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| Glorious Summer by daw the minstrel | 31 Review(s) |
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| endorearwen | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 11/12/2013 |
| I must say, Daw, that I really wish I knew how you manage to write so many truly excellent stories! No matter how often you write a battle scene, the drama remains as captivating to me as if it was the first time I'd ever read about killing Orcs! Your understanding of military life in the Woodland Realm is amazing. I'm constantly fascinated by the way you bring the characters out of the dangerous circumstances you place them in. This is the more brilliant when two different scenes collide to create a sudden unexpected and harrowing response! The rescue scene was so well executed I found it ended too quickly and then I had to re-read the scene in order to get the full scope of all you had described - well done! It was most satisfying to see Eilian in the position of worrying about the safety of one he loved and being unable to prevent the action causing him such distress! Wonderful job of putting the proverbial shoe on the other foot! Perhaps now, Eilian will begin to understand what Thranduil keeps telling him about how precious he is to those who love him and how much fear his impetuous behaviour brings to the family! I'm hoping to see growth in Eilian's character as I move through the last few stories in this series. :-( As always, I'm a hooked fan! Author Reply: One of the things I was aiming for in this story was maximum terror with minimum action. And Zalan (that's his name, right?) filled the bill. Fanfic tends to go over the top with things like torture, but anticipation turns out to be scarier. Maltanaur said a true thing when he said that marrying Celuwen would be the making of Eilian. She steadies him and makes him think of someone beyond himself more of the time because he really does love her. Always has. No one else ever had a chance. I have odds and ends of stories listed when you get the end of the ones listed by Legolas's age. There's one with Beliond as Thranduil's spy, for instance. Most of those are short, one chapter things, but maybe you'll enjoy them. And I am lucky enough to have friends who wrote stories using my characters as gifts to me. I'll tell you about them when you're ready if you like. I must say these reviews make my day when they come. | |
| erunyauve | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 2/20/2006 |
| I had a sudden urge tonight to catch up on the doings of Legolas and his brothers and their keepers. You know I love the way you write Legolas, but I think my favourite in this story was Alfirin. I like to think of her as the Arwen Tolkien might have written had he not added her to the story at the last minute - she is every bit the elven queen. Author Reply: How nice to see you, erunyauve! I had to go back and skim to remember what Alfirin was doing in this story. :-) She's interesting to me. She had to learn to run a palace, probably taking over from some capable other person. And Thranduil's family is very lucky to have her. She's made all their lives more comfortable in ways they don't even know about. And she's trying to make a home for Celuwen too. She's kind. | |
| Ms. Whatsit | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 10/23/2004 |
| Hello! I've been out-of-commission as an LotR fan for a while--sorry about the lack of reviews. I really like this story. It's definitely one of my favorites out of all you've written. It's tautly written, full of suspense, exciting and has lots of character development. I'll be moving onto your next one now :). Author Reply: I was so glad to see the update notice for your story this morning! And I thank you for the review too. This story started kind of slowly, I think, but then there were two chapters that I hope were pretty tense. And I liked having Celuwen and her mother bring the smack down on the men. | |
| Elentari (too lazy to sign in) | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 10/19/2004 |
| Whoa. Just got myself to finish this story in one go and I am still trying to digest it. It is always nice to see the whole crew interacting together, specially the way Celuwen is marking her territory. I think The royals are finally starting to realise what exactly they are dealing with. Soulsearching Thranduil is always touching. I like seeing how he can put himself in Eilian's shoes, even if he neds a little push to get there. Author Reply: I always wonder how these stories read when taken all at once rather than in bits. I know this one started rather slowly as I was setting things up and then there were a couple of bang! bang! chapters and then it was over. :-) Thranduil and Eilian are doing better I think. Celuwen is a help. She is a buffer between them just like Lorellin used to be, creating a little distance that lets them understand themselves and one another better. | |
| Nelsonia | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 10/18/2004 |
| Hi Daw! Leaving the paths of the lurking here to congratulate you on the last few stories! I havent reviewed them, I am writing up the Phd and RL has caught up with me big time! I will send you and extended review as soon as I can but just wanted to tell you to keep going! I cant wait to read about what you are writing up next! If I can suggest something and if you have time, it would be great to explore a bit of the family life with Lorellin, I mean we have only had a glimpse (Legolas begetting day) of what it was like when the whole family was together... Please start another one soon...... pretty please? take care Nelsonia Author Reply: Hi, Nelsonia! Thank you for taking the time to raise your head from what I know is a very stressful task and drop me a line. I do appreciate it. As a matter of fact, I'm working on a short piece about Good Ada Thranduil. It has glimpses of Lorellin in it but it's really about him. I thought it would be a single-chapter story but it's going to be a bit long for that, I think. Maybe it will be done later this week. I'm not sure. RL is after me just now too! daw | |
| LKK | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 10/15/2004 |
| Excellent story, daw! Celuwen is unquestionably the best thing to happen to Thranduil and Eilian's relationship since the death of Thranduil's wife. Celuwen is probably the only one in your universe who has a true understanding of what life in the palace and in the settlements is like on a day to day basis. Hopefully she will be able to continue to bring the two closer together. I also enjoyed how she is shaking up the routine in the royal household. Poor Alfrin. Her nice, neat, ordered world isn't quite so neat and orderly right now. LOL It's a shame that Solith missed his son-in-law's heroics. He might have a different impression of him otherwise. I like this depiction of the older Legolas. He is growing into a good blend of both his brothers. He combines their best qualities. Now, if he'll only start believing in himself more. No one seems to doubt Legolas's abilities more than he does. With the possible exception of Thranduil. Oh, wait. Maybe that's part of Legolas's confidence problem .... This story was a wonderful read, daw. Thank you. Author Reply: Thank you, LKK. I agree about Celuwen. She makes Eilian feel more secure, which means he can afford to try to please his father more because he feels accepted already.And I'm sure Thranduil sees the good effect she has on his son. Too bad that things are still tense with Celuwen's parents. You're right about Legolas too, I think. It's not that Thranduil doubts Legolas so much as it is that he sees him as the baby still and wants to protect him. When I wrote "Tangled Web," it was important to me that near the end Legolas and Eilian should be the ones to take care of Thrnanduil and Ithilden. It was a good role reversal. :-) | |
| emjo | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 10/13/2004 |
| Great story Daw! I'm glad Thranduil held off on Eilian. And Legolas well as always Legolas is awesome! Author Reply: Thranduil is gradually deciding to let up on his second son, which is a good thing, I think. Legolas is coming along nicely. He looks like he might be ready for the Fellowship one of these days. | |
| caz - baz | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 10/13/2004 |
| "Thranduil thought that Alfirin looked horrified by the story that Celuwen had just told them, but she rallied at the idea of feeding someone. She poured a glass of wine and pressed it into Celuwen’s hand." That sounds like my grandma. She stuffs you 'till you can't move and when you say you're full she offeres you everything else she's got in her cupboards. If you're a minute late for a meal you get shot but the slightest hint that you're going to talk about the wrong topic and she changes the subject completely. The food she cooks is brillian but I fear the days I go to her house to eat, just in case I turn out like that man in Monty Python who explodes. It's absolutly tipping it down here I feel so depressed and my brother's in Australia where it's summer. Write a new story soon... Please! caz-baz Author Reply: My mother-in-law is like that too! Alfirin is the motherly sort, I think, and this household had benefited from her caring about them. It's raining here today too, but at least it's not snowing. Yet. | |
| Elena Tiriel | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 10/12/2004 |
| Great story, Daw! I loved seeing how everybody is settling in to their new roles despite all the nail-bitingly tense stuff happening... Legolas is maturing as an officer so well. But having the conversations stop when he walks by must be, at best, bittersweet: yes, the warriors accept him as an officer, but it also cuts him off from their camaraderie and support. It will be terribly difficult for him to lose a warrior to death or injury while he leads a team, so I'm glad this first one turned out well in that respect. Sórion is consulting him about the warriors? Good! I think he is also beginning to feel more secure in his role as captain of this patrol. I love Celuwen. I love Maltanaur. I love Isilwen (especially now after seeing her in action). I like Alfirin. I despise Sólith a *tiny* bit less now (although I'm sorry that Félas died... I'm sure he was a moderating influence on Sólith... Of course, anybody with half a brain would be a moderating influence on him.) (And I liked what's-her-name from Spring Awakenings... and I think Legolas deserves a bit of happiness every once in a while... If you bring her back sometime, I'll help you protect her from her rabid detractors, ;-D though I've never wielded a weapon in my life... don't even have any fingernails left after reading this story.) I'm glad that Ithilden and Thranduil weren't too hard on Eilian -- although Ithilden putting the responsibility for telling Celuwen to cut it out on Eilian wasn't very nice... but I'm sure Eilian will make the best of that heavy responsibility. I suspect that there are already clothes in the wardrobe. In order for Eilian to do a very thorough job of explaining to Celuwen about the necessity of guards, the clothes will have to be rearranged or, um, removed. *vbg* (You do realize that the adjective "resourceful", as in "resourceful Wood-elf warrior", will never be viewed the same by your devoted readers...?) - Barbara Author Reply: Thank you, Barbara. I did think that Legolas would be lonely, even though he's gratified by the respect of his warriors and his captain. Maybe I do have to bring back Tuilinn. (I think that was her name.) The poor guy will appreciate your help! When I thought about it, I could see that Ithilden would be furious at Eilian. Eilian works for him after all. But I thought that Thranduil would look at it as Eilian's father. And both of them would realize that they would have done the same thing. How could they not? You think the explanation of the guards might take some clothing alterations? That's possible! ;-) And yes, "resourceful" does seem to take on a whole new meaning. | |
| Susanlu | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 10/12/2004 |
| So it end.:-( It's odd that I feel the story is so short when I followed it chapter by chapter. Well, what can I say? Everyone has done well except the poor F¨¦las, but for my beloved Thranduil, Felas's death isn't a very bad thing, just like the death of Legolas's wild friend Turgon. Now Soloth is the leader of the settlement and Thranduil has the most effective weapon for him, that's Celuwen. I voted for her when I saw she shouted at her father as "Do you think Eilian and Legolas want to spend their lives as warriors? " Finally there are someone knows the sacrifice the king's sons have made for who they were.(sigh) And I can't help imaging that if it's not Celuwen, but others from the Stronghold who shouted at Soloth this, how would the repel silvan react? "It's none of my biz and they deserved it"? OK Celuwen, now it's your duty to tame your annoyed Adar to a good sensible elf, go ahead girl! Judging from Thranduil's attitude to his daughter-in-laws, I suspect that if he has a little daughter, he will be a more indulgent father than to his sons. (Is it possible that he HAS wished Legolas will be a girl before he confirmed the baby's gender? He already has two naughty boys by then after all^o^). Both Thranduil's and Ithilden's reaction to Eilian are far softer than my expection (Eilian: I hate you -_-|||).I just wonder that, has the responsible Ithilden never done a thing he knew it's not fit for his position? I kinda look forward to the scene of his self-punishment in front of Thranduil, "I'm sorry for that, Adar, please strip me out of the Troop Commander duty and take it yourself......" I am mean, I knew^o^. Our baby Legolas grows up smoothly right now, doesn't he? He's clever,well-educated, earnest, self-controlled, and with Beliond at his side, it seems like he has little chance to make any mistake. But that may also cause him never be as self-confident as his brothers, at least when I read LOTR, I feel he's kind like "I've confessed my opinion, but you made another choice, OK, I will follow you." Sounds like he has never mind be leaded by others. I always like to see the entire family gather around to do whatever. So Legolas's leave will be soon, right? What is waiting for him this time? Please don't be another Legomances please, I'm really enough for this sort of things. Yes baby, I know you are lonely especially when you look at your brothers and their wives, but you have a single Ada yet, and you two can hang on and jest with the "Well and Truly Snared" stuffs together, OK? No? Then make your girlfriend a Mirthril armor, because I will be the first one to throw knives at her (run away...) Author Reply: I laughed at your description of Celuwen, but you are right. Thranduil was brilliant to appoint her as his advisor on the settlements. I think he's going to find that Eilian's marriage was a good thing all the way around. Thranduil does seem to be a soft touch for his daughters-in-law, and I know he was for his wife. Maybe Celuwen can help soften him up a little toward Eilian too. If Ithilden has been irresponsible, I haven't shown it! That's a good question though. He must have been a child at one point! I think that Legolas is a very good second in command. That's what he is here and what he is in the Fellowship. But then he leads that colony in Ithilien, so he has some leadership qualities there somewhere. I wonder where they bloomed? I feel sorry for Legolas being lonely, but readers always hate his girlfriends. What can I do? ;-) | |