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Title: Calm after the Storm · Author: Imhiriel · Genres: Adventure:
Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 350
Reviewer: Linda hoyland · 2007-09-20 04:58:48
This is a very atmospheric piece and the reader can almost feel the
heat both of the weather and the of the battle.

We know little of what Imrahil looked like, save he was of Numenorean
lineage. I always imagine, a tall dark and handsome man.

The reader is left to fill in her own picture as the hot and battle
weary Prince disrobes and plunges naked into the sea to both cool and
cleanse himself.

A very enjoyable and well written drabble.

Title: Subdivisions · Author: Aliana · Genres: Alternate Universe:
Gondor or Rohan · ID: 551
Reviewer: Linda hoyland · 2007-09-20 04:59:06
A surreal look at what might happen if modern America could meet Minas
Tirith.I Could well imagine it would quickly become a prime tourist
attraction as in this story.The writer makes some interesting and
pertinent points about globalisation and the generation gap.

Title: The Company of Heroes · Author: annmarwalk · Races: Hobbits:
Children · ID: 393
Reviewer: Linda hoyland · 2007-09-20 05:03:26
A delightful ficlet concerning Sam and his children as he talks about
the Fellowship to them and Boromir's place in it.
For many years,Sam has resented Boromir because of his attempt to take
the Ring from FRodo, but now after the years have passed, Sam sees how
a greater plan was behind it all and everything turned out just as it
ought to have done.

Title: Waste Not, Want Not · Author: Tanaqui · Races: Villains:
Drabble · ID: 722
Reviewer: Raksha the Demon · 2007-09-20 07:01:53
Well, one must applaud the orcs for efficiency! There's a definite ick
factor here, but they are Orcs, not Girl Guides. And thankfully,
nothing graphic.

Fine characterization of the orcs; showing they have intelligence,
however rude and pragmatic.

Title: The Unbearable Smugness of Being Feanor · Author: Ignoble Bard
· Genres: Humor · ID: 164
Reviewer: Jael · 2007-09-23 00:41:35
This story is always good for a hearty laugh, for so very many reasons.

The idea of Melkor and Feanor sharing the Outer Voids for all eternity
and snarking at each other all the way is a brilliant concept. Even
with the long silences of one and an hundred years. Well, we all know
those two cannot co-exist for long and, true to form, the results are
. . . explosive.

I could go on and on about my favorite lines, but at the risk of
giving away all your jokes, I'll limit myself to observing that Melkor
calling Feanor an asshat and a smug prick is priceless!

If I had any concrit, it would be to say that this story is all
dialogue and no description. But then I realized that this is the
Outer Void -- nothing to describe. Which makes this story a nicely
done blackout skit. Good going!

Title: Last Light · Author: Ignoble Bard · Genres: Drama · ID: 194
Reviewer: Jael · 2007-09-23 00:44:55
Such a beautifully written story,Bard! The prose is elegant and
evocative, fitting perfectly with the painting that accompanies it --
Caspar David Friedrich's The Tree of Crows -- as we view Saruman's
final days at Orthanc through the eyes of a truly unusual original
character.

I found the way your protagonist describes the others -- day ones,
night ones, the quick ones pausing to wipe the moisture from their
shaggy heads -- to be very effective.

I came to feel sympathy for your tree as he witnesses the destruction
of all around him and faces the last light. All in all, a fine story.
Well done!

Title: Sea King; Seeking · Author: Tanaqui · Genres: Drama: Other
Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 689
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2007-09-23 00:57:45
These are an excellent glimpse into the lives of those closest to
Aldarion, and not just the predictable choice of Erendis. In these
brief few lines, each character got a voice of his or her own, and an
angle, an access to Aldarion and to his desire for the sea, be it an
access that comes in the form of a block and a silence that will haunt
the story.

I think Ancalime's drabble was most moving to me - the appropriately
dreaming quality of its opening lines and the intrusion of reality,
even there, when her father leaves her again and leaves bitterness in
his wake. She doesn't understand what draws his desire, only that she
does not, and that is enough to set a barrier in place against the
wounds love and life can inflict that will last a lifetime. One really
feels for her.

Very well done, Tanaqui!

Title: Circumstances · Author: Marta · Genres: Drama: Gondor Drabble ·
ID: 621
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2007-09-23 01:09:20
I remember this ficlet - it is great fun, watching Denethor's sisters
twitter and speculate silently about their father's new but apparently
lowly captain. Knowing what we know, of course, the readers look on
with the amusement of those who are just hoping the ladies in question
are around to witness coronation day and be aghast.

But even they aren't quite immune to the spell of one Thorongil, it
seems - their smiles at the end bespeak a telling ambivalence. Yes, he
might be beneath them; no, they still can't resist him. Heh heh. Well
done!

Title: Letting Go · Author: Rowan · Genres: Drama: The Shire · ID: 310
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2007-09-23 01:16:18
This was a lovely little vignette, focusing on a moment in time I've
not seen done before. Farewell scenes are often hard to write well
without lapsing into overdone sentiment, but this feels just right:
the happy excursion, the joy of escape (and the fox! The fox is
watching!), weighed down in the end by the knowledge of a last time.

What needs to be said between Bilbo and Frodo is said, quietly,
indirectly - 'I love you', and Frodo's assurance that he will indeed
be all right reminds us all that he is the future RIngbearer. He's got
mettle beneath the boyishness and mistaking of a walk in the Shire for
an adventure of the sort Bilbo has known. This is a beautiful set up
for the Birthday Party and for the beginning of the story.

Anyone who likes those quiet but poignant moments will enjoy this, I
think, and fans of Bilbo and Frodo should definitely give it a read.

Title: A Suitable Tribute · Author: EdorasLass · Genres: Drama · ID: 474
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2007-09-23 01:19:27
A very interesting tribute - I'm still wondering what that will be
used for. I suppose there must be many things - one could use it to
weave something with or maybe for stitches (maybe? I don't know enough
about medicine, but long and thin = potentially useful for healers in
desperate need of restocking). I like that her betrothed, though
horrified at first, accepts fairly quickly.

Title: Candles · Author: Eretria · Genres: Drama: With Merry · ID: 305
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2007-09-23 01:25:27
A nice series of linked conversations between cousins, as Merry waits
for news from the Black Gate. One imagines the time just after it had
been decided who would march and just before departure would be an
anxious time indeed. A time for memories and ghosts and fears to prey
upon the mind and keep two hobbits up an talking, burning the midnight
oil, and not simply because they want a little light to see by at night.



Title: The spaces between two silences · Author: illyria-pffyffin ·
Genres: Drama: With Aragorn · ID: 677
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2007-09-23 01:33:53
Ok, yes, Dwim is a sucker for Aragorn and Arwen, but this is very
nicely done - good bookends to two long lives!

Romance can be so tricky to write. How do you get the one key thing
out that needs to be declared without it falling flat into cliche?
This is always the question. Illyria leads us through Aragorn's
traveller's tales, in which he describes a wandering life in the
extreme southern reaches of Harad and the powerful attraction he felt
to it, while Arwen listens and wonders why he had returned or whether
those journeys have changed him. And she gets out 'I love you' without
ever saying it - it works beautifully.

The later scenes devoted to Arwen's vigil over her husband's body, and
the silent waiting in Lothlorien are also well drawn. They are quiet,
as the title indicates, and appropriately so. Feeling is muted, but
the more powerful for that. I liked her decision to open the gates and
allow her people to mourn for their king with her, rather than making
it a private affair.

This fan of Aragorn and Arwen came away happy to have read this story
- I recommend others give it a try!

Title: Family Jewels · Author: Raksha the Demon · Genres: Drama: Other
Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 464
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2007-09-23 01:39:15
Nice use of the tale of Feanor's Silmarils to unpack the father-son
relationships across three ages. Feanor as having wounded and sullied
his sons would be a powerful image, no doubt, to a second-born son who
was not quite the apple of his father's eye. Now a father himself, and
aware of the responsibility for his two young children, not to inflict
upon them what Feanor and Denethor inflicted on their children,
Faramir shows he's got a chance at least of breaking the tale of
tortured father-son relationships: he can, as he says, forgive, and so
begin anew without stain with his own children.

Title: Journey's End · Author: Altariel · Genres: Drama: Ithilien ·
ID: 442
Reviewer: Dwimordene · 2007-09-23 02:02:40
How did I miss this one? I love this vision of Fourth Age Ithilien:
once more a garden and peaceful, safe for visitors and travellers. No
more need for Rangers on every doorstep, and the inn and the town
stand as the realization of dreams built on the edge of catastrophe.

The shadow of the Ring War remains strong in the survivors who have
come to settle there and to make their lives. They remember the
battles, and the friends and brothers lost; they remember what it was
like in Ithilien when the first wave of (re)settlers came east, the
innkeeper and her husband (a veteran) among them. Once upon a time,
they needed the Rangers, but now a pair of them showing up on their
doorstep is a rarity.

We suspect we have to know these two - they look similar, one's older,
one's younger, they're perhaps just a little too happy to be sleeping
in a barn in a safe settlement. I sense the reversal of a certain well
known story about late arrivals sent off to sleep in the manger...
They don't get out much anymore, and they're missing it, clearly -
even being a Ranger on a fairly safe beat is better than letting it go
entirely.

The younger Ranger's reaction to a song - and the innkeep's swift
recognition of what it must indicate - is well done. So also is the
intervention of the older Ranger, who knows just what to say to get
the other one laughing again.

I am sure the Prince and King will receive the 'news' of
Ranger-friendly establishments very well indeed. Very enjoyable, Altariel!

Title: Emissary of the Mark · Author: Soledad · Genres: Adventure:
Incomplete · ID: 356
Reviewer: phyloxena · 2007-09-23 09:54:31
I have read this story when the last installment appeared, February or
March this year. I'm so sorry it was dormant since then. The first
chapter is remarkably detailed, showing credible cultural mechanisms
of Rohirric life at which Tolkien only hinted. It is not exactly easy
reading, some paragraphs read like passages from adventure literature
of XIX century, there a character puts whatever was in his hands on a
convenient desk and starts lecturing on a topic obvious for all
present for the benefit of readers. Nevertheless, I, as a reader, was
grateful for these explanations. Elfhelm's lonely journey was
realistic, and I'll read anything if there is Strider. Especially
Strider lecturing (seamlessly and perfectly naturally this time) on
geopolitics of the places there stars are strange. Shieldmaiden's
culture of Rhun is fascinating, if uncomfortably barbaric. I wish
there were more of the story, I'm captivated.

Title: Seeking to Please · Author: Gwynnyd · Genres: Romance: Pre-Ring
War · ID: 193
Reviewer: phyloxena · 2007-09-23 10:09:51
This is so very sweet and funny, even if a bit... silly? from the both
parts. I'm not sure I understand why Erlohir would be match-making,
but maybe he didn't expect this to go that far. Maybe he just wanted
some happy memories for Aragorn. I like the way he "arranged" the
scene and whole theatric meeting and then watched it as a spectator or
chorus.

Title: Journeys in High Places · Author: Illwynd · Genres: Adventure:
Pre-Ring War · ID: 259
Reviewer: stefaniab · 2007-09-23 18:44:33
If you hunger for a Middle Earth adventure tale to take your mind away
from your daily doldrums, then I highly recommend "Journeys in High
Places." The story moves seamlessly from being a good Sons of the
Steward character piece to a ripsnorting adventure, the like of which
you'd normally find in "Outside" magazine.

The tale opens with Faramir about to enter his last round of training
before being judged ready for the captaincy of a troop of Ithilien
rangers. The training involves scaling some peaks in the White
Mountains to the West of Minas Tirith. Boromir, soon to become Captain
General, joins the expedition because he needs to learn the scope of
the rangers' duties. The candidates set off in pairs, with Denethor's
sons as the last duo to leave.

The story engages you immediately. Illywynd gives you a nice
description of the rangers' duties--details that readers who hunger
for ranger tales should lap up. She then describes the trail (or lack
of it) that Boromir and Faramir follow, including the types of trees,
the small animals, the rise and fall of the land, the spectacular
views from the highest peaks. At times I longed to put on my beat up
ol' hiking shoes and head up Mt. Tamalpais for a stroll.

In the true spirit of adventure, the picturesque trail is just the
beginning. There are no orcs, goblins, or evil men in these high
mountains. Instead, Boromir and Faramir must battle the hostile high
mountain environment and test their mountaineering skills and their
own bodies' strengths. The story becomes one of rescue and survival,
as the brothers experience foul weather and alpine catastrophies that
too often make headlines in our real world.

"Journeys in High Places" packs a lot of excitement in a well-written
short story and certainly deserves wide readership.

Title: Mastering Men · Author: Imhiriel · Times: Late Third Age:
3018-3022 TA: Gondor Drabble · ID: 623
Reviewer: Raksha the Demon · 2007-09-24 04:40:32


Oh, yum. Faramir at his most stern, commanding, masterful and
charismatic. Where's my fan?

Seriously, Imhiriel does a fine job depicting my favorite Gondorian as
a captain who believably commands men as well as beasts. The sense of
urgency, the breakneck pace of the last moments of the battle of
Osgiliath in 3018, is conveyed very convincingly.

Title: O, Cruel Fate · Author: Greywing · Genres: Alternate Universe:
Incomplete · ID: 58
Reviewer: Raksha the Demon · 2007-09-24 04:58:21
A very complex and funny tale that turns the conventional Mary Sue
self-insert on its ear. A modern young woman who is a shy and not
particularly beautiful botanist, by a [Cruel Fate] and some mishaps in
Mandos, ends up re-embodied in the form of reincarnate Glorfindel. The
young lady is understandably confused, as are those who are trying to
help 'Glorfindel', and wackiness ensues.

Well-plotted and briskly written.

Title: In Passing · Author: Lily · Races: Hobbits: Post-Grey Havens ·
ID: 613
Reviewer: Raksha the Demon · 2007-09-24 05:08:57
Sweet and sensitively told story of Pippin's last moments, and, if
Frodo is correct, the beginning of his ultimate destiny. I was
particularly drawn to the pathos of Pippin's solitude as, even as
beloved as he was in Gondor, he was the only hobbit there; and to the
description of Frodo healed by his years in Valinor...

Title: Duty and Devotion · Author: Marta · Times: Late Third Age:
3018-3022 TA: Other Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 411
Reviewer: Tanaqui · 2007-09-24 14:04:34
I love the way you show Beregond's uncertainty and indecision in this
drabble, how hard it is for him to overcome his duty to Denethor - and
his fear of the consequences for his own privileged and comfortable
position - even in the face of his admiration and fear for Faramir.
This is a marvellous exploration of how we question whether those who
demand action of us understand what they are asking, and what it means
to stand up and be counted at some risk to ourselves, and . And I
applaud the way you show Beregond reacting to the "despair" of the
nazgul with such a positive response. Wonderful drabble!

Title: The River of Stars · Author: Marta · Races: Men: General
Drabble · ID: 412
Reviewer: Tanaqui · 2007-09-24 14:06:52
Marta uses language extremely effectively in this drabble. She creates
some beautiful imagery with her description of the the frescos of the
ruined Dome of Stars scattered on the water in the blood of the
Northmen, while she delivers a nuanced portrait by having her speaker
refer to Eldacar as Vinitharya. Also, being me (motto when writing
about Gondor: Must. Have. Taxes), I love the mention of tariffs in
there when describing the duty Castamir's beaten followers so
unwillingly give to Eldacar.

Title: Journeys to Harad · Author: Gwynnyd · Races: Men: Other
Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 502
Reviewer: Tanaqui · 2007-09-24 14:13:23
I love the way Gwynnyd so neatly contrasts Aragorn's change in status
through enumeration of what he takes with him on his travels before
and after he becomes King. It is the little details - in Arwen's small
gifts and Hithdol's expansive luxuries - that make this drabble so
vivid. As always, Gwynnyd perceptively uses the details of ordinary
life to illuminate extraordinary truths.



Title: Beginnings · Author: Gwynnyd · Genres: Romance: Other
Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 503
Reviewer: Tanaqui · 2007-09-24 14:26:45
Gwynnyd gives us an engaging and insightful portrait of Eowyn during
her time in the Houses of Healing. Her pleasure in Faramir's company -
and her own lack of insight into her feelings at this point - is
delicately yet clearly shown. We also see Eowyn as a competent
household manager (sadly and absurdly often absent in fanfic) and
already with much of the skill and aptitude she will need to fulfil
her later promise to become a healer. The language Gwynnyd uses is
also crisp and vivid – I felt nauseated just considering the Gondorian
recipe as described! Altogether an extremely charming yet powerfully
expressed short story.

Title: A Ranger's Love (Song to Arda) · Author: Michelle · Races: Men:
Eriador or Rivendell · ID: 112
Reviewer: Raksha the Demon · 2007-09-24 19:14:57
A visual and sensory feast for the reader - wonderful snapshots of the
different seasons of Arda. Exceptionally vivid descriptions.

And I like the hint of non-intrusive appreciation of the girls and
women of Arda...