Yahoo Forum Archive

Title: Right · Author: Nickey · Races: Hobbits: Gapfiller · ID: 789
Reviewer: agape4gondor · 2007-12-19 17:56:11
Phew! If you read this, you must be prepared to sit back and take a
deep breath when you are done.

This is a gorgeous tale of love remembered. From Frodo's perspective.
The descriptions are very, very good. It is a moment of deep feeling
and the reader is definitely drawn into this tale.

Great job!

Title: Dark Vision · Author: White Wolf · Genres: Adventure: Minas
Tirith · ID: 483
Reviewer: Larner · 2007-12-19 18:11:07
The vision Aragorn knows is a dark one, but the first time he goes to
aid of his best friend within Middle Earth all falls to ruin. Is he
given a second chance to save Aragorn?

Fascinating look at visions within visions.

Title: The River of Stars · Author: Marta · Races: Men: General
Drabble · ID: 412
Reviewer: Larner · 2007-12-19 18:14:37
Those who followed Castamir are unwilling to accept that the son of
Valacar is as much Gondorian as they. Ah, the stubbornness of
too-proud men!

Once again, a good deal of punch in a few words.

Title: More than Meets the Eye · Author: Dadgad · Genres: Humor: The
Shire or Buckland · ID: 128
Reviewer: Larner · 2007-12-19 18:36:21
Those who would think to wreak havoc in the lands of the Shire would
do very well indeed to think twice, for they are inventive and
determined, and armed with strange clubs!

A wonderful look at the Battle of the Green Fieds through the
embarrassed eyes of the sons of Elrond. Hilarious! Do read it!

Title: The City and Star Island Line · Author: lipstick · Genres:
Mystery · ID: 524
Reviewer: Altariel · 2007-12-19 18:37:18
Easily one of my favourite pieces of fanfiction. This is partly
because it has descriptions to die for {"a man with hair as inky black
as the sky at midnight, wide grey eyes and over bitten fingernails";
"He looked like someone who had had to do rather a lot of thinking on
the spot"}. And it's partly because it has prose to kill for {"his own
dishonourable dead who stretched back in perpetuity with their inkblot
hair, glittering eyes and rampant thanatophobia"; "an island species
mutilated and mutated by a million years of inbreeding in pale cities
always under attack"}. But also it is subtle about storytelling, and
how we can use story to speak to our dead, to communicate with them
after they are gone.

And it brims over with emotional intelligence, containing one of my
favourite portraits of Faramir and Eowyn. Lipstick portrays their
relationship as one based on and almost brutal honesty ({"You stink of
paraffin"} is surely one the *best* lines ever given to Eowyn in the
Houses of Healing) leavened by humour {"I must admit I’m a little
perturbed by the devil worship and human sacrifices."} and deep,
knowing love {"She thought him as exotic as a dragon and as secret as
the heart of the forest"}.

But at the heart of the story lies Faramir's tale about his father,
and how wicked his revenge is! His father is to become the figure that
mothers use to scare their children to bed... but while the joke may
be on Denethor, Faramir can picture him laughing too.

Compassionate, funny, scorchingly intelligent - I love this story to bits.

Title: Bliss and Beauty · Author: Imhiriel · Genres: Romance: Drabble
· ID: 20
Reviewer: Larner · 2007-12-19 18:39:46
Ah! Such a lyrical tale of the growing awareness of Tuor of the fair
Idril, and their eventual marriage! A work of beauty to match the subject.

Title: Tea for Two · Author: pippinfan88 · Races: Hobbits: Children ·
ID: 304
Reviewer: Larner · 2007-12-19 18:54:42
It's not easy being second-youngest all of a sudden; and during a Yule
visit to Brandy Hall it's hitting Pervinca hard.

But one of the cousins attending the feast understands and offers her
the direct attention she craves and deserves--after all, she CAN sing
the letter song.

This so captures the trials and joys of childhood!

Title: Romance · Author: Greywing · Genres: Humor: Other Fixed-Length
Ficlet · ID: 375
Reviewer: Larner · 2007-12-19 18:58:15
Of the many ways I've now seen Lothiriel and Eomer introduced to one
another, this is the most prosaic and humorous introduction yet. One
imagines what was done in the garden during that meeting....

Title: Awed in the Presence of Beauty · Author: Istarnie · Races:
Elves · ID: 517
Reviewer: Larner · 2007-12-19 19:03:32
A lovely misdirection as Nerdanel looks on the glory of beauty
incarnated. Well crafted.

Title: Mercy · Author: conniemarie · Races: Hobbits: Post-Ring War ·
ID: 730
Reviewer: Larner · 2007-12-19 19:06:31
A sad, poignant AU based on Frodo not recovering in Ithilien. How
would Merry and Pippin and Sam feel afterwards? Now we know.

Thoughtfully done.

Title: The Broideress Arc · Author: Maeve Riannon · Times: First Age
and Prior · ID: 745
Reviewer: Larner · 2007-12-19 23:29:08
Truly a mythic examination of the life of Miriel, mother of Feanor,
and first wife to Finwe, from her acceptance of Finwe as her husband
to her rebirth.

I find I grieve for her total loss of self in the end.

Title: The River's Gavotte · Author: shirelinghpc · Genres: Drama:
Minas Tirith · ID: 532
Reviewer: Larner · 2007-12-19 23:34:59
Rather sad as Faramir goes to the river to seek again the familiar
presence of his brother. I can't quite see Faramir this taken by
grief; but the story is nevertheless well written.

Title: Great Oaks · Author: Bodkin · Genres: Romance · ID: 319
Reviewer: Larner · 2007-12-19 23:40:27
Laerwen had been prepared for her marriage to Thranduil since her
grandmother first knew that prince sought to found a new kingdom
within her forest. This is a wonderful love story between Thranduil
and she who became his wife and mother to Legolas.

As always in Bodkin's works there is here a magical union of prosaic.
mystical, and humorous that makes it a delight to read.

Title: My Children: Reflections from the Shire · Author: Gryffinjack ·
Genres: Poetry: With Hobbits · ID: 35
Reviewer: Larner · 2007-12-19 23:44:10
Does the Shire yet remember those who gave so much for all of Middle
Earth and then for her own integrity? If she does, then this is
perhaps indeed how she would do so.

Title: Green · Author: annmarwalk · Times: Late Third Age: 3018-3022
TA: Gondor Drabble · ID: 461
Reviewer: Larner · 2007-12-19 23:49:23
Saved by Hobbit and Guard and Wizard, called by the King Returnng--how
would athelas smell to Faramir son of Denethor? A most evocatively
written drabble, and one of my favorites written by Annwarwalk who
does ever so well at writing so very much in so few words. So
wonderful to think of the scent of hope.

Title: The Far Corner of the Garden · Author: annmarwalk · Genres:
Drama: Ithilien · ID: 554
Reviewer: Larner · 2007-12-19 23:54:19
Faramir has thought that far corner of the garden might be appropriate
for memorials, and Eowyn finds herself planning it out in that
twilight between waking and sleeping.

Again, a wonderful short piece by my favorite writer of ficlets. Lovely!

Title: Clothes Make the Man · Author: Gandalfs apprentice · Genres:
Humor: Drabble · ID: 625
Reviewer: Larner · 2007-12-19 23:58:24
Galadriel had dressed him as worthily as an Elven prince. But it is
the Lady's husband who truly gives the young Man hope that day.

Subtle humor and hope truly expressed and granted.

Title: For everything, there is a season · Author: Tanaqui · Genres:
Drama: Gondor Drabble · ID: 696
Reviewer: Larner · 2007-12-20 00:03:09
A charming look at how a certain King came to be crowned, granting
hope to Frodo and Sam as they looked to leave Ithilien behind them as
they followed Gollum toward the stairs.

Title: Salt · Author: Dawn Felagund · Times: First Age and Prior · ID: 743
Reviewer: Marta · 2007-12-20 03:23:55
Caranthir is one of those characters I've really only come to love
through fanfic. He was always vague and uninteresting to me in canon,
but writers like Dawn have made him a stoic hero, taking what comes
his way with determination and resiliency. "Salt" is a heartbreaking
portrayal of his connection to the sea and the things that have made
him cry over the years (and perhaps even more, the things that haven't
caused him to shed tears). I think my favorite part is the first one,
where his melancholy and outright sorrow are so at odds with the peace
of Valinor, bringing out the ill fate that plagued his house even in
the times of peace. Nice work, Dawn; I heartily enjoyed this.

Title: With No Pity · Author: Elen Kortirion · Races: Villains:
Drabble · ID: 391
Reviewer: Marta · 2007-12-20 03:39:08
[spoilers]
This a chillingly good drabble. The connection with the moon in the
first line made my mind jump almost immediately to the orcs because
they would only attack at night, but of course elves have equally
strong attachments to night-time sources of light. And as you say in
the comments, Noldorin elves, even those with softer edges like
Elrond, are not to be trifled with. It does us good to look at our
favorite canon characters in this less-than-favorable light because it
gives us a more nuanced Middle-earth work. A most "enjoyable" read -
good work.

Title: Tea for Two · Author: pippinfan88 · Races: Hobbits: Children ·
ID: 304
Reviewer: Dreamflower · 2007-12-20 04:01:04
This is a touching and adorable slice of childhood, as Frodo uses his
wisdom to comfort a disconsolate little five-year-old cousin, who is
feeling very down and out. But for a change, that cousin is not Merry
or Pippin, but Pippin's sister Pervinca.

I love this, for it shows Frodo interacting with another member of his
extensive extended family--and because it so beautifully encapsulates
his compassion and love.

It is so seldom we ever get a chance to see this. I often find myself
hoping for a follow-up to this tale, set a few years down the line.
Because I think that for *this* Pervinca, Frodo would always hold a
very special place in her heart.

Title: Weary Beyond Joy Or Sorrow? · Author: Imhiriel · Times: Late
Third Age: 3018-3022 TA: Gondor Drabble · ID: 671
Reviewer: Dreamflower · 2007-12-20 04:34:04
Such a skillful portrayal of angst and comfort; Aragorn, after all his
weary labor, both battle and of healing, is finally confronted with
one of the most difficult costs of the day. Though Imhiriel does not
say who he is mourning, it's obvious to any who know canon.

And I really love the comfort Gandalf is able to offer--for he is one
who values compassion more than any other quality.

Title: Wind of Change · Author: Imhiriel · Genres: Crossover · ID: 669
Reviewer: Dreamflower · 2007-12-20 04:34:53
I am one of the generation who grew up believing that the world would
be divided into "free" and "communist" forever--or at least until one
side or the other got careless or angry enough to loose atomic
annihilation--which I never doubted would come in my lifetime. The
fall of the Berlin Wall was an exciting and momentous event--I could
not even begin to imagine the world without that threat.

The idea that Maglor might be present at such a momentous occasion is
a wonderful one. I think that after all those millenia, he'd recognize
when certain events would change the world, and perhaps make a point
to be there.

And I loved the moment when he held the two children, and perhaps in
their eyes beheld long generations of kinship, still in the world.

Title: A Mother's Touch · Author: Raksha the Demon · Genres: Humor:
Other Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 44
Reviewer: Dreamflower · 2007-12-20 04:35:14
Everyone is young once, even fierce dragons. And mothers and their
rebukes are always the same, whatever their species, LOL! This was a
delightful answer to a challenge prompt, and it made me smile.

Title: Better Days Ahead · Author: Raksha the Demon · Genres: Humor:
Other Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 51
Reviewer: Dreamflower · 2007-12-20 04:35:46
It's not easy to capture the flavor of orc-speech without going
over-the-top, but Raksha manages it handily. The dialogue sounds just
like Shagrat, cruel and nasty, but almost artlessly so. A chilling
look at the left-behinds and what they might have got up to once they
evaded the Gondorians.