Yahoo Forum Archive

Title: Healing Lessons · Author: Pearl Took · Races: Cross-Cultural:
With Pippin · ID: 296
Reviewer: NeumeIndil · 2007-08-01 05:38:28
I never would have thought of such a thing, and yet it seems so common
sense for that particular person. What a brilliant and remarkable idea!

Title: Taters and Thyme · Author: Cuthalion · Genres: Romance · ID: 499
Reviewer: NeumeIndil · 2007-08-01 06:15:22
You've made me hungry, a true sign of a good hobbit story! As always I
love your Lily, so sweet and caring while still keeping business-like
and doing what needs done. And poor Sam, shut out of the room for the
first time! I'm not sure if it's a translation decision or a whoopsie,
but the line in which Lily says she will ["put the cake in the oven"]
threw me for a moment since I'd been drooling over thoughts of a pear
*pie*, neither of which are technically the same as the sort of
strudel-type dish or tart I think you probably had in mind. (It's
funny how strongly food can bring people together once they figure out
what they're eating! :) )

The most powerful moment of the whole piece, which is saying a lot for
such a short but jam-packed story, was Sam's trip to the garden. The
relief he felt there on his knees in the dirt resonated with me as
both a gardener, a cook and a die-hard Sam lover. The undertones of
parenthood and care-taking are so subtly woven into this story it
really only just struck me how much they move the narrative: his
feelings of responsibility toward Rosie as her time comes and his
distress at not being with her, his memories of his own mother
teaching him to cook, how Lily steps into those shoes once the little
one arrives; all are vital to the story, but in such a quiet way. Yet
another wonderful hobbit tale from one of the most talented hobbit
writers I've had the pleasure to read!

Title: Irreverence · Author: Aratlithiel · Genres: Humor · ID: 619
Reviewer: NeumeIndil · 2007-08-01 06:25:16
After reading this I feel I may, perhaps, have missed something by
having no siblings. It seems somewhat out of character with the way
post-War Frodo is often written, and yet at the same time it somehow
works. The insults made me laugh, which is of course very hobbit-like.
This one, I think, deserves more reading and reviewing by someone with
the benefit of growing up with brothers. I feel somehow that I don't
"get it", which is sad because it was quite the enjoyable read.

Title: If I Keep You Beside Me · Author: sophinisba solis · Races:
Cross-Cultural: With Pippin · ID: 548
Reviewer: NeumeIndil · 2007-08-01 06:26:42
This was so sweet. Very in character with how I've always seen Pippin,
though I'll confess I haven't thought much on his relationship with
Boromir.

Title: Ever in your Arms · Author: White Gull · Races: Cross-Cultural
· ID: 668
Reviewer: NeumeIndil · 2007-08-01 06:33:11
I like your answer to the interminable "what if", and am very
intrigued by how exactly Ivy was healed as a wee one. If that hasn't
been written yet, perhaps it should be? This piece very nicely ties up
all of its loose ends, and gives us a glimpse of the other Fellowship
members in the early fourth age as well. The flow is lovely and
characterizations excellent. Very well done.

Title: Unstrung · Author: Tehta · Times: First Age and Prior · ID: 161
Reviewer: NeumeIndil · 2007-08-01 06:36:05
Whether the title can be considered a warning in and of itself or not,
I was not quite expecting that! (I do heartily appreciate the pun
involved.) Wow. An impressive characterization of the last living sons
of Feanor and their thoughts on the end of their quest.

Title: Despair · Author: Silivren Tinu · Genres: Drama: The Fellowship
· ID: 171
Reviewer: NeumeIndil · 2007-08-01 06:42:48
Very well done. I can see this fitting quite easily into the canon on
the situation, and would certainly hope Legolas would see fit to
attempt an intervention, if only to lighten Aragorn's burden of worry.
I like the use of song at the moment of his decision as well, which is
something I've not seen done in a story involving an elf in the
presence of the One Ring. It makes perfect sense, and hearkens back to
the Ainur's original purpose, reminding readers familiar with the
Silmarilion just how much had already been lost because of Morgoth's
discord.

Title: The Promise in her Eyes · Author: EdorasLass · Genres: Humor:
Gondor or Rohan · ID: 100
Reviewer: NeumeIndil · 2007-08-01 06:43:41
I found myself smiling as I read this, though I also don't trust the
speaker explicitly. He seems too much of a braggart, but I may just
have known too many similarly-motivated musicians in my life. I
enjoyed the character of Eomer being the tough, but in my mind fair
guardian, of his baby sister. You wrote some very good images of Eowyn
as a happy young girl as well. I found the language a bit
contemporary-sounding at times. ["I swear I didn't know who she
was..."] ["All right, yes, she was wearing..."] ["So you can see how I
thought she was only some minor noble's daughter, can't you? You
wouldn't expect the Lady Éowyn to flirt so boldly, would you?"]
Perhaps its the word order, or the use of filler words like "all
right" that lend it a modern tone that I wasn't expecting. Whatever it
is, it was mildly distracting but by the time the scene is fully laid
it is no longer an issue to me. A very nice slice-of-life in Rohan story.

Title: Hazardous Going · Author: Auntiemeesh · Races: Hobbits:
Hurt/Comfort · ID: 788
Reviewer: NeumeIndil · 2007-08-01 11:14:49
Sometimes it does just take a mother's touch to start feeling better.
Very good characterization of the two hobbits and the OFC is well done
as well.

Title: Pippin's Little Experiment · Author: Budgielover · Races:
Cross-Cultural: With Pippin · ID: 291
Reviewer: NeumeIndil · 2007-08-01 11:20:41
I laughed quite long and hard about this one. A friend of mine years
ago nearly did a very similar thing. It seems delightfully Tookish,
and he deserved every bit of ribbing he got! A very nice means of
slipping some humor into an otherwise rather dark bit of canon. Well done.

Title: Who is this Gil-galad, of Whom You Speak? · Author: Erunyauve ·
Genres: Non-Fiction · ID: 250
Reviewer: Radbooks · 2007-08-01 14:46:07
A very interesting essay about one of my favorite elven characters. I
was shocked to learn that so little was actually written in canon; I
hadn't realized that most of what 'I know' was fanon. Thank you for
clearing that up, well done!

Title: A Game of Chess · Author: Altariel · Genres: Romance: Gondor ·
ID: 609
Reviewer: NeumeIndil · 2007-08-02 00:01:38
Please forgive utter frankness from a complete stranger. As the adult
child of a "heavy handed" parent, I cannot accurately begin to explain
the effect this story has had on me. I see a good measure of my own
qualities, both good and bad, set down here in black and white, and as
pathetic as this may sound, have come to realize that I need to have a
talk with someone close to me. I have always hoped that something I
write might do good for others in one way or another. Whether this was
your goal or not, I felt I should tell you that you have done so here.

The story itself is so easy to read and the changes in PoV very well
handled. The line between moving narrative and simply "enjoying the
view" so to speak is walked confidently and well. The flow is
excellent and the characters both in canon and simultaneously more
human and "real" than many I've seen. Nothing is overstated or
over-used. This story, I feel, is remarkably better than much original
fiction available in the mass market.

Very well done, and my most hearty thanks. At times, one needs
catharsis. I found it here.

Title: A Mother's Touch · Author: Raksha the Demon · Genres: Humor:
Other Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 44
Reviewer: Linda hoyland · 2007-08-02 05:42:16
Even fierce dragons must once have been babies and had mothers who no
doubt thought their offspring the most beautiful beings on earth as is
the custom of loving mothers everywhere.

This delightful ficlet imagines the childhood of Smaug and his fierce
but adoring mother,Readfah.

Like children everywhere,Smaugh likes to get muddy and play in the
dirt. This ficlet brought back fond memories of childhood, I recall as
a small girl, I once got so covered in mud and coal dust, my mother
had me wash my hands in the backyard, so I can feel for this small
dragon !

Readfah is proud that Smaug does not quail before her wrath and
naturally thinks her son is adorable and beautiful,all the more so as
he is descended from the greatest of Morgoth's dragons.

I love the writer's allusions here to the Nordic mythology, which
inspired Tolkien's writing. Smaug is a close relative of Fafner, the
grim dragon who guarded the Nibelung Hoard of treasure and the magic Ring.

It says a great deal here, for the writer's skill that she can make
these tough and evil dragons, so lovable and endearing to the reader,
though we are not allowed to forget how brutal they really are.Smaug
is reminded, he should only get dirty with the blood of his prey,
while Readfah's claws could eaily kill a horse !

Title: Falling Into Shadow · Author: Marigold · Races: Cross-Cultural:
Incomplete · ID: 205
Reviewer: Larner · 2007-08-02 06:11:09
Not only Frodo was in extremis as the four Hobbits reached Rivendell
accompanied by Strider and Glorfindel; this third encounter with the
Nazgul left Merry also facing darkness with his first full bout of the
Black Breath. I know that in my own writing Merry was relieved of his
first true bout by Strider carefully and quietly using his own power
to deal with the last of the malaise hanging about the Brandybuck as
he reenters the Pony; to see someone else also recognize that Merry
was perhaps more susceptible on the Pelennor due to earlier encounters
is heartening.

The love between Merry and Pippin is strongly expressed as well as the
foresight of Glorfindel, which even he dismisses as too fantastic.

Excellent short story that may indeed be followed through upon.

Title: A Mother's Work · Author: Dreamflower · Races: Hobbits:
Vignette · ID: 134
Reviewer: Larner · 2007-08-02 06:40:06
To see the mothers of each of the four Travelers facing the day to day
challenges of raising children and dealing with husbands is always
fascinating. Dreamflower has managed to bring each alive, and their
children alive as well--the adults who sought to take over Frodo's new
gift; the frustrations of facing how quickly small children can get
into mischief and danger; the grief of losing a beloved nanny; dealing
with infants who will eat all the plums they can get hold of and cram
pretty ribbons into their mouths while daughters gather wool and grab
one another's toys.

And we see the joys and frustrations and triumphs of being wives and
mothers.

Lovely moments shared.

Title: Getting Away from it All · Author: Bodkin · Times: Fourth Age
and Beyond: Gondor or Rohan · ID: 63
Reviewer: Larner · 2007-08-02 06:45:14
A wonderful moment of relaxation by four of the most responsible
individuals within Gondor, enjoying rare moments of peace within
Ithilien while ever aware their lives have changed now. They take
their ease in a circle of guards, and their discussion touches on the
machinations of the courtiers and lords of the kingdom. But they are
confident and competent--surely they will prevail as they work
together to forge a new future of Gondor in a time of peace.

As always, a most worthwhile read by this most superb of writers.

Title: The Dwarf Dagger · Author: Dreamflower · Genres: Drama: The
Shire · ID: 85
Reviewer: Larner · 2007-08-02 06:56:15
Now and then we are moved to write a tragedy, and that Dreamflower has
done here. As Adalgrim's children explore the Great Smial under the
guidance of young Ferumbras and are led into the Took Treasuries,
events are set into motion leaving them accused of having stolen a
dagger crafted by Dwarves, intended as a gift from Lalia to her
husband the Thain; and we see one child so upset she leaves alone to
return to the farm in Whitwell, although she fails to reach her objective.

It's not often anyone looks at the childhood of the older sisters of
Paladin and Esmeralda. They often appear as maiden aunts living in the
Great Smials and doting on Pippin and his sisters; but to see their
developmental years is a pleasure, if a solemn one in this case.

A wonderful look at the lives of those who preceded our beloved four,
and the Shire as it was then; and also a wonderful look at the
self-centered Lalia before she made herself the Took and the terror of
Tookland.

Title: The Case of the Purloined Mushrooms · Author: Inkling · Genres:
Mystery · ID: 298
Reviewer: Larner · 2007-08-02 07:06:02
Inkling truly needs to write more than she does, for this is such a
delightful story as we find intrigue within intrigue. Sherlock Holmes
has little on this postal delivery hobbit who sets out to solve the
mystery of the purloined mushrooms.

Frodo does have a reputation already as a mushroom thief that preceded
him to the Westfarthing, stemming back to invasions of Bamfurlong Farm
in search of Maggot's mushroom patch. But is the real thief this time
indeed Frodo, or is it young Meriadoc Brandybuck who's really at
fault, and Frodo's only refusing to answer questions to protect his
beloved cousin? Or is it someone else entirely? And what is Bilbo's
secret herb or spice that makes his mushrooms to special?

These questions will be answered, and most delightfully. A wonderful read.

Title: God of Wrath · Author: Katzilla · Genres: Drama · ID: 369
Reviewer: Larner · 2007-08-02 07:13:28
When Katzilla warns that there are dark themes present in this story,
she is being brutally honest. The Rohirrim under Eomer have made a
practice of allowing those whose lives have been worst damaged by
incursions of orcs and Dunlendings to see to it that captured enemies
suffer before they die. But one Rohirric woman has her own concerns as
to how this practice itself is destructive, and manages to communicate
her discomfort to Eomer himself. She's lost her family, but not her
spirit of caring, we learn.

Yes, dark themes, but necessary ones as we consider the ethics of war.

Title: Behold the King · Author: Linda hoyland · Races: Men: Other
Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 433
Reviewer: Raksha the Demon · 2007-08-02 07:20:25
A prettily written story, in two short chapters, of Aragorn's
coronation, from the points of view of both Steward and King-to-be. As
key players in a millenia-long drama of history that now reaches its
culmination, the perspectives of the last Ruling Steward of Gondor and
the man to whom he will yield Gondor are fascinating, especially when
pared down to three hundred words apiece.

In the story's first chapter, Faramir searches out the ancient crown
that he will present to the returned king, and prepares to give it to
the man who will replace him as Lord of Gondor. The second chapter is
stronger, from Aragorn's point of view as he makes the mythic change
from ranger and warrior to King.

There's a wonderful moment where the reader feels like cheering, as
Aragorn is conscious of finally being able to be his true self, the
king he was born to be.

A fascinating concept, ably translated into this short but sweet
story. I wish I had written it!



Title: Shadow and Thought · Author: Linda hoyland · Genres: Drama:
With Aragorn · ID: 122
Reviewer: Raksha the Demon · 2007-08-02 07:22:49
This is a thoughtfully and sensitively written angst epic, one of the
better ones of the genre. There is some torture, it is not overly
graphic, and the treatment of wounds is down-to-earth and
appropriately realistic.

But the salient characteristic of this early Fourth Age tale is the
presentation of Eowyn. Here, she is not Faramir's happy bride,
enjoying the joys of peace and connubial bliss. Rather, Eowyn
misinterprets a canon remark made by Aragorn at her betrothal, and
believes that the King of Gondor induced Faramir to marry Eowyn for
political and personal reasons. Eowyn tells no one of her certainty,
but her hatred and resentment blazes beneath a cold and snappish
exterior. It is as if she is poisoned, her emotional wounds as
damaging to her spirit as the physical wounds sustained by Aragorn are
to his body. In an interesting plot twist, it is Eowyn, angry and
frustrated, who must tend the badly injured Aragorn, although she
views him as the cause of her misery.

There's a very intriguing sub-plot, toward the end, involving two
madwomen, a mysterious child, and a fire which forces Faramir to
relive certain feelings and associations he would much rather forget.

All in all, this story is quite entertaining as well as angstful...



Title: Mardil Goes A-Courting · Author: Le Rouret · Genres: Humor:
Gondor or Rohan · ID: 366
Reviewer: Raksha the Demon · 2007-08-02 19:21:03
To be honest, I was lured into this story by the first chapter, which
featured the lovely spectacle of naked Legolas and Faramir sunning
themselves in Ithilien after escaping a tedious social engagement. But
the rest of the tale does not disappoint -

Legolas puts his hand to the fine art of matchmaking, for a mortal
friend of his, a forty-year-old bachelor lord in need of a wife who
can provide a good dowry as well as children. Never mind that the
bachelor lord has no idea or stated interest in Legolas' plans, or
that those plans go from clever to positively machiavellian; but what
follows is a vastly entertaining story.

Legolas' perfect design, and self-satisfaction, do suffer a huge bump
in the road, but there is a happy ending.

LeRouret can write comedy as well as tragedy and adventure; and this
story is a pleasant romantic comedy. And I love the characterisation
of Mardil of Ethring, the lonely "Silver Knight" whose life is turned
upside down by Legolas' well-meant plan.

Title: Justice · Author: Imhiriel · Genres: Drama: Gondor Drabble ·
ID: 633
Reviewer: Linda hoyland · 2007-08-02 20:38:04
A nice glimpse of Aragorn's justice and mercy when he becomes
king.Winning hearts by kindness is surely the best way to proceed and
Aragorn does this by caring for all his people including defeated enemies.

Title: The Green Hill · Author: Baranduin · Races: Cross-Cultural: The
Fellowship · ID: 562
Reviewer: Linda hoyland · 2007-08-02 20:47:00
A beautiful and atmospheric ficlet in which Aragorn tells Frodo of how
he plighted his troth to Arwen and the spot where they stood. I
especially enjoyed the glimpse of Aragorn laughing and looking young
again.Who indeed could resist the beauty of twilight?
I also enjoyed the obvious depth of friendship between Aragorn and
Frodo shown here.

Title: A Moment Lost · Author: Fawsley · Races: Men: Gondor Drabble ·
ID: 491
Reviewer: Linda hoyland · 2007-08-02 20:50:07
A lovely drabble showing how the mantle of kingship gradually falls
upon Aragorn so that he is unmistakebly King.The aura of majesty that
can command the dead is far more than a crown which the writer conveys
well here.