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The Choice of Healing by Larner	7 Review(s)
Inkling	Reviewed Chapter: 16 on 7/24/2005
So moving to see Frodo go through all the stages of anger, acceptance, and now, preparation, in this story…death or departure, it’s the same process. I especially liked the part where he orders the suits for Sam. His thoughtfulness is so sweet and typical…knowing that Sam will need new clothes as befitting his role as the new Master of Bag End, and also knowing that Sam would resist going out to order them for himself. Author Reply: Whichever were to come, the result was the same, losing one another until reunited in the future after death. For Frodo, not being certain of how the healing would come, of wondering how the changes he was already aware of might be manifested in the end, must have been frightening. But I've always felt Frodo would have done his best to make certain Sam was prepared as much as possible, even with suits and handkerchiefs and the pocket watch, to take over the role of Master of Bag End when the time came. Thanks so much for continuing to follow the story.

Ariel	Reviewed Chapter: 16 on 4/12/2005
You know, I wonder if Sam would really have gone with Frodo at the end of the book? As Frodo reminded him, he had so much work left to do in the Shire and Sam was never one to shirk work that he was needed for. :) As each chapter of this has been, wonderful, just wonderful! If I might be so bold, perhaps I could suggest a few of my own pieces that, from my reading of this work, I suspect you might like? If you didn't want to read them, I would not be offended. I dislike being 'pressured' into reading things myself, but you might enjoy 'Swallowing Sorrows', 'Linden and Laurel', 'Ashes and the Flame' and if you don't mind haremfic (set in Tol Eressea) I've always thought Pipes After Supper was a sweet read to someone who always wished Frodo had found a love (or two) of his own. Author Reply: I've read a couple of them before, before I began writing and when I felt embarrassed to review. I loved Linden and Laurel and will gladly read it again. Thank you very much for the links--I will be reading them again, and responding this time. Author Reply: Also, I don't think Sam would have gone, I've never thought he would betray Rosie that way, which is why I wrote the chapter "Yule Coming In" in The King's Commission the way I did, with Sam reassuring his father-in-law.

Lindelea	Reviewed Chapter: 16 on 4/12/2005
Ah, I so love your wise and understanding Rose. And Mayor Will "ain't too shabby, neither". How sad, to watch the spinning out of events. I always resist reading "The Grey Havens" whenever I re-read LOTR... Author Reply: Well, I skipped the Grey Havens themselves for this one, but hope you appreciate what I did write. I haven't had time to use your links yet--work schedule has been a bear this week. But I look forward to reading them Friday--got this Friday night free--first one in almost a year! Thanks so much for the reviews!

Breon Briarwood	Reviewed Chapter: 16 on 4/12/2005
Okay, I realize I probably haven't reviewed for the whole story yet, but, you're making me cry again with these last chapters! sniffle Author Reply: I hope they are tears of joy in the last three.

Dreamflower	Reviewed Chapter: 16 on 4/11/2005
This is so sad, so hard. These are the preparations he would make if he were not going to live; we know he does eventually find his healing in the West, but for those who were left behind, this now might as well be Death come to claim him. True, they will see him again, Sam, at first, in the Undying Lands, and the others when they are all reunited beyond Arda--but it will be years and years, just as if he had died in truth. For Frodo, it is the hope of healing. For his friends and kin, it is the beginning of a sundering that will grieve them the rest of their lives. sigh Author Reply: Ship or grave, Frodo was going to leave soon--one way or the other. Sam had hoped it would be a nice retirement in Rivendell alongside Mr. Bilbo--but then realized it would be far more than that. For all the sundering had to be very hard. And I am so glad Gandalf spilled the beans on him.

Kitty	Reviewed Chapter: 16 on 4/11/2005
It is truly sad Frodo couldn't find healing there in Middle-Earth. No matter how often I read the part about the Grey Havens in the book or watch it in the movie, I always end up in tears. Maybe Tolkien thought of it as a happy ending because Frodo is still alive, but I don't think so at all. Had always wanted Frodo could have stayed in the Shire and be happy with Sam and his growing family. You did a wonderful job so far with this story, telling how Frodo gets worse, so it is clear why he had to seek healing in Valinor. It will be quite hard for the others - not only Sam and Rosie, Merry and Pippin, Aragorn, but for the others also - Freddy, Narcissa and all the others. Maybe more so because they aren't able to say goodbye to him, save his three companions from the Quest and Rosie. And although I fear the end (I'm having a lot of tissues at hand for it ...), I'm waiting for every update. Oh, and did I mention how I appreciate the way your stories are linked together? I love it to find further details to something I had read before. Author Reply: I started out in For Eyes to See as Can borrowing from a plot device from Lindelea, who postulated Frodo suffering from congestive heart failure, one of the several conditions my own husband knew before the end. But then I watched a documentary on spider bites and how long-term effects can be so very complicated and varying from individual to individual, sparking heart problems, digestive problems, skeleto-muscular problems, auto-immune problems, and so on years down the road. I found it fascinating, and started thinking about how Shelob's bite might affect Frodo, added to the additional complication of Shelob being Ungoliant's child. Now, THAT could truly add some bizarre twists. A coming chapter will cover that. Perhaps it was just an inability of the spirit to recover that caused Frodo to decide to leave Middle Earth; but I suspect that he'd have known a good deal of physical pain as well, which would have complicated any chance of recovering from the underlying shell-shock. Tolkien did say Frodo fingered the Queen's jewel a good deal, which would indicate he knew far more pain, physical and emotional, than he was letting on to Sam. I'd always felt that there was a reason why Sam at the end let Frodo go so easily, which would indicate he had a level of awareness that Frodo was actively failing, and knowing that his one chance of finding his friend as he'd known him was to allow him to go on the Ship, then come to him later, after the healing. I also have thought Frodo's choice of leaving as he did, a second time without saying goodbye properly, would cause a great deal of grief and even anger at him from friends and family, as well as probably a level of relief as well that finally something might be done for him, and I wanted to explore that as well. Frodo, as a victim of PTSD, is having difficulty communicating and admitting to his condition to others; and I suspect they all have a level of awareness that they wish he'd just discuss with them freely. Yes, I try to make my stories link together, and I'm glad you appreciate that.

shirebound	Reviewed Chapter: 16 on 4/11/2005
Goodness, I would never have imagined these days in such detail. Amazing. And I appreciate the pace at which this story is moving... it's difficult to bear Frodo's pain, but his peace of mind is very soothing. "There will be little need for much, as I suspect you know already. But do bring those small items that sustain your hope and reflect your loves, for they will assist you." What a lovely thing for Elrond to say. Author Reply: It is often such little items that do have the strongest memories tied to them. Thanks for the feedback.

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