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| Glorious Summer by daw the minstrel | 28 Review(s) |
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| Antigone Q | Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 10/10/2004 |
| "What are brothers for?"...I remember that one all the way back from the snowball fight. Nice touch. Author Reply: I love using stuff from previous stories, like that phrase or the necklace Celuwen finds and wears. | |
| Bodkin | Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 10/8/2004 |
| Well, I can't say I'm sorry if you are going to force me to read two more chapters. I wouldn't even cry if you made it longer! (How do you manage to keep your stories so neat and compact - don't tell me, I know - it's all in the planning!) I look forward to the pleasure of another chapter. Even if I don't see it until the morning - which is, at least, a Saturday. | |
| Bodkin | Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 10/8/2004 |
| Just to prove your power over my imagination:- I was driving for some time today and my mind drifted to Annael. Has Emmelin been born yet? Does Legolas go and visit them when he is on leave and play with the little elfling? Is he the elven equivalent of her godfather? Is Annael's mother still around? What is she doing now that Annael is all grown up? And, by the way, Alfirin is the healer's daughter - that is her naneth, whose name escapes me. Is her adar named anywhere? What does he do? I seem to recall that he was quite pleased when Tonduil dropped warrior-ing in favour of horse-mastering, but I don't recall anything else about him. If any other questions occur to me, I will be sure to let you know!! Author Reply: Hi, Bodkin. I have 8 pages of the next chapter done and hope to post it yet today. It's not done yet but I decided I wasn't going to be able to finish the story in this chapter, so now I can at least finish the chapter. Emmelin has indeed been born. She was little when Legolas was posted to the Northern Border Patrol and fought the dragon. I'd like to show more of her when she was little. I thought about putting in Annael in this story but decided I just didn't want to cope with more OCs, so that's why he's nowhere around. His mother is playing grandmother quite happily. I have named Alfirin's father, although I'd have to go look the name up. He's a forester. | |
| Brenda G. | Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 10/5/2004 |
| "WHEW!" HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF. WIPES SWEAT FROM BROW AND FLOPS BACK INTO HER CHAIR EXHAUSTED BY THE TERRIBLE TENSION OF THE LAST FEW MOMENTS OF READING THE LATEST CHAPTER OF "GLORIOUS SUMMER" BY DAW THE MINSTREL. SLIGHT SMILE LIGHTS FACE, TURNING TO SMIRK OF SATISFACTION, CHANGING SWIFTLY AGAIN TO ZEALOUS, UNRESTRAINABLE JOY AS THE REALIZATION OF CREEPO ZALAN'S DEATH, CELUWEN'S AND ELIAN'S RESCUE, AND LEGOLAS BECOMING A-1 HERO OF TALE SLOWLY DAWNS IN READER'S AWARENESS! "I SHOULD TELL DAW HOW TREMENDOUS A CHAPTER SHE HAS PRODUCED FOR US, HER FANS," SHE THINKS, "AND HOW HAPPY I AM THAT EILIAN NOW HAS THE OPPORTUNITY AND THE RIGHT TO SAY TO HIS ADAR: 'I WAS RIGHT, SEE? SO PUT THAT IN YOUR PIPE (IF YOU WOULD EVER CARE TO TRY ONE) AND SMOKE IT!'" NODS TO HERSELF. YES, THAT'S WHAT SHE SHOULD DO. "I SHOULD ALSO REMIND DAW THAT WE ARE IMPATIENT AND WANT HER TO HURRY AND POST THE NEXT CHAPTER, LIKE IMMEDIATELY." WITH AN AFFIRMATIVE NOD TO HERSELF, THE REVIEWER SETS ABOUT HER TASK. This was SOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOD! Thanks for preserving our lovely Elven family to us - all safe and in one piece. What's that they say about Hell and a woman's scorn? Eilian had best remember how handy Celuwen is with a knife before he decides to cross her at any point in the future in one or more marital disputes. Lordy, this was terrific chapter, so well-written it's scary! Ready for more, so bring it on. Brenda G. Author Reply: LOL. Good lord! I've made you start thinking in capital letters! I took great satisfaction in disposing of Zalan. The only bad part was that he went too quickly. Isiwen got to brain him with that spit (and the bunnies), but I'm sure that she and Eilian had other things in mind to do to him, not to mention what Celuwen might have wanted. And Legolas was a hero, despite his fears for his brother. He's now ready to be a good second in command, even if the force includes people who aren't warriors. ;-) And Eilian was indeed right. We'll see how Ithilden and Thranduil take that, although I suspect there won't be any pipe smoking speeches involved. I love using stuff like her knife throwing skills that I've introduced in other stories. I'm glad you enjoyed it, Brenda. daw | |
| Susanlu | Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 10/5/2004 |
| ¡°I give the orders in my own house, Thranduilion. Not you.¡± -_-|||||| I suspect that the reason of S¨®lith's disliking to the royal family isn't Eilian, but Thranduil. Is it possible that Solith has courted Lorellin but been beated down by the handsome elvenking at last? ^o^ Otherwise, why was he so rude to all the Thranduilions? Ok, both Thranduilions. Are the wood-elves naturally gentle and kind? Or "harsh" is the common character of all the leaders? (Now Solith will be the leader of this settlement, will he?) Author Reply: Solith is just ornery and doesn't want to take orders from the king. I think wood elves are naturally anarchistic. Tolkien says that they are "more dangerous and less wise" than the elves of Rivendell, and I think you see that in these settlers. And yes, Solith is now the leader, so he's the one Celuwen will have to negotiate with. Good luck, girl! | |
| lwarren | Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 10/5/2004 |
| If you ask me (and you didn't), Zalan bought it too easily! His little groping scene with Celuwen deserved at the very least, drawing and quartering! Still, a knife in the throat, chest (wherever) and a spit over the skull...I guess that'll do! LOL Eilian continued to be masterful and in control; bless his heart, I know he wanted to cut loose and go crazy, but he's a warrior to the bone. Legolas to the rescue!! YEAH!!!! He really showed his developing skills off at the beginning in dealing with the wandering settlers in the trees (nice recovery of patience there, o Prince!) and his choice of Riolith to scout out the situation instead of Gelmir (his indifference to the fact he doesn't much care for Riolith right now, and his understanding of why he doesn't was very well done...on his part, and yours, daw!) spoke of his determination to do the very best for the hostages, no matter what. You also portrayed his continuing fear for his brother vividly...just the insertion of his thoughts in one place, and then another a little further on kept the tension building throughout. The end came quickly (take that, you stupid MEN!) and Eilian was just glad to get his arms around Celuwen to reassure her, as well as himself! :-) Legolas is the hero-brat of the moment, Isiwen and Celuwen continue to impress...but I wish you would gag Solith! Great chapter, daw! *skips off humming "elves rule, stupid men drool* linda Author Reply: I thought that about Zalan too, but I just couldn't drag it out. He was slime and needed to be scraped off and doused in clorox. Legolas has grown into his new position quite nicely. We'll see how Eilian and Celuwen have done with theirs. Actually, Legolas is hard for me to write because I'm tempted to make him too heroic, which is unrealistic, I think. People have flaws, but while I can give them to Eilian, say, I have trouble giving them to Legolas. So his angst over his mother's death and the consequences of that have to serve instead. Solith deserves a slap. Or maybe a spit over the head! Not only do elves rule, the female ones kick butt! | |
| The Karenator | Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 10/4/2004 |
| Gosh, your minstrelship, that was pretty darn tense. I have no nails left. It was a tough call for Legolas to not rush right in and do things himself. He wanted to; he really did. But the making of this young officer is going quite well. He put the good of the whole above his own desires. A very mature thing to do. Plus, he had on his hands some very well trained and seasoned warriors, but they were antsy because they knew Eilian's life was at risk, and they are loyal to their former captain. He could not let them go renegade on him either. He stayed firmly in control...with the exception of the one renegade settler who found out a whole lot more than Riolith. That was only slightly embarrassing. Well, Z-man thought he was pretty smart there, didn't he? Figured he could just do as he pleased with Celuwen with her husband watching. That was very bad decision on his part. However, it was an even worse decision to do such a thing in front of Celuwen's mother. That Elf could play for the Braves. Go Isiwen! And I can't help but wonder if the 'petulant' remark won't come back to haunt Eilian at some point. :>) Eilian will not want to forget how deadly his 'petulant' wife is with a knife either. Nice rescue scene. A lot was happening at once, and you let us have it fast and well, deadly. Very good! That is what brothers are for. And then we have Solith..yep, yep, yep...good old Solith. Wonder if he knows his wife can bat a thousand? Those petulant women...gotta love 'em. Excellent. I can't wait to see how things turn out at home and how you resolve your guard problem. I hate to admit it, but I hadn't even missed them. Carry on, Karen Author Reply: Legolas is doing very well indeed. I think he has enough experience as a warrior to know what should happen, and he's grown into a pretty self-disciplined adult. And then in the last few weeks, he's gained some experience as an officer and his troops have come to trust him. And this situation was crucial for him. You made me laugh with that thing about 'petulant.' I trust that Celuwen is perceptive enough to know that he was manipulating the bad guys, but I think it would behoove Eilian to remember that Celuwen isn't "his woman." I think Isiwen probably needs to get Solith in hand. She saw what happened here and he didn't. Sadly, I hadn't missed the guards either! | |
| elliska | Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 10/4/2004 |
| I can't restrain myself from commenting on the guard situation. This is what I assumed was coming with that (wouldn't have known different if not for the review replies): Legolas wouldn't know there were guard to be missing, so he wouldn't go looking for them. Eilian knows but has way too much on his mind between his wife and his own beloved guard to probably even remember who went with Celuwen much less wonder what happened to them. And before the attack, he still had far more interesting things on his mind to do with Celuwen than discuss her guards :) I thought we would see a "what did you do to your guards" speech from both Eilian and Ithilden and I can just see Celuwen basically telling them both (either verbally or just with a cold glare) what they can do with their guards. Especially when she is perfectly good with daggers and made a point of showing Eilian the chimes/alarm thing which shows the Silvan are perfectly capable. They may be hard to govern, but it is because they are self sufficient. I think it would be a very funny encounter. Just had to throw that in. And in case I hadn't mentioned it before (note sarcasm :-D) you did an excellent job creating tension and suspense in this--much more so than those 'torture' types of stories, which I thank you very much for not writing. And as someone else said--we care about these characters. They are interesting. That is what I want to read personally. I'm not into gratuitous violence. If it has meaning in the story, that's one thing but otherwise...I can just watch the news and that's bad enough. Great story. If throwing in a conversation between Celuwen and Eilain/Ithilden about the guards makes it one chapter longer than it would have been (or even makes the last chapter longer), I'm all for that. :) Author Reply: I got this review and then sent Nilmandra an IM telling her that I absolutely and totally adore the reviewers on SoA. They are so clever and so gratifyingly interested in how the story is going. Loved your point about the Silvan being hard to govern because they're self sufficient. That is so true. And your interpretation of the guards may be the one I have to go with. I've just written a page or so of the next chapter. It's hard to get into it after the end of the hostage scene. | |
| White Wolf | Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 10/4/2004 |
| I admire Legolas's restraint in not sending himself to check things out. He is really a responsible officer, who makes the right decisions, no matter what his own emotional involvement is. I know how happy Eilian was to be the one to kill Zalan and set Celuwn free. Good for her taking part in their rescue. Author Reply: Legolas has turned out so well! He probably isn't even aware of how well he's doing because he's fairly unassuming. He did particularly well because I think his family is really important to him. He has some friends but not like Eilian, so his emotional life is really his family. Eilian was itching to kill Zalan, and Celuwen put her knife throwing skills to good use. :-) | |
| caz - baz | Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 10/4/2004 |
| I bought a laptop this weekend. I'm so happy. It also distracted me from wondering what was going to happen. I feel so sorry for Celuwen and her family they went through such an ordeal, usually writers write these agnsty/torture situations but you don't really feel that sorry for the people or get to see into the characters feelings as deeply as when you write about it. You really built up the tension, I was sitting on the edge of my seat going 'just do something!'. It must be really hard for people in those situations having to wait until the opportune moment. I'm not one to sit still, ever. Even now my leg's vibrating. I really couldn't do that waiting thing your characters are so good at. Well until next chapter caz - baz Author Reply: "usually writers write these agnsty/torture situations but you don't really feel that sorry for the people or get to see into the characters feelings as deeply as when you write about it." I can't tell you how good that comment made me feel, Caz-baz. That was exactly what I was going for -- I wanted the actual physical action to be minimal and the terror to be maximum. So thank you so much! Congratulations on your lap top. Computers are good! | |