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All That Glisters by Lindelea	8 Review(s)
Larner	Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 12/8/2004
I've just started on this one, and I find the image of the doomed boy is haunting me, also. Very evocative.

Grey Wonderer	Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 9/29/2004
Poor Merry! I hope that he's right about Strider being able to do something when they see him. I loved this from Pippin. ‘Other than having too much Tookish sense on your mother’s side, to listen to such nonsense!’ Pippin said angrily. As always, the teasing between Merry and Pippin was very funny. I just love those two together! Diamond fits right in too. You write her perfectly for Pippin.

Anso the Hobbit	Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 9/18/2004
Oooh! Ferdi`s getting to know about Merry`s battles. I`m glad to se a "sequel" to Ruffians. I thought that story ended too quickly. Poor Merry! pats Merry`s arm comfortingly So that`s why he has it in a sling, poor him. If Strider is coming, then he might be able to help Merry. He has done so before and will later :) I hope Strider can help Ferdi too. Author Reply: Thanks, Anso! To answer a question you asked elsewhere, this is not exactly a sequel to StarFire. A few things that occur in this story are explained there (like how Pippin got to have so much gold, and how Ferdi got to have the fastest pony in the Shire), and there is more Merry in later chapters of that story than earlier chapters--why, he pops up with frequency once the story moves to Michel Delving, and after. Merry's injury occured, of course, in "Ruffians" and must be cured by the next story to follow on the timeline, which IIRC is not written yet. ("If Wishes Were Ponies", where Merry Brandybuck and Merry Gamgee go to Rohan together, as it says in the Epilogue that Merry promised young Merry a pony from Rohan.) If I don't recall correctly, "Wishes" is not next... But I do think that "Wishes" comes before the next story in the chronology. I'm muddled, sorry. And as I said, that story is not written yet, nor even outlined, so unless the Muse hits me over the head it remains a future endeavour. (Got any wishes of your own, that you'd like to see in that story? As it's not outlined, the possibilities are numerous!)

Hai Took	Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 9/17/2004
Oh dear, healers telling Merry that he should have his arm off doesn't sound very good! I hope all is able to heal correctly, I'm sure Stirder will be able to help! Right? Looking forward to that bit! Sounds like Ferdi is havig some of his own troubles! I hope he is able to find sleep! Maybe through someone who will soon be at hand....looking forward to it all! I must comment on this because it made me laugh. The whole conversation about Pippin being able to get whatever he wanted just my mentioning it in front of the right people. Ferdi being so honest on the whole subject while Pip tried to wheedled his cousin! Fun, fun! Looking forward to more, thank you! Author Reply: Thanks for commenting! It is comforting to know that the hands of the King are healing hands. It is fun to write hobbits in a whimsical mood.

Bodkin	Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 9/17/2004
I suppose the shoulder injury gives Merry an excuse for the problem with his arm. I'm not worried, though, because it's a two-armed Merry who goes to Gondor in later years. Is it better to be thought a drunkard, or to let people have a greater understanding of the problem? And would they understand if they were told? I suspect not. Drunkard is much easier to accept. I'm surprised Ferdi hasn't his suspicions. I hope Strider has his athelas supply topped up - he's approaching hobbits, so he is bound to need it. Poor Ferdi - he needs to talk to Strider too. His injuries may not be physical, but he could certainly do with having his mind eased. Author Reply: Ferdi might have his suspicions at a later date, but this is only two years after Pippin's return to Tookland, if I'm remembering correctly, and before Pippin returned Ferdi lived a fairly isolated life in Tookland. Pippin may not have returned to Buckland for Merry's anniversaries, after he became Thain, and if he did... well, he and Merry were famous for the parties they gave at Crickhollow. You're right, drunkard might be preferable to something that might arouse either superstitious fear or scepticism. Poor Ferdi indeed. He's just stubborn enough to try to keep his troubles to himself and try to deal with them privately. But if things go beyond his control, people are bound to start noticing, especially that sharp cousin of his, that Thain fellow, who at the moment is in good health and not weighed down with worries, thus well able to take note of those around him. And deal with them. Hope this makes sense! I am in haste. Thanks for commenting.

FantasyFan	Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 9/17/2004
Just rambling comments today, rather than a proper review. It's quite a shock to hear Merry talking so matter-of-factly about his useless arm. 'Ruffians' is a short story, and I had never thought of lasting consequences from the arrow in the shoulder. That's one of the reasons I enjoy your stories so much - you've got quite a way of bringing in new twists, when I've gotten all comfortable in the world you've created. And what is it about the Shire healers and amputation? Isn't it Ferdi's leg that they want to take off, later? (I'm going to have to print out all your stories, one day, for cross referencing. ) By the way, speaking of 'Ruffians' I re-read it the other day, when you posted it here on SoA, and I'll be danged if I understand the reference to OOC hobbits either. With all the bizarre and unbelievable things I have read hobbits doing in other stories, courage in the face of Ruffians on a trip to Bree does not sound so strange to me. Perhaps they felt Estella too forward? That is the only thing I can stretch to imagine. Also, one last disjointed thought - Is Glisters a real word, sort of a combination of 'glitters' and 'glistens'? I automatically read 'Glitters' until you mentioned the title in your note with Ruffians, and then I had to go back and check to see if it was a typo. Not complaining, understand: there's probably a ton of stories named 'all that glitters', and the word you've chosen has a different feel to it; somewhat rustic and unusual. I'm just wondering what drove your choice, that's all, and I guess making a comment about how unobservant a reader I am sometimes. Author Reply: From Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice, II. vii. "All that glisters is not gold; / Often have you heard that told. / Many a man his life hath sold / But my outside to behold. / Gilded tombs do worms enfold." There's a lovely summation of the quote to be found here: http://www.allshakespeare.com/quotes/1175 There's another quote, from a poem about a cat that drowned trying to catch goldfish, but I couldn't find it just now. I welcome "rambling comments" as well as "proper reviews", seeing as how I so often ramble when I write. When I first wrote "Ruffians" I remembered an old interview where a doctor was talking about television dramas where the hero gets shot in the shoulder and by the next episode is back to himself again with no apparent harm done. The doctor said something to the effect, "But if the writers only knew what a delicately constructed mechanism the shoulder is...!" (They wouldn't choose it to introduce a little bit of reversible angst into a story, was his meaning, I think.) Of course, there was a healing needed after the events in Ruffians, but it just appeared on the timeline as "healing needed". Imagine that. And then when I was plotting this story, and realised that it would fall into the time period of the meeting at the Bridge! Well, things just sort of came together. Thanks for commenting! Author Reply: p.s. it was Pippin's leg, in "At the End of His Rope". Amputation was a (rather drastic) way of dealing with a "useless" limb, in the past. It was also used in an effort to curtail infection, with no antibiotics to call upon. A useless limb, flopping about, was liable (or do I mean likely?) to take injufy without notice, leading to life-threatening infection. Author Reply: p.p.s. home with a sick child, and a little under the weather myself (going back to bed), and read this while working out a plot point in "Closer than a Brother", and realised that of course you were right, a Shire healer also tried to take off Ferdi's leg in Merlin, just as you said. So, yes, Shire healers do seem to have something of a track record with amputation. Rather a drastic treatment plan, but in keeping with the times and society, I hope. Or do I mean "I think"? Don't know. Had two cups of coffee at a 90th birthday celebration yesterday (not mine, not yet!) and they kept me up nearly until the dawning. Very hobbity, though, raining drink and snowing food and lots of song and storytelling and laughter.

fliewatuet	Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 9/17/2004
Though I have not (yet) read the stories that precede this one, I am hooked! Like the Hobbits I am looking forward to King Elessar's arrival. And I do hope that his healing hands will heal Merry's arm. Author Reply: Glad to meet you! If you'd like to know the order of the stories related to this one, there's a "Chronological Listing of Stories" here on Stories of Arda, somewhere way down on the list of stories by Lindelea. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

Connie B.	Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 9/17/2004
Cool Chapter. Poor Merry! Even from reading your other stories, I had no idea that things had come to that. And poor Ferdi, too. What is with this dream of his. No one else was hanged with him, were they? His own personal haunting, or foreshadowing, or something. Creepy, weird, but interesting. I likin' this. Connie B. Author Reply: Well, in the later stories he'd already been healed, so there was no indication of the trouble he had after "Ruffians". No one was hanged with Ferdi, that's right, but his mind is weaving his own experience in with what he was told happened to the batch of ruffians he turned over to King's Men. Guilt can be an awful load to bear. Thanks!

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