "familiars" of the queen and learn a
little bit about the cat's personality. I found this an enjoyable story.
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Title: Lay of Lord and Lady · Author: Vana Tuivana · Genres: Drama:
Poetry · ID: 629
Reviewer: Marta · 2006-08-19 21:25:51
This ballad did a fine job of mixing detail and lyrical distance where
necessary, to just hint at those parts of this story that are best left
under-told. I especially liked the way you contrasted the lights of Sun
and Moon.
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Title: Weaver · Author: Vana Tuivana · Genres: Drama: Poetry · ID: 627
Reviewer: Marta · 2006-08-19 22:03:58
Nice job of keeping the narrator hidden until the last. That little
surprise made this all the more effective.
-----------------------------------
Title: Remember This Day Little Brother · Author: laiquendi · Genres:
Drama: Poetry · ID: 923
Reviewer: Branwyn · 2006-08-19 22:29:30
I like how Boromir (who Tolkien says was ever the defender and protector
of Faramir) is standing in the stead of Denethor, offering praise and
words of encouragement that should have come from the father. No, I
don't think Boromir ever dreamed that he wouldn't return from Imladris.
Nice work evoking the two scenes--the celebration in Osgiliath and,
later, Faramir's departure on his hopeless mission.

-----------------------------------
Title: The Smallest Hands · Author: Dreamflower · Times: The Great
Years: Poetry · ID: 884
Reviewer: Branwyn · 2006-08-19 23:35:30
I like the "historical" note at the beginning. The poem is executed in a
style which is skilfully modeled on Tolkien's own. Comparing the
towering heroes of legend and history with the four hobbits, it sums up
one of the central themes of the LOTR -- that worldly power is neither a
true measure of worth nor an indication of an individual's ability to do
good.

[...into the smallest hands did give
the greatest deed of all.]

Thanks for sharing this piece--it is very touching.


-----------------------------------
Title: Both Beholden · Author: Dwimordene · Genres: Drama:
Pre-Fellowship · ID: 180
Reviewer: Marta · 2006-08-20 02:27:39
I haven't read this story since my story about Mardil and Earnur, and
was caught a bit off-guard by Boromir's sharing my Earnur's concerns
that the return of the king might lead to another kinslaying. That
revelation was central to how I approached this story this read-through,
because in the appendices it is Earnur who is described as having
characteristics similar to Boromir. But Boromir here has a certain
political savvy, or at least a sense of political responsibility, about
him. He knows that he is perhaps not as eloquent or as sure-footed
outside of the military arena, and he does on occasion reveal too much
of himself -- but that doesn't mean he does not respect the need to be
cautious. That is perhaps Dwim's greatest accomplishment with this
story, but it is far from her only one: she sets up some important
relationships between Boromir and the characters who will become part of
the Fellowship, describes his intense protective pride of Gondor better
than I have ever seen anyone do, and gives us a glimpse at the rangers
of the North that is somehow both enigmatic and telling at the same
time. It's a very well-pulled off gap-filler that won't disappoint
Boromir fans or anyone who likes a story that is anything but subtle.
-----------------------------------
Title: Stewardship · Author: Raksha the Demon · Races: Cross-Cultural:
Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 920
Reviewer: Branwyn · 2006-08-20 04:00:23
In ROTK, Gandalf tells Denethor that ["I also am a steward"]; Raksha
takes that line as the inspiration for this lovely drabble. Though
Tolkien was creating a "pre-Christian" world, the literature of
Christianity is a pervasive influence on his writing. Several passages
in the New Testament refer to the attributes of faithful and unfaithful
stewards. (I admit to chuckling that Peter Jackson felt it necessary to
have Gandalf define the word "steward" for a modern and presumably
semi-literate audience.)

In this drabble, Gandalf is the faithful steward who, having labored
long, now rejoices that he can turn his responsibilities over to Faramir
and the members of the Fellowship. It is easy to imagine this peaceful
scene in Ithilien as Faramir, Legolas, and Samwise talk avidly about
plants and planting.

[...of flowers common to their lands, of preserving old trees while
planting new crops.]

The sight of Frodo sleeping against a tree, while the others joke and
plan for the future, is a bit of a sad note. Perhaps he is still tired
from his ordeals, but his experiences have also distanced him from his
friends and the joys of everyday life.

I enjoyed this quiet scene very much. Well done!
-----------------------------------
Title: Legend · Author: Raksha the Demon · Times: Fourth Age and Beyond:
Gondor · ID: 933
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-08-20 04:04:45
I like the reflective tone this takes. Fanfiction loves to give the
heroes and heroines a chance to look back on their deeds, and to make
the separation between the outward form, the one legends spring from,
and the experience itself of heroic deeds plain. Raksha opens Eowyn to
us in this vignette, succinctly and well.

Eowyn in her old age has a wide swath of time and experience separating
her already from her younger self already; the legendary Shield-maiden
that other people know is even more of a stranger to the woman who
remembers how deadly the despair was, how unthinking, almost, her own
actions were once the battle began.

But she shows us that despite this split vision of herself that she
can't reconcile conceptually or emotionally, she's both those people--in
her will and determination, the legend and the woman are united. As she
says, reflecting on whether, with her greater knowledge and experience,
she'd do it again if one of her loved ones were threatened once more:
[Oh yes. With one foot in the grave and with my last breath. ]

Well done, Raksha! Fans of Eowyn will definitely want to read this.
-----------------------------------
Title: In the Woods · Author: Werecat · Times: Fourth Age and Beyond ·
ID: 119
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-08-20 04:05:05
Werecat succeeds in blending the dominion of Men with recognizable bits
of real world religion, and the the forgetfulness of humanity in later
ages. The narrator's encounter with the 'Sidhe', and her love of the
strange little hut in the woods where animals came in friendship with
each other, touches on Tolkien and draws his stories back into the web
of mythical happenings that originally helped give rise to them.
Radagast, still hard at work in the Fourth Age and beyond, seems to be a
shepherd of sorts or a way guide for Elves seeking the way West, and
also the creator of a safe place for the non-human creatures.

As is the way of things when 'modern' people meet up with the beings
beholden to an older magic, afterwards, there are plenty of ways to
explain that meeting away, but nothing can shake the conviction of the
narrator that it happened. Well done!
-----------------------------------
Title: Incubus · Author: Werecat · Times: Fourth Age and Beyond:
Incomplete · ID: 127
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-08-20 04:05:18
I only finally saw the first film in the [Alien] trilogy (or is it a
four part series now, what with the much-reviled AVP?) this year--what
can I say? I'm a chicken when it comes to horror stories. I'm impressed
by the way Werecat has managed to make this fit into Middle-earth--you
wouldn't think the two would mix easily, but by finding that one quoted
line that suggests there might be things older even than Shelob and
perhaps as fierce or more so, and absolutely without allegiance save to
themselves (and therefore undiminished by Sauron's fall), she
convincingly builds the aliens into Middle-earth.

It's logical to me that prospecting Dwarves should discover the menace,
and the rejoining of the Three Hunters to take on this evil promises to
be interesting once the story gets to that point. I am definitely
curious to know whether the Elves did indeed originally seal those
tunnels--the Orc remnant that's also aware of the problem and seems to
have been guarding the way at one point--suggests that may be so,
assuming Orcs have elvish immortality and remember something of the old
days of discovery. Or else perhaps Sauron *did* know of the creatures
and set his own guard when he couldn't bend them to his own uses--who
knows? Werecat hasn't told us yet, but I look forward to the
continuation of the story.
-----------------------------------
Title: Pippin's Hands · Author: Pearl Took · Times: Fourth Age and
Beyond: The Shire · ID: 130
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-08-20 04:05:37
Short and sweet.
-----------------------------------
Title: The Lost · Author: Altariel · Times: Fourth Age and Beyond:
Gondor · ID: 181
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-08-20 04:05:55
This is a fairly late story in the [Best-loved Sons] series, so without
knowing at least some of the backstory of Boromir's affairs, this won't
be as accessible. Probably the minimal reading would be [Noble Jewel],
which discusses Brand's history, as well as giving a quick summary of
Boromir's relationship with Andrahar. Knowledge of the T.S. Eliot series
of shorts by Altariel would help to understand Faramir's position.

If you've read the series, then this story is about closure for Faramir,
who, I think, feels a certain abandonment by his brother, and a sense
that the other people in Boromir's life--his other family, as it were,
that Faramir had less part in--have a greater hold on his brother's life
and legacy than he himself does. This is a source of some tension and
grief, as Faramir struggles with himself and the urge towards possessive
love he inherits from his father. In the mean time, his uncle, cousin,
and Andrahar and Brand struggle to give him space enough to deal with
these issues which touch on them so closely.

As usual, it's exquisitely written, and the intricacies of grief and
anger, misunderstanding and woundedness, are well-portrayed. Not
everything is resolved--[A Game of Chess] still lies ahead, which will
bring Faramir's father issues, echoed in his struggle to accept and
relate to his newphew, to the fore in ways that cannot be side-stepped.
He's not there yet, but we can see some of the foundations for that
'later' portrayal.
-----------------------------------
Title: If I Had It All Again To Do · Author: Pearl Took · Times: Fourth
Age and Beyond: The Shire · ID: 226
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-08-20 04:06:11
An intriguing glimpse into the life of the changing Shire and
surrounding area. It seems as though the Shire hobbits are at last
cutting their ties to that old land, and some are moving out into the
wider world of the Breeland. Bree has grown, swallowing the Chetwood,
and it seems as though the once-excellent relationship between hobbits
and Men that was so remarkable to that town has soured a bit--the
narrator hides his hobbit ancestry, and refuses to tell his children,
product of a mixed-marriage, of their heritage. Nor does anyone seem to
recognize the most obvious signs of that heritage for what they are,
though apparently people in Bree know about the Shire and families
there. We hear that Maggot's farm is up for sale, that eventually the
narrator's own home, which has scattered to the wind, leaving the
parents the last possessors of the family farm, is to be sold.

One wonders what the situation is in this forgetful time, that the
narrator would make such a choice, one that he regrets in the end.
-----------------------------------
Title: 300 Horses · Author: Rous · Times: Fourth Age and Beyond:
Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 631
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-08-20 04:06:34
Heh heh, very amusing play on words!
-----------------------------------
Title: A Lesser and Alien Race · Author: Marta · Times: Fourth Age and
Beyond: Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 683
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-08-20 04:06:47
I like the idea that this pair of courtiers could be referring either to
Vidumavi and Valacar or to Faramir and Eowyn. It's appropriate, either
way, and draws both of these highly visible mixed-heritage marriages
firmly into a continuum. Gondor has had its violent racial strife in the
past, and retains something of its prejudices down through the end of
the Third Age at least, as Faramir's words make clear.
-----------------------------------
Title: A New Year · Author: Bodkin · Times: Fourth Age and Beyond · ID: 704
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-08-20 04:07:01
An interesting set of tensions building in this story. The isolation of
the Elves even in Middle-earth is a major theme, and a sign of their
fading. The turn inward and away from the affairs of the other peoples
of the world marks the disappearance and self-absorbance of the Eldar,
and Bodkin brings this self-regarding attitude to the fore.

The choice of actors for this story--all of them participants in the
Ring War, and major players in the defense of various parts of
Middle-earth against Sauron--makes sense, as does their desire to see
that struggle given its due weight in Elven history.
-----------------------------------
Title: The Recall · Author: Isabeau of Greenlea · Times: Fourth Age and
Beyond: Gondor · ID: 738
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-08-20 04:07:15
This is the latest-set story in the Unabeauverse, so readers unfamiliar
with its events may find this less accessible. After the dilemma of [Red
River], we get to see the beginnings of the resolution. Diplomacy kicks
in, and gets a boost from Imrahil, who has been called up from Dol
Amroth and an extended time away from politics after a serious bereavement.

Imrahil has the long-standing history of involvement in Gondor's
politics, going back consistently through Denethor's era, to command the
respect of the Council. He's also the single wealthiest lord in Gondor
and has a good view of who's owed what--and he's not afraid to use his
own grief and Dol Amroth's impressive economic base and his standing to
give the council an ultimatum where justice for neighbors are concerned.

It might be the last diplomatic hurrah for Imrahil--one gets the sense
that he's fading fast, but at least he goes out with a bang.
-----------------------------------
Title: The Will · Author: LydiaB · Times: Fourth Age and Beyond:
Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 770
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-08-20 04:07:28
Interesting provenance for the Red Book - poor Tolkien!
-----------------------------------
Title: Sword Play · Author: Lindelea · Times: Fourth Age and Beyond: The
Shire · ID: 782
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-08-20 04:07:43
Never try to lord it over the girls--they do hit back, and tend to be
sneakier about it. Cute vignette of Goldilocks and Faramir. Sam's
response to his daughter's willingness to pick up a sword seems the
responsible one, and no doubt the Princess of Ithilien would love to
meet her. Nice touch, bringing Boromir briefly as the source of Sam's
swordsmanship and sense of duty where handling weapons is concerned.
-----------------------------------
Title: Second Son · Author: Nesta · Times: Fourth Age and Beyond: Gondor
· ID: 843
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-08-20 04:07:57
I like the movement back and forth between Denethor's rebukes of his own
independent-minded and strong-willed second son, who would trust his own
judgment, and Faramir's facing his own second son's deviations from law
and custom. I wonder, too, whether Faramir found it easier to make the
step away from being controlling because of his own younger son's
intellectual precosity--Túrin may not be a musician or a loremaster in
the traditional sense, but he's certainly a master of observation and
deduction. And Faramir we know has a reverence for the kind of learning
he had to set second to his duties as a captain.

Nice to see, too, that Túrin's forensic abilities can allow some peace
of mind and closure for his father, and so perhaps also for others. The
new ways of looking at bones and bodies need not be radically counter to
the traditional reverence for them. Very well done!
-----------------------------------
Title: Making the Legends of Our Times · Author: Gwynnyd · Times: Fourth
Age and Beyond: Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 860
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-08-20 04:08:11
Eowyn as a terrible old woman instills just enough fear in her
granddaughter for her granddaughter to tell her the story of her life.
Literally. Legend may be replacing memory in the latest generation, but
the continuity of names draws things together for an ironic finish.
-----------------------------------
Title: The Burdens of Office · Author: Tanaqui · Times: Fourth Age and
Beyond: Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 865
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-08-20 04:08:24
Very clever! Faramir's divided loyalties, and the ridiculously formal
way they are handled by both himself and Aragorn, were hysterical. One
gets the feeling Aragorn was hard pressed to avoid laughing during the
court session. I liked Beregond's side-views--it may be a hot, dull duty
to sit in judgment at times, compared to the trials of yore, but then
you have cases of official schizophrenia that come to light in amusing,
refreshingly forthright ways to infuse a bit of surreality into the
mundane world.
-----------------------------------
Title: Birnam Wood · Author: Inkling · Times: Fourth Age and Beyond ·
ID: 917
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-08-20 04:11:02
Wow, what an impressive response to Tolkien's disappointment with Birnam
Wood! Poor Dougan, a commoner with uncommon wisdom caught up in the
sweep of politics, shows us the wood gone nearly wild in his own
memories of Birnam after dark. The Ent's confusion and removal from the
times, such that it cannot tell a hobbit from a Man, is countered by a
touching sort of interest in the strange wanderer in its forest--that
was unexpected.

The arrogance of MacDuff and also of Siward is such that they could
easily have been MacBeth or Saruman, and it's only chance, the memory of
a commoner and the rote charity of a captain towards a strange old
woman, that saves them from becoming objects of the Woods' vengeance.
The encounter with the old woman--a witch of sorts, perhaps, or a
remnant of an older people, who knows?--and her inexplicable knowledge
of and familiarity with the woods and the speech of the trees eerily
sets up the forthcoming explosion.

The violence of the Huorns' fury, which we saw at a little distance at
Helm's Deep, and got a better notion of in the Ent-attack on Isengard,
is here totally unfettered. The trees are thick and they swarm--no few
Ents, they, that march upon MacBeth's fortress, and they only barely pay
heed to their shepherd. As it is, men are lost who disregard the warning
of the old woman, to follow the trees, not to go in among them or try to
run before them.

I imagine that Tolkien might have enjoyed this playing out of his own
fantasies. I certainly did, and I highly recommend it to other readers.
-----------------------------------
Title: A Rabbits Tale · Author: grey_wonderer · Times: Fourth Age and
Beyond: The Shire · ID: 982
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-08-20 04:11:21
Every so often, when writers share enough of a world for it to happen,
characters and other items gain a life of their own and end up being
shuttled back and forth between other people's stories. It's a bit of a
rough life for the OC or item, but it can have interesting results, as here.

Something like a cross between the [Velvatine Rabbit] and LOTR, the tale
of Errol, Pippin's stuffed rabbit and for many years, his confidant and
comfort, doesn't end in him becoming Real. It does, however, shed light
on Pippin and Merry in a very unique way, as well as mark the passage
from childhood to maturity--it's not the putting away of childish
things-as-in-objects, but the putting away of childish dependencies on
other people's good opinions.

Though only a toy, Errol's tone is never childish and has a great
dignity in his capacity as Pippin's original protector. The passing of
the torch to another is accomplished without a fuss and without ever
breaking frame, as Errol decides that [Merry really would have been a
splendid stuffed rabbit. That is the highest praise that I can offer to
Pippins other protector and I offer it gladly.]
-----------------------------------
Title: House with the Cedar Shingles: Ramson Spring · Author: Cuthalion
· Times: Fourth Age and Beyond: Gondor · ID: 987
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-08-20 04:11:34
A peaceful, reflective interlude in the life of Samwise Gamgee and one
of the Rangers of Ithilien. Twenty years after the Ring War, Sam has a
large and growing family, and he, Rose, and Elanor are for the moment
visiting in Gondor, staying with Faramir and Eowyn. A chance visit by an
ambassador from Harad provides the family an opportunity to take a
little retreat with Elboron to the herbalist's garden.

The OC herbalist has a steady, calming, wise presence as the
conversation turns to Sam's first visit to Ithilien, during the Ring
War, and how much Frodo's absence still hurts, despite all the blessings
of peace. Noerwen apparently has had to learn a similar lesson, that
sometimes, healing is harsh, but ultimately there is hope. Damrod's
brief part in the story, which allows this point to come out, gives us a
nice glimpse of him as well, and the man he has come to be since the
war. Good job, Cuthalion!
-----------------------------------