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Title: A Moment in the Morning in Bree · Author: Budgielover · Races:
Cross-Cultural · ID: 731
Reviewer: Antane · 2008-08-18 02:24:52
Indeed a 'getting to know you moment' - and I'm sure there were many
more as the Fellowship bonded. Frodo's horror at Pippin's curiosity
being rude is cute, though Pippin is innocently asking things.

Title: MAGIC: The Password · Author: Fiondil · Genres: Humor: Elven
Lands · ID: 451
Reviewer: Linda Hoyland · 2008-08-18 03:04:27
A delightfully amusing tale which will strike a chord with many a reader!

Title: Sun · Author: Claudia · Races: Cross-Cultural: Frodo and
Faramir · ID: 223
Reviewer: Larner · 2008-08-18 04:52:34
Yes, at least the sun shines and the city will rise from what it's
become. A hope to hold to, at least.

Title: Duty, Honour, Country · Author: Rhapsody · Races: Elves: Other
Fixed-Length Ficlets · ID: 81
Reviewer: Larner · 2008-08-18 05:05:15
Yes, there were duty, honor, and country that Maglor fought for,
leading to him finding himself ever an exile from his true home. The
bard turned warrior, how deeply it cost him!

The author's notes particularly are enlightening.

Title: A Large Bold Hand · Author: Jay of Lasgalen · Races:
Cross-Cultural: Fixed-Length Ficlets · ID: 10
Reviewer: Larner · 2008-08-18 05:09:46
Spoilers!
A marvelous ficlet in which we see how it was that Ori came to write
Elvish script. That a Dwarf should see Tengwar as beautiful is
touching, as is the decision to learn on his side and the choice to
teach on the other. If the friendship between Legolas and Gimli was
unusual, so must this situation have proved.

A delight to read.

Title: A Taste of Home · Author: Pearl Took · Races: Hobbits:
Friendship · ID: 138
Reviewer: Larner · 2008-08-18 05:23:24
Spoilers!
Aging and living now in Gondor, far from home, Merry wishes for
fruitcake such as he'd grown accustomed to in the Shire, and it
doesn't appear there is any to be had within the King's city. But
perhaps they might try local fruitcakes and find some of it good....

A wonderful, humorous look at Merry and Pippin as Merry plays old to
properly prepare Pippin for their Yule treat; with what I'm told is a
marvelous recipe for fruitcake attached. Read and enjoy!

Title: Fennas Haradren · Author: Linaewen · Genres: Adventure · ID: 280
Reviewer: Larner · 2008-08-18 05:58:51
Spoilers!
When no word has come from the hidden outpost in southern Ithilien
after too long, Boromir goes with a small company to find out what has
happened there. It would appear somehow the outpost was assaulted, but
by what?

Ah, but they find out in time, and manage to put an end to one danger,

A well written mystery, and a foreshadowing of encounters to come for
Boromir son of Denethor.

Title: Estel I Was Called · Author: Marta · Genres: Drama: Featuring
Aragorn · ID: 351
Reviewer: Larner · 2008-08-18 06:08:21
Spoilers!
He has returned to his own people, but still cannot name himself
openly? Alas for Aragorn son of Arathorn; but with the guidance of his
cousin he will find his place.

Lovely feeling of place and the confusion Aragorn must feel, caught as
he is between cultures.

Title: Yrch Song · Author: Phyncke · Genres: Poetry · ID: 564
Reviewer: Larner · 2008-08-18 06:12:43
A marvelous cadence marching song, and so perfect for the breed! I can
so hear Shagrat shouting this as he sets out on an assault for the
Great Eye! Let's hear it for the orcs!

Love the emphasis on ["You will, fear us!"] Perfect!

Title: Celebrity · Author: Bodkin · Races: Men: Minas Tirith · ID: 635
Reviewer: Larner · 2008-08-18 06:22:16
Spoilers!
I love all of Bodkin's works, but enjoy mightily when she chooses to
write Aragorn. Here is an encounter between the High King of the West
and a Man he met many years past as a boy, a trader's son who has
become a trader in his own right. It is pleasant to be reminded of a
simpler time, less complicated relationships, company and a ride for
an injured kinsman in return for company and protection instead of
facing diplomacy ever. I almost wish Aragorn did give over his regalia
for the worn leathers and harsher wools of his youth.

Very, very human story, and as always with Bodkin, well told.

Title: Hide the Knives · Author: Nieriel Raina · Genres: Humor: Gondor
· ID: 485
Reviewer: Larner · 2008-08-18 06:24:17
Spoilers!
Ah, a very humorous tale as we look at Arwen giving birth and her
words of blame aimed at her husband; and we understand easily just how
he came to think of the phrase leading to the title of the piece. A
wonderful laugh.

Title: Pippin and the Incredible Shrinking Piglet · Author: Cathleen ·
Genres: Humor: Shire · ID: 241
Reviewer: Larner · 2008-08-18 06:42:45
Spoilers!
Alas for Pippin, who's been warned that, being wool, his beloved Tulip
is likely to shrink should she fall too many times into hot bathwater.
Worried that might happen indeed, he seeks reassurance but still has
nightmares about the feared event.

One of the best Pippin and Tulip tales, and so very Pippinish. And one
with foreshadowing of the time Pippin will be apart from his own and
in great danger.

Title: The Last Throw · Author: nau_tika · Genres: Drama · ID: 556
Reviewer: Larner · 2008-08-18 07:16:18
A nice precis of the march to the Black Gate and the battle there, as
well as a synopsis of the longer tale. I like seeing this from the POV
of a commoner who joined the Army of the West. And I can easily
imagine his family sitting by him, hanging on the tale.

Title: In the Hands of the King · Author: fantasyfan · Times: Late
Third Age: Gondor · ID: 231
Reviewer: Larner · 2008-08-18 07:23:30
Spoilers!
Deep in healing sleep, Frodo yet is not resting, finding even the
lightest of blankets too heavy to bear over him. So it is one of the
brothers of Aragorn--and Arwen--who finds the solution--and such an
appropriate one!

Sweet and gentle.

Title: A Sleep Over · Author: Phyncke · Times: First Age and Prior:
House of Finwe · ID: 160
Reviewer: Larner · 2008-08-18 07:32:40
Spoilers!
What starts as a bit of innocent fluff turns serious as Galadriel's
[pre-conviction] or precognition becomes a point of contention between
her and her cousin Aradhel. One so young does not wish to learn what
the future truly holds in store, after all, not when it holds promise
of the birth of the one Aredhel in time comes to bear.

So what starts out whimsical in the end is painful, and hopefully
Galadriel becomes more circumspect of what she tells others.

Title: There and Back · Author: Dana · Races: Cross-Cultural:
Fixed-Length Ficlets · ID: 89
Reviewer: Larner · 2008-08-18 07:38:56
Spoilers!
Healing Hobbit and Guardsman--they went to the Black Gate and returned
together, each thinking of the courage they've observed and those they
care about. In spite of his ribs, Pippin still smiles, while Beregond
finds himself remarking on the resilience of Hobbits.


Title: National Treasure · Author: Baranduin · Times: Modern Times ·
ID: 201
Reviewer: Larner · 2008-08-18 08:12:31
Spoilers!
And what a treasure they've found after all! They were looking for an
ancient Templar site, but what they found was so much more--graceful
ruins with an art nouveau-art deco styling, perfectly balanced with
the beauty of the ravine in which it was found, with ancient books and
fragments of a woman's gown in blue and crimson, elaborately
embroidered. The only apparent Christian symbol was what appeared to
be a sculpture of Mary that seemed to be a tombstone.

And then to return home and pick up where they left off in that red
book....

Humorous and touching by turns. That the clues to what they've found
are in their hands as they curl up to read to one another....

Title: Where the Sky Kisses the Horizon, There My Dreams Lie · Author:
Lindelea · Races: Cross-Cultural: Fixed-Length Ficlets · ID: 689
Reviewer: Larner · 2008-08-18 08:19:32
Spoilers!
It's been a time since I read this, this gentle tale of Aragorn
seeking a proper covering for Frodo (the second I've reviewed in this
genre today!). Legolas comes with a garment that foreshadows where
Frodo must go to find healing at last, sharing his own future, in a
way, with the wounded Ringbearer.

Very poignant; and I saw about them the darkened, peaceful tent,
Aragorn sitting on Frodo's cot and whispering words of peace into his ear.

Wonderful, as Lindelea's stories usually are.

Title: ...and the sound of a battered heart, beating · Author:
Lindelea · Genres: Drama: Ring War Drabbles · ID: 690
Reviewer: Larner · 2008-08-18 08:44:15
Spoilers!
What can I say about this marvelous drabble? That it shows the
comfortable family feeling between Frodo and Estella Bolger? That it
shows the lack of understanding most Hobbits had for what Frodo had
learned during his own quest? That its moral is so simple it's
profundity would escape most folk?

All of this is true. A short tale to read, reread, and ponder. And the
poor, sweet midge Frodo seeks to enlighten as lightheartedly as she
nees to be treated. And I can see Gandalf telling this to Frodo
quietly one night as they discussed Gollum.

Thank you again, Lindelea, for making me think.

Title: Dreamflower's Bunny · Author: Lindelea · Races: Hobbits:
Incomplete · ID: 644
Reviewer: Larner · 2008-08-18 08:49:42
Spoilers!
It appears that the quest of the Ring wasn't the first adventure Merry
shared with a younger cousin, although the first time the cousin
wasn't Pippin but Ferdibrand, and the intent wasn't to get the Ring
out of the Shire and on the road to destruction but to go to Michel
Delving, and the danger wasn't orcs and trolls and renegade Wizards
but something a good deal more mundane. When wee-Ferdi finds himself
having to protect himself and an older, injured Merry, he retreats to
the nearest refuge he can find and sets to protect it with his
collection of pretty stones.

A wonderful tale shared about a campfire with the Hobbits' beloved
friend and King while on the road to the King's city. Truly showcases
the resourcefulness of the Hobbits of the Shire.

Title: Three Songs · Author: Lindelea · Genres: Poetry: Late Third Age
· ID: 301
Reviewer: Larner · 2008-08-18 08:58:35
Spoilers!
Three poems describing Lotho's thoughts and thoughts on Lotho as each
considers Lotho's possible end. Lotho knows the angst of insecurity as
he ponders his imprisonment and what he fears from Sharkey's minion;
Grima's limerick is awful!, and Frodo wishes things could have turned
out far differently and better, as he recognizes Lotho's obsession
with riches and how he might filter that obsession in where he'd wish
to bury his cousin should his body ever be found.

The sadness and pointlessness of Lotho's end is well conveyed.

Title: Expert Treasure Hunter · Author: Tanaqui · Races: Villains:
Fixed-Length Ficlets · ID: 447
Reviewer: Larner · 2008-08-18 09:09:54
Spoilers!
How is it a dragon finds and evaluates the treasures of the latest
dwarf kingdom he's taken? It appears that Smaug has quite the palate
for precious metals and fine jewels!

A marvelous drabble! Read and enjoy!

Title: Maglor's Harp · Author: Ford of Bruinen · Genres: Horror · ID: 660
Reviewer: Thundera Tiger · 2008-08-18 19:34:07
Spoilers!
What a creepy little story! Maglor's obsession and resulting actions
make for a very clear bit of horror in this piece, but I think the
more frightening horror is contained within Maglor's state of mind.
None of what he does seems to register on any kind of moral scale.
Maglor simply wishes to return to his music, and the complete
disconnect between desire and moral code is frightening. The
development of this kind of disconnect is truly a masterpiece of
writing. It's present throughout the story, but it's not recognized at
first because nothing in the beginning creates any sense of revulsion
on the part of the reader. Not significantly, at least. Arranging dead
crabs in a circle is a far cry from outright murder. Instead, the
beginning lends itself toward pity for poor mad Maglor. It's only
later that poor mad Maglor reveals just how mad he truly is, and the
buildup to the final moments of the story are terrifying. Beautifully
paced, unfolds at just the right tempo, and carries a wonderfully
visceral punch at the end.

Title: Silenced · Author: Illwynd · Genres: Horror · ID: 31
Reviewer: Thundera Tiger · 2008-08-18 19:35:06
Spoilers!
One of my favorite kinds of AU is the kind that just hints at what has
gone terribly wrong. This story never explicitly states that Boromir
has the Ring. It never spells out the fact that he used it to win the
war. Instead, it tells its story through hints and glimpses, like
assembling hastily snapped and blurred photographs and trying to
arrange them in some kind of order after the true sequence of events
has been forgotten.

I love the way this tale uses ominous words and immediately justifies
them. For example, the stillness of Minas Tirith is at one point
equated to the [silence of peace], and Boromir keeps thinking that the
dimness and shadows are comfortable and conducive to rest. In some
part of his mind, he's still rationalizing, and eventually that small
protesting part (which feels so weak now) has to give in.

The true magnitude of all that is happening is carried by the last
paragraph, which boasts some frightening but impressive imagery that
takes Boromir's comfortable shadows and dimness and unmasks them for
what they truly are. When coupled with the final wails of Boromir's
more prudent side, the full horror packs a potent punch. Riveting tale!

Title: The Dark of Night · Author: Ellie · Genres: Horror · ID: 484
Reviewer: Thundera Tiger · 2008-08-18 19:35:57
Spoilers!
What a creative idea! I love the way that multiple threads from
Tolkien's canon combine to create this plot. Shelob and her
eight-legged offspring in Mirkwood have been used countless times in
fanfiction, but this takes the traditional spider lore and makes it
much darker and far more dangerous. I love the idea of these creatures
selectively seeking which elves to devour. It makes for a very real
feeling of danger. The resolution was just as creative as the problem,
and the story fits together nicely as a unique and original
extrapolation of a very old peril.