Yahoo Forum Archive

itle: And Thought How Blessed He Was · Author: Imhiriel · Genres:
Romance: Drabble · ID: 670
Reviewer: Larner · 2007-12-22 07:40:04
With such an acceptance of his own wonder and love, how can this tale
fail but to be intimate! A wonderful, arousing look at Aragorn and
Arwen's joy when all is fulfilled.

Title: Enter the Fourth Age, Hastily · Author: Dwimordene · Times:
Fourth Age and Beyond: Drabble · ID: 140
Reviewer: Inkling · 2007-12-22 08:02:47
A lovely exercise in Entish, in which Treebeard demonstrates the
beauty and precision possible when giving a word its full due--for
those who have time to indulge in it. In contrast the hobbits' "hasty"
speech does seem a bit terse, if expedient...and yet it has a power of
its own, which Treebeard seems to acknowledge as the new order.

The title provides a deeper context for this meditation on peace, as
Middle-earth calms like the forest after a storm and its creatures [no
longer cower].

A pensive, poetic drabble.


Title: Only Eyes to See · Author: ChristineX · Genres: Alternate
Universe · ID: 710
Reviewer: Marigold · 2007-12-22 13:41:26
Once again Christine has taken a highly unbelievable pairing and
situation and created a very entertaining story that had me suspending
my disbelief throughout every chapter. I *might* read a girl falls
into Middle-earth story slightly less than once in a blue moon, and
only then if the blue moon happens to appear on a Tuesday when it
happens to be raining, but having read her other nominated story and
loving it I couldn't resist a peek at this one and I am glad that I did.

It is dark and yet has touches of humour and I actually felt myself
sympathising with the Witch King! I will be watching out for more
stories by this talented author!

Title: If I Keep You Beside Me · Author: sophinisba solis · Races:
Cross-Cultural: With Pippin · ID: 548
Reviewer: agape4gondor · 2007-12-22 13:57:45
Oh dear! I almost missed this. I had put it on my wishlist and
therefore, it didn't pop up until I did a search for wish....

Beautiful little tale... there were so many phrases that just jumped
out at me... ones of beauty and ones of horror. The quest was not
fun... pure and simple. But it was an awesome learning experience for
Pippin.

The author changes venues with ease and beauty andd appropriateness. I
love the times with Denethor. Small little moments that are so
profound. The tale, woven throughout, is what I would consider a
typical Hobbit tale. And yet, Boromir's 'mirror' tale is so indicative
of Gondor. Or what I would consider part of Gondor's cuolture.

Very well written piece that illuminates Pip's personality and carries
with it a beautiful lesson.

Title: The Departure of Boromir · Author: Narnian Sprite · Genres:
Drama · ID: 622
Reviewer: agape4gondor · 2007-12-22 14:13:15
A very beautiful and well written tale of the last moments of Boromir
(not laboriously drawn out), his time in Mandos' Hall, and his
eventual 'release' into life.

I have one little quibble - Personally, I don't think the use of the
word 'sin' is appropriate in an LOTR tale... but aside from that, I
was quite taken by the beauty and joy that awaits Boromir.

Title: Relaxation Techniques · Author: EdorasLass · Genres: Romance:
Pre-Ring War · ID: 283
Reviewer: agape4gondor · 2007-12-22 14:25:02
Ah! If you are ready for a moment of relaxation, then take that moment
and read this little tale of great love. The story itself is as a
massage done by a skillful masseuse. When I finished reading this, I
would have been just perfectly at ease... if not for the last two
lines which totally opened my eyes and made me sit up in wonder.
Delightful moment with these two wondrous men.

Title: Stopping by Woods · Author: Branwyn · Genres: Drama: Vignette ·
ID: 19
Reviewer: agape4gondor · 2007-12-22 14:32:17
I love to see tales of 'after' times... especially those connected
with Boromir... moments of tribute and moments to recall the man. This
is a delightful moment that I believe could quite plausibly have
happened. I love the author's details of venue. The short moment of
'silence' is quite beautiful.

Title: Green No Longer · Author: Allee · Genres: Drama: Vignette · ID: 666
Reviewer: Linda hoyland · 2007-12-22 16:02:06
A moving little story which vividly depicts the horrors of war which
are all too often forgotten or glossed over. Aragorn laments the loss
of innonence of a boy who is helping to tend the wounded.

Title: Stone from Above · Author: Thundera Tiger · Races: Men · ID: 284
Reviewer: Linda hoyland · 2007-12-22 16:07:06
[spoilers]

We know that Hama died but not how. I love the hero's death imagined
for him here as the mortally wounded doorkeeper manages by his heroic
actions to save Aragorn. Very nicely written.

Title: A Thankless Task · Author: EdorasLass · Genres: Drama: Youth ·
ID: 49
Reviewer: Linda hoyland · 2007-12-22 16:10:17
A delightfully amusing tale in which nanny attempts to teach the very
reluctant Boromir to darn socks.Not an enviable task at all!
Delightfully told with a deft touch.

Title: Fell Memories · Author: Gwynnyd · Genres: Drama: Other
Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 191
Reviewer: Linda hoyland · 2007-12-22 16:14:04
I have read plenty of Aragorn gets captured by Orcs and is tortured
stories,but this is one of the most vivid I have encountered which
makes the reader shudder with the horror of his experiences and feel
for him. Very well written indeed.

Title: The Three Hunters · Author: Dreamflower · Genres: Adventure ·
ID: 333
Reviewer: Linda hoyland · 2007-12-22 16:18:03
A well told story about the three hunters seach for the missing merry
and Pippin. I especially liked Aragorn's feelings of guilt for having
maybe driven the hobbits too hard and the flashbacks to the race to
save Frodo.An interesting new angle on a familiar tale.

Title: Force of Nature · Author: shirebound · Genres: Alternate
Universe: The Shire or Buckland · ID: 360
Reviewer: Linda hoyland · 2007-12-22 16:25:10
A truly delightful and warm hearted story set in an AU where Frodo and
Aragorn are friends before the start of the Ring Quest.
Aragorn and the Hobbits enter the old Forest in search of an injured
friend of Aragorn's with alarming results for Frodo. Luckily aragorn
is at hand !

Title: Journeys to Harad · Author: Gwynnyd · Races: Men: Other
Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 502
Reviewer: Linda hoyland · 2007-12-22 16:28:11
I enjoyed the contrast between these two journeys to Harad !What a
difference a crown and a title make,though the man and his lady remain
the same.

Title: Building the Future · Author: Tanaqui · Times: Mid Third Age:
2851 - 3017 TA: Other Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 644
Reviewer: Linda hoyland · 2007-12-22 16:31:03
A vivid glimpse of the struggles and responsibilities Bard faces in
the rebuilding of Lake Town.

Title: Dangerous Place · Author: Ushmushmeifa · Genres: Drama: Minas
Tirith · ID: 590
Reviewer: Linda hoyland · 2007-12-22 16:34:54
This is a heartrending ficlet which shows the desparation and
suffering in Gondor,which led Boromir to go to Rivendell.

Title: Conversion · Author: Pentangle · Genres: Drama: With Aragorn ·
ID: 169
Reviewer: Linda hoyland · 2007-12-22 16:39:27
[spoilers]
This is a truly memorable story which has become a favourite well
worth re-reading. Not everyone is thrilled to meet Aragorn when he
travels round his new kingdom,especially a man who has lost
everything. The man shows his bitterness,expecting death, but instead
finds comfort and healing.
Memorable and beautifully written. I just love Aragorn here.

Title: Maitimo and Findekáno · Author: Oshun · Genres: Romance: Second
Age or Earlier · ID: 57
Reviewer: Gandalfs apprentice · 2007-12-22 18:47:28
What strikes one about this story of young love among two canon
characters, which have become a staple among those who write
Silmarillion slash stories, is the intelligibility of the voices.
Fingon and Maedhros are distinctly identifiable and separate
characters, in no way cardboard or interchangeable. The episode told
in this tale is not in itself startlingly original, but the writer
takes the reader into the lives and mentality of the protagonists and
makes the story fresh and vibrant. It might seem at first glance to be
a simple, straightforward coming-of-age romance, but Oshun has taken
care to include and expound upon political, cultural and family
conflicts that have already begun to shape the fate of the Noldor,
which will mold and change the history of Middle-earth and serve as
the underpinning for most of the stories in the rest of Tolkien's
canon. She uses the account of the two eldest sons of Feanor and
Fingolfin to set the stage for the tragic events to come. The
development of the secondary characters places the entire story within
the author's carefully thought-out context and brings their world out
of the mists of legend and humanizes the protagonists and the
supporting actors. Unlike most Fingon/Maedhros stories which tend to
be dark at best and tragically overwrought at worst, this story is of
an period of early joy, although even that is marred by their
existence within a family with stronger issues than even the usual
ones faced by most young people. Their forbidden love is not presented
without the author pointing out that in itself, its departure from the
ordinary and expected, is bound to create problems for the main
characters. The tale contains a foreshadowing of the characters'
ultimate fate and reminds the reader that their love will not come
without a price.

Title: A New Day · Author: Oshun · Races: Elves: Incomplete · ID: 176
Reviewer: Rhapsody · 2007-12-22 19:11:27
I have been following this story for a while now, but am a bit behind
on reading the most recent chapters. Since this is a wip still, I hope
to review the complete story next year. :) This tale relies a bit on
the so called !verses of others, I get the impression that the author
slowly finds her own voice and she grows into the story. This is
happening at the same time while her two main characters are forced to
redefine what once was and find a new way together. This all on the
backdrop of the unavoidable family dynamics, this is illustrated the
very best at the moment in the story where everyone gathers and
Fingolfin & his son learn what happened to Fëanor and Maedhros. In
Oshun’s writing there is sometimes lighthearted touch, however
underneath lies a lot of angst which occassionaly shines through
during the conversations between Maedhros and Fingon, leaving me to
wonder when all of it really will come to the surface. I can’t wait to
be fully caught up again!

Title: A...Like An Antagonistic Arwen · Author: Linda Hoyland/Raksha
the Demon CoAuthors · Genres: Humor: Other Fixed-Length Ficlet · ID: 758
Reviewer: juliaaurelia · 2007-12-22 19:21:21
A superior quartet of drabbles from the two authors involved. They
show Arwen Undomiel's tougher side and her love and concern for her
beloved Estel. The hundred rampaging Orcs theme is well-expressed in
each separate drabble also. The first one was my favorite because I
loved seeing Rumil and Orophin getting the smackdown from Arwen for
their remarks about her "lowering" herself by getting betrothed to
Estel. The last one was my next favorite, as the picture of Aragorn
and Eldarion in the hedge playing Ranger is so cute. Very good work
that both authors have good cause to be proud of.

Title: Shadow and Thought · Author: Linda hoyland · Genres: Drama:
With Aragorn · ID: 122
Reviewer: juliaaurelia · 2007-12-22 19:29:08
This was the first piece of fanfiction I ever read from this
particular author, and I think it shows her talents well, as well as
kicking off a series of more lengthy, multi-chaptered fics that
feature Aragorn, Faramir, Arwen, Eowyn, and other various canon and OC
characters. In this fic, the reader sees the beginning of what will
eventually be a very close brotherly/friendly/fatherly relationship
between Aragorn and Faramir. There is good tension and resolution of
the conflict Eowyn has with both her husband and Aragorn, and A/A
lovers are pleased as Arwen learns she is expecting little Eldarion in
this fic. The heroes and heroines prevail over all their travails and
get a happy ending--for now. A good beginning for this series.

Title: Burden of Guilt · Author: Linda hoyland · Races: Men · ID: 123
Reviewer: juliaaurelia · 2007-12-22 19:41:06
This is the second in this author's series of longer fics. All the
previous characters are back for more, and this time more well-written
OC's and other canon characters, including Eomer most memorably, are
added into the mix. Aragorn and Faramir's growing friendship takes
another beating, no pun intended, Arwen and Eowyn both give birth, in
very different circumstances, and Eomer is seriously injured. My
favorite chapters are the ones about the birth of Eldarion and Arwen
and Aragorn's joy in their new son, as well as the one in which little
Elestelle is born and would have died without the intervention of
Aragorn in his role as healer/king. The picture of Aragorn with the
tiny little girl tucked into his shirt because her parents are too
traumatized to hold her is a total appealing one. Also like Arwen's
selflessness in nursing little Elestelle until Eowyn can come to grips
with motherhood enough to bond with her daughter. And who can forget
the infamous mud-bath scene in which we have three of ME's hottest men
naked? If they could have sold tickets to that one, it would have
probably funded all the revenues of Gondor for at least a year! Also,
any author who would give Mr Perfect Elf Legolas poison ivy deserves a
medal in my book. Nothing is worse than blind devotion to any
character, especially Legolas, who seems to get the brunt of it.

Title: Spring after Winter · Author: annmarwalk · Times: Mid Third
Age: 2851 - 3017 TA: Drabble · ID: 462
Reviewer: Raksha the Demon · 2007-12-22 19:44:44
How did I miss this one? What an exquisite piece! I love the
progression of the spring imagery and its association with Gandalf's
laughter. Definitely one of the better drabbles of one of the best
drabblers in Tolkien fanfic.

Title: A New Day · Author: Oshun · Races: Elves: Incomplete · ID: 176
Reviewer: Gandalfs apprentice · 2007-12-22 19:45:14
This is the second story in Oshun's continuing saga of the story of
Maedhros and Fingon. The protagonists have matured, have endured a
loss of innocence and made choices that have set in motion the events
which will make up the rest of her story cycle. Their generation of
the Noldor are more fully introduced and developed in this story.
While the politics and conflicts have been heightened in this story,
it still remains at its core a love story, which includes erotic
scenes that are heated but not overly explicit. The principle theme of
the story is how the grandsons of Finwe contribute to the
reunification of the Noldor after their near fatal division when
Feanor left Fingolfin and his followers behind at Losgar. Such
characters as Maglor, Finrod, Galadriel and Aredhel are given
personalities, prejudices and tastes. Fingolfin is also seen to
develop and emerge as a leader of his people. The author has also
contrasted the sons of Feanor and their unique relationships with
humor, while not ignoring their dark side or their internal differences.

The story is stronger on politics and social commentary than one that
preceded it. The relationship between Maedhros and Fingon, although
tragic in its implications, also includes a playful and loving side.
The language contains no jarring modern vernacular and yet is not
old-fashioned or stilted, a balance that adds to ease of reading.
Again, the ability to describe family interactions is well done with
the right among of familiarity and teasing while not neglecting
underlying conflict. This is a story that will suit a reader of Silm
fics who is looking for an emphasis on character and intimacy as well
as one with an appetite to read of political maneuvering and the
manipulation of power.

Title: Web of Treason · Author: Linda hoyland · Times: Fourth Age and
Beyond: Gondor or Rohan · ID: 124
Reviewer: juliaaurelia · 2007-12-22 19:58:27
This is the third in this author's series of longer fictions. It is
the darkest of them, and my favorite of the completed ones. It begins
with the unspeakable, a plague in Gondor and an attempted coup d'etat
by a faction of the Gondorian aristocracy that is unhappy with the
changes made by the new King. Aragorn's new ideas, which are meant to
strengthen Gondor and make life better for all her citizens, are seen
by these men as an eroding of their aristocratic privileges. They
snatch Aragorn at a weak moment and Faramir, after being persuaded by
Arwen that his King is still alive, must go undercover to infiltrate
the conspiracy and save Aragorn, much to the detriment of his own
soul, as he is forced to hurt his friend and King in order to prove to
the conspirators that he is truly one of them. The author's talent for
writing really harrowing H/C scenes really shines in this particular
story, as Faramir must care for the grievously injured and ill Aragorn
in a cave. Luckily, he has the help of Elbeth, in my own opinion the
author's best OC to date, a plucky young girl who is the illegitimate
daughter of his brother Boromir. After many trials, Aragorn and Arwen
are reunited, as are Faramir and Eowyn, and Aragorn regains his
throne, but the terrible toll that all this has taken on Aragorn and
Faramir's relationship remains, and Aragorn himself is left in dark
place, as is his Steward. I think that this approach is much more
realistic and true to life than fics where the characters are angry at
each other in one chapter, then make up quickly in the next and the
quarrel is never spoken of again. In this series, the author's
skillful handling of continuity shines forth, as the previous two fics
are woven into the plot and the end sets the reader up for the next
story in the series.