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Title: Once Upon a Memory · Author: pippinfan88 · Races: Hobbits:
Friendship · ID: 665
Reviewer: Dreamflower · 2006-09-04 02:43:57
This is a very sweet little story: Merry and Pippin, in Minas Tirith
remember an occasion in the Shire when they went on a walking trip with
Bilbo and Frodo. Pippin is hurt, and needs the services of a local
healer, who assumes that the three cousins are brothers. The whole tale
really shows the love and caring between them.
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Title: The Falcon's Watch · Author: pippinfan88 · Genres: Drama:
Featuring Pippin or Merry · ID: 227
Reviewer: Dreamflower · 2006-09-04 02:49:49
This is a very angsty story, narrated by Pippin's son, as he and Merry's
son travel to Gondor to honor their father's final resting place. In it,
Faramir struggles to understand why his father had to leave him, and
leave the Shire to end his days. Through the journey, the sons are
shadowed by the presence of a wild falcon--that may or may not be more
than it seems. This story is very thoughtful and insightful--I had
wanted to be the one to nominate it, but I found that someone else beat
me to it.
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Title: Healed · Author: Shirebound · Genres: Alternate Universe:
Post-Grey Havens · ID: 117
Reviewer: Dreamflower · 2006-09-04 02:53:45
Such a sweet and interesting AU: in it all five hobbits are allowed to
sail West for healing--but there is a catch. Upon reaching Tol Eressea
they revert to their infancy, and must grow up all over again, as
innocents. The concept sounds silly on the surface, but it is
delightfully and gently executed, and has a lot more depth to it than
first appears.
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Title: Shelter · Author: Shirebound · Times: The Great Years:
Post-Sauron's Fall · ID: 217
Reviewer: Dreamflower · 2006-09-04 02:57:19
Another Cormallen fic--of which there can never be too many. In this
one, the weather in Ithilien turns rainy, and the three injured hobbits
must be moved into one of the shelters in use for the wounded Men. The
author uses the opportunity to shower the three of them in gentle
comfort and respect, given by the other members of the Fellowship, and
also by the injured Men. The love and caring here are palpable. I was
very moved by the respectfulness of all the injured Men.
-----------------------------------
Title: The Three Towers · Author: Shirebound · Times: The Great Years:
Post-Sauron's Fall · ID: 113
Reviewer: Dreamflower · 2006-09-04 03:01:36
In trying to throw off the nightmares of Cirith Ungol, which are
accompanied by his failure to remember what actually occured there,
Frodo determines to return to the place, and set his mind to rest. All
the rest of the Fellowship as well as a good many guards and Men of the
City accompany him in this new Quest. I love Frodo in this--he is not
weak except for physically--he is strong and determined to overcome his
past. I also love the way the others do their part to help him--and this
time Merry and Pippin are not forced to separate from him. There is a
very memorable OC, as well, whom I quite got to like, and hope that the
author will show again one day.
-----------------------------------
Title: Psychodiagnostic Evaluation - Subject: The Lady of Rohan ·
Author: Anoriath · Genres: Humor: Parody · ID: 753
Reviewer: Oshun · 2006-09-04 05:32:59
This is one delightfully, outrageously funny piece. The tone is just
right and the canon references are rock solid. Oh, dear! I laughed.
Shame on me. Or perhaps I should say "Shame on you!" Poor Eowyn. But she
does make one want to shake her until her teeth rattle at times, doesn't
she? She is too easy though. I thought you would have to work a whole
lot harder to get me laugh in the Faramir section. But, no. You had me
from the moment when the interviewer asks him how Eowyn appeared to him
when he first encountered her and he answers: [Lovely.] One more great
line I must include: at the end of the interview when the examiner is
finishing up, but before he shuts off tape recorder, you have him mutter
[How do these people *find* each other?]

Great little fic. You have great range. I am reading a new story of
yours now that is heartbreakingly serious.
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Title: You Watch To Dissociate · Author: Ghettoelleth · Genres: Drama:
General Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 195
Reviewer: Rhapsody · 2006-09-04 08:42:58
Wow, this is incredibly sensual and creepy at the same time. It makes
you wonder how long Daeron spied on Luthien, including all the moments
she was with Beren. I love the way how Ghettoelleth captures Beren
victory in possessiveness of Luthien in words and at the same time, she
brilliantly portrays Daerons creepy fascination which he harbours for
the daughter of Thingol. I knew there was something off about Daeron,
but to see Beren deal with this in clear body language and actions& yum!
I wonder if Daeron fell out of a tree or ran into one when he saw this.

[Uhm, just to see if I could, really.]

I am just amazed how you capture an important canon event in 100 words,
because indeed, Daeron will stop singing in Thingols court. Every word
to describe this often-overlooked triangle is well chosen with spot on
characterisation. It feels balanced and it reads incredibly fluently as
if you are reading a short story. There is no question to second-guess
if you succeeded! You simply did! This drabble is simply a masterpiece:
haunting and so tantalizing at the same time. Most recommendable.
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Title: Grey Havens · Author: Space Weavil · Races: Elves · ID: 708
Reviewer: Rhapsody · 2006-09-04 11:26:13
What an amazing and compelling story. After I finished reading this,
some matters about which I pondered upon for a long time were addressed
in this story. The beginning is very intriguing: what could possibly
happened between Gil-Galad and Cirdan to cause this disruption in a
friendship. Besides the heartbreaking end and sacrifices both bring,
this story also tells a good tale on how the Grey Havens came into
being, the issues between the remaining elven houses after the
destruction of Beleriand is well told, but it doesnt dominate the tale.

Your two main characters seem so different from each other and are
fleshed out extremely well: the relatively young Gil-Galad trying to get
used to his new responsibilities and new life and the more experienced
Cirdan who finally dares to think about a family with the unfortunate
Elinel caught in between. And oh, I feel sorry for her, she wants to
follow her heart, but due to political consequences, she has to wait for
Gil-Galad to finish his duties as King before he deems to sail west to
Valinor.

The ending is very haunting, on the eve on the War of the Last Alliance,
both friends meet again and the reader knows all to well that Gil-Galad
will not sail into the West which gives a bittersweet meaning to the
sacrifice he will make soon on behalf of all. I cannot help to think
that he will be reborn soon though& so who knows. Space, what a great
story: I simply love it!
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Title: What Better Companion? · Author: Space Weavil · Races: Elves ·
ID: 175
Reviewer: Rhapsody · 2006-09-04 11:42:41
Oh my, what a great short story! I always am amazed about Space Weavils
stunning narrative, but the description of Glorfindel and his movements
is simply amazing. His patterns of thoughts seemed very reasonable for
an elf newly reborn and being acquainted with his body.

I did read [Once in a Fair Green Country...] last year for the MEFAs,
so Gandalfs inquisitiveness does not come as a surprise to me, the
sudden switch to the more serious tone when Glorfindel asks him of his
intentions feels very Gandalflike when he for example talks to the
Hobbits. The dialogue between Glorfindel and Gandalf is splendid and to
me it feels as if Glorfindel will be a great tutor for Gandalf in the
journey to come. Glorfindels own questions about his newly found fate
and acceptance comes very natural in the story, nothing feels forced
which makes this story a very pleasant read.
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Title: And all in evil ended be · Author: Werecat · Genres: Humor:
Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 122
Reviewer: Isabeau of Greenlea · 2006-09-04 12:17:23
Ha! Much that was unclear is now explained! An interesting premise...and
not an unreasonable one. Does this mean Morgoth is also responsible for
rats, pigeons and Twinkies?
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Title: Thus We Part · Author: Tinni · Times: First Age and Prior · ID: 251
Reviewer: Rhapsody · 2006-09-04 12:35:34
What a heart-breaking story. Tinni writes a torn Celebrimbor who, in his
mind, pleads his father to redeem himself and forsake the oath. What in
particular is well written are the consequences of the oath for the son
of a kinslayer who followed his atar into exile. I haven't read that
much story that dealt with this turning point in Celebrimbor's life.

There is pain, pride, good will, and hope in Celebrimbors words in a
seeming prayer to the all father, but also an eerie sense of
foreshadowing, knowing that even he will not escape the doom of Mandos.
In beautiful prose, the author lets the reader feel what this character
has to go through: forsaking his father after following him so far into
exile and leaving behind so much. You can feel how confused he is by his
father's actions and you show us as a reader that even Curufin felt
bound to an Oath he simply could not renounce.

[You are holding me like you used to and I feel the grief flow out of
you. Grief but not repentance, o father why not repentance? ]

This particular part gave me the shivers:
[I do not want to die for my creations, for if I die I can create no
more. Please, Iluvatar, do not let me share the fate of my grandfather.
Please.]

It is hard to imagine that the next generation of the Noldor elves will
suffer at the hands of the next generation of Evil. This is a stunning
testimony of love and a strong will which makes it very moving. All in
all, this is a well-structured story in which you can only hope that Eru
will have mercy on Celebrimbor and make just one exception, but we do
know this will not be the case.
-----------------------------------
Title: Nan Elmoth · Author: Robinka · Genres: Romance: Poetry · ID: 249
Reviewer: Rhapsody · 2006-09-04 13:57:51
Nan Elmoth is a incredible sensual poem. I am simply in awe how the poet
can capture so much passion and love in the form of a sonnet. But this
poem is much more: it breathes the start of something anew, the love
between two people, a new identity and the dawn of a new Kingdom once
finally awoken. I often imagined how Melian and Elwë would break their
spell and they do it in a manner I expected coming from Tolkien, but in
this particular sonnet it is envisioned by Robinka. It feels like such a
private moment and yet not, as if both do not want to hide anything from
the world, as if they want to declare their love to the rest of their
kind  who are somewhere waiting for their Lord to pop up.

After years of being frozen in a spell, Robinka starts the poem with a
great line which clearly gives you a sense of time and location. And in
their eagerness to move, they erupt in what feels like a dance of
lovers, the rhythm is simply perfect, it flows and reads so smoothly and
yet I cannot escape the deeper meaning of a bond so lovingly formed in
this piece. You can feel Melians first steps in discovering physical
love for Thingol and in return, Thingols yearning for a mate so fair.
Robinkas writing is graceful, evocative: simply an excellent example of
showing instead of telling in poetry. This is a tale of legend: a
glimpse of it captured in this beautiful work. I am simply awestruck by
your talent in poetry Binks!
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Title: The Importance of Being a Hobbit · Author: Lamiel · Races:
Hobbits: War of the Ring · ID: 961
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-09-04 16:06:16
Lamiel showed me last year that she is an excellent ensemble writer, and
here she does it again, though in a shorter space. The journey south
from Rivendell in its early days was a time of adjustment, as the
members of the Fellowship had to become acquainted with each other in
close quarters and come to rely on each other as they had not in
Rivendell. Such periods are inevitably awkward, and we can see the
strain clearly through Merry's perspective. The hobbit-Big Folk division
in his mind is overly broad, but it nevertheless shows up clearly his
sense of being helpless and in some sense worthless compared to the
other, more experienced members of the Fellowship, who have been at war
for longer than they'd care to think about.

Merry desperately wants to help share that burden, and the ordinariness
of himself and the other hobbits (minus Frodo, who, as Ringbearer, is
therefore in some way extraordinary), their lesser ability to survive a
long journey in an armed company, rankles deeply. At the same time, the
Elf-Dwarf rivalry is in full swing, Boromir, Gandalf, and Aragorn are
all doing their best to maintain damage control and tempers are getting
perhaps just a bit frayed.

When it comes to a head in another minor incident of hobbit-incited
chaos, Merry finally has a much-needed conversation with Legolas, who
fortunately (despite being young) is old enough and wise enough to be
able to explain the value of the 'ordinary' to Merry in terms Merry can
understand and accept without feeling as if he's being humored or
patronized, however unintentionally. That need for uniqueness of spirit,
to be what and who one uniquely is, is what Legolas brings out as
important, and while that doesn't prevent growth and a broadening of
ability and interest, it does take away the grinding need to conform to
some common standard that by nature cannot accommodate all that is
worthwhile.

Thanks for another lovely Fellowship gap-filler, Lamiel!
-----------------------------------
Title: Not In Vain · Author: Pipwise Brandygin · Races: Hobbits: War of
the Ring · ID: 675
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-09-04 16:06:34
Pippin's natural inquisitiveness and grief for Boromir finally lead him
to the hard questions. Fortunately, Gandalf is the object of these
questions that are, in some sense, without answer, and if anyone can
suggest a way of understanding the unfathomable workings of fate or
providence, it is Gandalf.

This gap-filler works very well to fill in some of the things we miss
during the actual narrative--discussion of Boromir after his death, for
example, and the younger hobbits' coming to terms with it. Gandalf
sounds properly wizardly and wise here, and as usual proves more
insightful when it comes to the secrets others are keeping than one
would expect. But he's also uniquely suited to determining when it will
help to tell those secrets, and here he does tackle the hard fact of
Boromir's betrayal and death and redemption in an effort to bring Pippin
some relief, as the quick flow of events and palantir exposure bring
with them see-sawing emotion.

Pipwise Brandygin gets that right, but without overdoing it: the story's
tone and style throughout avoid going into the sentimental; Pippin's
grief and confusion are tempered with enough reflection and willingness
to listen to move us through this episode with the feeling that this is
plausible, that this is what really might have happened.
-----------------------------------
Title: First Night · Author: Pearl Took · Races: Hobbits: War of the
Ring · ID: 400
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-09-04 16:06:47
This is a very well-executed gapfiller, and shows us a Pippin believably
in low spirits, frightened, feeling utterly out of his depth. Nothing is
made to his measure--not the streets, not the stairs, not the wash basin
or the window or the baths, and certainly not the loneliness. Spending
that first night in a new place is always somewhat traumatic and
difficult, but under these circumstances, bereft of lifelong friends and
more recently familiar companions, in a city dark and under siege, it's
a real trial.

The scent of lavendar in the sheets that reminds him of home is very
poignant and potent--scent can be such a trigger to memory, and this is
shown very well. I liked the blending of dream and waking life, the
unreal cries of Pippin's family shouting that [He's back!] and his
waking to discover that indeed, Gandalf is back, thankfully.
-----------------------------------
Title: Until After · Author: Dana · Races: Hobbits: War of the Ring ·
ID: 897
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-09-04 16:07:01
A lovely prelude to [Years After and a Sea Between]. I really like the
way Dana manages the perspective--at once distant, so that we are
onlookers, and yet so close to Pippin and his only apparently
straightforward reflection on the quest and the deepening relationship
between him and Merry. It allows for a tone of familiarity that strikes
exactly the right note for me for these two--Merry being at once
confidant less mature and (perhaps?) less intimidating in a way than
Frodo, yet able (and likely!) to say exactly what Frodo would tell him
at certain moments.

Their 'courtship', moving in fits and starts so that the moments of
actual exploration and growth *with* each other move astonishingly
quickly, in a rushed manner befitting the circumstances of the stages of
the quest, but also incredibly dragged out and interrupted by those same
circumstances. Things are rather disjointed--talking comes after loving,
and Pippin is deserted (though it's he who is taken away, in fact).
Emotion is chaotic, yet the narrative style restrains it, orders it, and
somehow cuts it down to size--hobbit size, which, if that means the
hobbits are, as Pippin realizes, in over their heads far sooner than
their larger companions, seems also to mean that they come to grips with
that fact more quickly.

Well done, Dana! Enjoyed every moment of it!
-----------------------------------
Title: Breeze · Author: illyria-pffyffin · Races: Hobbits: War of the
Ring · ID: 974
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-09-04 16:07:13
An unusual viewpoint, and I like the memories of the utmost west that
the wind carries in it, though the miles it has traveled disguise them.
The references to Glorfindel and Turin, too, were well done. I can
imagine the wind scattering the ashes around Frodo and Sam in an effort
to help, and to recall the music of the west to soothe them.
-----------------------------------
Title: The Decoy Hobbit · Author: storyfish · Races: Hobbits: War of the
Ring · ID: 257
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2006-09-04 16:07:27
An interesting take on the light-heartedness of hobbits. I can't quite
believe even Pippin would manage this much cavalier cheer in the face of
death, but the style is nevertheless amusing and entertaining, and I
liked his being tired of everyone calling his name instead of telling
him useful things. Sweet, yet unsentimental.
-----------------------------------
Title: Fugitive · Author: Gandalfs apprentice · Genres: Drama · ID: 366
Reviewer: Imhiriel · 2006-09-04 17:47:48
Engaging story, with good characterisations and well-handled emotions. I
like the original idea that Ivorwen was still alive for such a long time.
-----------------------------------
Title: The Recall · Author: Isabeau of Greenlea · Times: Fourth Age and
Beyond: Gondor · ID: 738
Reviewer: Imhiriel · 2006-09-04 17:48:26
You show very well how overmuch punishment, restrictions, and demands
for reparation of the loser in a war may breed resentment and new wars.
And how leniency and reconciliation can prevent them and further
prosperity and peace for both sides.

I'm glad to see that Imrahil, despite the harsh grief about Andrahar's
death, has lost none of his wisdom, cunning and the willingness to apply
both where it is needed (and that his "piratey streak" is still there).

I very much like the fact that he made his move because of his general
sense of justice rather than personal acquaintance.
-----------------------------------
Title: Sword Play · Author: Lindelea · Times: Fourth Age and Beyond: The
Shire · ID: 782
Reviewer: Imhiriel · 2006-09-04 17:48:52
Love how those two try to out-do each other in different ways, and how
Farry's various tactics to best Goldi keep backfiring. Good
characterisations, fitting for their age and respective background.

-----------------------------------
Title: An Exaltation of Larks · Author: Ibilover · Times: The Great
Years · ID: 178
Reviewer: Imhiriel · 2006-09-04 17:49:23
Well-written and entertaining gapfiller. The language is formal but not
stilted. The emotions and relationships in the early stages of the
Fellowship getting to know each other are explored and presented
believably. Interesting terms of venery, both genuine and made-up *g*.
-----------------------------------
Title: The White Tree · Author: Linda Hoyland · Races: Men: Featuring
Aragorn · ID: 94
Reviewer: Imhiriel · 2006-09-04 17:49:54
The characterisations are too sentimental to be believable to me, but I
like the developing strong relationship between Aragorn and Faramir. The
story shows well the strong symbolic meaning the White Tree has for
Gondor, and for Faramir with his foresight and faith/hope in particular.
-----------------------------------
Title: Chance Encounter · Author: Dreamflower · Times: The Great Years:
Post-Sauron's Fall · ID: 187
Reviewer: Imhiriel · 2006-09-04 17:51:02
Very good characterisations, layered, canonical. The relationships are
handled excellently. Good pacing, the plots and subplots have just the
right amount of build-up and resolution. The descriptions of Minas
Tirith are wonderfully detailed and bring the city and its inhabitants
truly to life, in all its broad range from good to bad, from rich to poor.
I love the inclusion of the song ["When the King enjoys his own again"]
- it's remarkable how well it fits into Middle-earth.
-----------------------------------
Title: Stolen · Author: Meril · Genres: Alternate Universe · ID: 46
Reviewer: Imhiriel · 2006-09-04 17:51:22
Brrr, chilling. You created disturbing images with well-chosen words of
horror, destruction and desecration.
-----------------------------------