Yahoo Forum Archive

Title: After The Storm · Author: chibi_kaz · Times: The Great Years:
Gondor · ID: 773
Reviewer: Marigold · 2006-10-18 09:59:17
A lovely work!
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Title: A Letter Home · Author: Frodo Baggins of Bag End (Febobe) ·
Times: The Great Years: Gondor · ID: 978
Reviewer: Marigold · 2006-10-18 10:10:46
Whether or not Sam could have sent such a letter, I could easily picture
him trying to write one, and at the least relating the tale much this
way to his father when he got home. I loved the ointment for the
Gaffer's joint ache! I'll bet Sam really did bring some of that back
with him!
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Title: The Still Point · Author: stultiloquentia · Times: The Great
Years: Gondor · ID: 87
Reviewer: Marigold · 2006-10-18 10:16:03
A lovely story! Aragorn and Arwen's love is so beautifully depicted. So
too is the revelation that Arwen is becoming mortal, dreaming mortal dreams.
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Title: The Hours of Waiting · Author: Nesta · Times: The Great Years:
Gondor · ID: 909
Reviewer: Marigold · 2006-10-18 10:22:43
This is asbolutely lovely. Faramir and Eowyn and their speech together
is perfectly written. I especially loved that Eowyn had set the caged
lark free, and that Faramir would permit Eowyn to stand with him at the
last. Showing the two robins at the end was a beautiful way to finish
the story, much more effective than to have another scene between Eowyn
and Faramir.
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Title: A Length of Haradric Silk · Author: annmarwalk · Times: The Great
Years: Gondor · ID: 69
Reviewer: Marigold · 2006-10-18 10:27:40
Ah, Sam! This fabric will be used exactly for what the shopkeeper
suggested, and I'll bet in his heart that he knows it! Lovely
descriptions of the silk! I can just imagine Rosie's awe and pleasure
when she receives it.
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Title: All Save One · Author: LadyDeb1970 · Times: The Great Years:
Gondor · ID: 691
Reviewer: Marigold · 2006-10-18 10:31:20
A wonderful moment. I liked the reactions of all the Fellowship,
especially that of Merry and Pippin. This visit from spirit-Boromir
would help bring peace to all of their hearts.
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Title: Athelas · Author: Waltraute · Times: The Great Years: Gondor ·
ID: 243
Reviewer: Marigold · 2006-10-18 10:37:39
How terrible that Bergil is so used to seeing death that he hardly
notices the bodies anymore. I think that old Mumbler had stayed and was
protecting the chest for this very reason, that he knew that this need
would come.
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Title: The Falcon and the Star · Author: Raksha the Demon · Times: The
Great Years: Gondor · ID: 57
Reviewer: Marigold · 2006-10-18 10:52:16
A wonderful description of the events that took place the night Aragorn
healed Faramir, Eowyn, and Merry. I loved that this was told from
Aragorn's point of view, learning his thoughts, and seeing his reactions.
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Title: The Price of Power · Author: Rabidsamfan · Times: The Great
Years: General Fixed-Length Ficlets · ID: 989
Reviewer: Marigold · 2006-10-18 12:55:20
One catches a hint of regret, but Sauruman coldly does not let it touch
him. ["But trees are not an army"] Just wait!
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Title: The Gift of Gold · Author: pippinfan88 · Genres: Drama:
Remembering · ID: 267
Reviewer: Pearl Took · 2006-10-18 17:09:44
This is a beautiful story af love and traditions. It features a trio of
hobbits not usually put together; Marigold (Gamgee) Cotton, Rosie
(Cotton) Gamgee, and Goldilocks Gardner. The passing on of some small
treasure has long been a wedding tradition in many cultures, and so it
is here that the "something old" comes beautifully into the story.

I like the mingling of sorrow and joy. So many special occations have
that quailty as we are joyful for the present but miss those no longer
with us. This story captures that beautifully.
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Title: Heirs of the Oath · Author: Elana · Races: Men: Other
Fixed-Length Ficlets · ID: 151
Reviewer: Imhiriel · 2006-10-18 17:27:21
The connections you make here - from history, to the intended ceremony
that could never actually be carried out, to the finally realised
renewal of the oath, in joy but also with the shadows of sorrow - are
interwoven very cleverly and moving. The description of the Halifirien
is breath-taking.
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Title: Until Light Returns · Author: elliska · Races: Elves:
Fixed-Length Ficlet Featuring Legolas or Thranduil · ID: 707
Reviewer: Imhiriel · 2006-10-18 17:27:48
Very evocative descriptions of the beauty of the wood; no wonder
Thranduil chose to fight for it despite the odds. Thranduil's pride and
strength of mind, and also his satisfaction, joy and pride at the final
victory, is very apparent in the drabble.
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Title: By The Light of Earendil's Star · Author: Branwyn · Genres:
Adventure · ID: 83
Reviewer: Imhiriel · 2006-10-18 17:28:19
Suspenseful (although I found some of the twists rather improbable),
interesting OCs. The portrayal of Denethor is wonderful.
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Title: I'm Writing This With My Left Hand · Author: Vana Tuivana ·
Genres: Drama: Poetry · ID: 641
Reviewer: Branwyn · 2006-10-18 17:52:13
Maedhros engages in the time-honored pasttime of prisoners everywhere,
scratching grafitti on the wall of his prison, but in this case, he is
writing on the side of a mountain with his one remaining hand! This
short poem is its own brand of weird, and I love it. The situation could
scarcely be worse, yet Maedhros' words are witty and sardonic. His
remark addressed to the hypothetical reader--

[and if anyone
but me
should ever
chance
to read this]

--is so typical of grafitti and makes his words seem authentic.

Kudos to Vana Tuivana for such an arresting piece of writing!
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Title: The Courtship of Peregrin Took · Author: pippinfan88 · Genres:
Romance · ID: 275
Reviewer: Pearl Took · 2006-10-18 18:27:34
After her Where Roses Grow, this is Pippinfan's longest and best work.

It was an interesting experience for me, reading this tale of Pippin and
Diamond, seeing as I have written one of my own. It is sometimes hard to
read a story on a subject area I've written about as, of course, the
other author's take on it will be different and there is that feeling
that they "have it all wrong" because of that. But this tale is so well
crafted that it pulled me in anyway.

After yet another failed love (that part is a bit like my story), Pippin
meets Diamond. Her older sister had come to be nanny to Pimpernel's
sons. She and Pippin begin a friendship that looks to be developing into
something more - until she has to confess that she is still rather in
love with the hobit she had been betrothed to. When her family and
former betrothed show up, she realizes she still loves him and Pippin is
crushed.

What follows is a lovely sweet tale of two people helping each other
with hurts they have as Diamond becomes the new nanny for Pippin's
nephews. Like her sister, she takes the position to leave behind
unpleasant things at home. Gradually Pippin and Diamond become dear to
each other in ways no other has before.

It is a warm, loving story. Well crafted and with good caracterization
of all these dear hobbits.
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Title: Alas, for the dying of the trees · Author: Gandalfs apprentice ·
Races: Cross-Cultural: Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 788
Reviewer: Marigold · 2006-10-18 19:36:57
A lovely drabble that makes very clear the long friendship between Gimli
and Legolas.
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Title: Moon Friend: Tales of Isildur · Author: Elena Tiriel · Races:
Men: Other Fixed-Length Ficlets · ID: 832
Reviewer: Tanaqui · 2006-10-18 19:46:51
In this series of drabbles, Elena Tiriel explores various moments in
Isildur's life, and cleverly relates them to both the meaning of his
name and the qualities associated with the moon. As with all of Elena
Tiriel's writing's, she wields both vocabulary and the rhythms and
structure of her sentences to deliver prose poems of immense subtlety
and power.

The first drabble cleverly uses the blood-drenched appearance of a moon
in eclipse to hint at Isildur's secret and nearly fatal errand to rescue
a fruit of Nimloth, while the obscuring cloud cover mirrors the passive
resistance of the populace of Numenor, resentful of Sauron's presence.
In another drabble, Elena Tiriel provides a heartbreaking foreshadowing
of Isildur's fall to the ring through his oath made to his patron: the
inconstant moon.

The series also includes two drabbles characteristic of Elena Tiriel,
who has a scary connection to Dark Creatures: the perspective of an orc
who encounters the terror of Isildur, fleeing from the Disaster of the
Gladden Fields, wearing the Ring; and the ghostly Isildur learn the
eventual fate of his bones in a chilling encounter with Saruman and his
orc minions.

Overall, this is a powerful, beautifully expressed and moving portrait
of one of Tolkien's true tragic heroes: a noble and courageous man
brought low by the malign influence of Sauron.
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Title: Stewardship · Author: Raksha the Demon · Races: Cross-Cultural:
Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 920
Reviewer: Marigold · 2006-10-18 19:53:11
Gandalf must feel satisfaction indeed that he is leaving his Stewardship
in such capable hands.
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Title: Hair · Author: Gandalfs apprentice · Races: Cross-Cultural:
Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 321
Reviewer: Marigold · 2006-10-18 19:55:29
Very funny drabble about learning and coming to terms with the
differences of others.
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Title: Such loveliness in living thing · Author: Tanaqui · Races:
Cross-Cultural: Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 904
Reviewer: Marigold · 2006-10-18 19:58:45
A nice glimpse of Bilbo's first impressions of Arwen.
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Title: The Tenth Walker · Author: Lindelea · Races: Cross-Cultural:
Incomplete · ID: 198
Reviewer: Marigold · 2006-10-18 20:02:59
A thoroughly enjoyable story!
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Title: A Secret Gate · Author: Elanor · Genres: Drama: Incomplete · ID: 56
Reviewer: Gryffinjack · 2006-10-18 20:12:22
When it comes to LotR stories, the story at the very top of my list that
must be read is A Secret Gate.

This story transcends beauty and enters into an altogether different
realm with its poetic prose full of rich descriptions full of emotion.
The characters and scenes are so vivid that the reader feels as though
they were one of the characters, seeing and feeling what they do.

Reading this story is like stepping into a magical land filled with
wonder, faerie magic, and an intangible special quality that leaves the
reader in breathless awe. The story comes alive and is totally
captivating. I for one am extremely jealous of this writer's imagination
and writing talents.

The story is an extremely imaginative visit with Merry and Pippin at the
end of their days in the Shire and follows them as they decide to leave
the Shire and their offices behind and return to Rohan first and then
Gondor. This is the only story I have ever read where I can accept Merry
and Pippin being old and embrace their personalities as they have
developed through the many long years.

However, this is not merely a story about a trip to the South. The
writer artfully weaves into the fabric of this story Merry's and
Pippin's memories so that we see various events from their lives, such
as the moments when they first fell in love with Estella and Diamond and
the special relationship each has with his respective wife.

The story behind Pippin and Diamond is absolutely breathtaking and has
definitely influenced my view of Diamond. All of this writers'
characterisations, including her OC's, are so rich with detail that they
spring to life. The reader will see them and hear their voices clearly.
I am especially fond of a young hobbit named Jamy Bucket, who comes to
Brandy Hall with a message for the best Meriadoc the Magnificent, Master
of Buckland, that I have ever read and becomes much more than a mere
messenger. The author carefully sculpts Jamys background and developes
his story as he interacts with Merry and his family so that the reader
is left wanting to see much more of this engaging young hobbit.

The details about the lives of Pippin and Merry and their families are
sensational, each of their children given depth and a unique voice. But
it is Pippin and Diamond that truly steal my heart in this story, with
the other-worldiness and mysticism that envelopes their relationship.

The overwhelming brilliancy of this story is made all the more complete
by the wonderful addition of illustrations that are as rich and vibrant
with magic as the story itself.

I cannot recommend this story highly enough and anyone who does not read
this gem of a story is missing out on a really special treat.
-----------------------------------
Title: The Stone's Lament · Author: Thevina Finduilas · Races: Dwarves ·
ID: 53
Reviewer: Marigold · 2006-10-18 20:13:09
This would indeed be something to give Gimli pause, and perhaps begin to
consider Legolas as more than an unwelcome companion - once he got over
his distress that he himself cannot hear the stones lament.
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Title: Dark Appetites · Author: Elena Tiriel · Races: Villains:
Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 833
Reviewer: Tanaqui · 2006-10-18 20:23:57
This drabble is a wonderful example of how Elena Tiriel is able to get
inside the minds of Tolkien's darker creations. She cleverly picks up on
a single sentence in The Lord of the Rings and extrapolates from it to
give us a complete picture of the long-term fate of a defeated enemy.
The language proves an intense sense of Shelob's brooding malice,
continued anger and her enduring hunger  and desire for revenge. (One
feels the people of resettled Ithilien are in for a nasty shock some
day.) Another exquisitely turned tour-de-force from this drabble specialist.
-----------------------------------
Title: Just Us Lads · Author: pippinfan88 · Times: Late Third Age: The
Shire · ID: 291
Reviewer: Pearl Took · 2006-10-18 22:36:10
Ah the joys of an evening with just the lads! It must have been a rare
enough thing for Paladin and Pippin to get to enjoy. And the glorious
feeling of having his da all to himself must have been wonderful as
well. The story is as warm, relaxing and comfy as the scene it describes.
-----------------------------------