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| When Winter Fell by Lindelea | 7 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| Inkling | Reviewed Chapter: 9 on 11/22/2005 |
| Cruel Lin, to tease us with hints of backstory…the Gull? The Captain? Inquiring minds want to know! Author Reply: There may well be a slow unveiling of backstory. I just wish I knew more about sailing ships. No time for the extensive research I usually put into a story; more of a quick look-through. Sure hope I don't make a huge gaffe. Will have to check and see if Earendil (or however you spell it) had any descendants. I would dearly love the Captain to have been descended from him. | |
| FantasyFan | Reviewed Chapter: 9 on 11/16/2005 |
| It's sweet to see Bilbo foreshadowing his own party and even more delicious to find Gandalf lurking in the background taking it all in. I wonder if Bilbo vocalises to himself while he's writing, and if Gandalf heard? Or if he was tempted to sneak a peek at the journal? Then, at the end, I am so sorry for Isengar. I'm not sure Gandalf's done the best by him. Either in dumping him back in the Shire, so obviously damaged, or by telling him the truth here. Or did Isengar know of this and has forgotten the trauma? Gandalf's not just going to walk away now, is he? I have a bad feeling about what may happen. Author Reply: Well, considering how much hobbits seem to delight in planning, perhaps Gandalf will hear much about the hoped-for Party over the years. Wouldn't it be fun if Bilbo told him about it as they were riding their ponies over hill and dale, some time in "The Hobbit"? Things could be very bad for Isengar here, amongst the Tooks who despite their adventurous streak think he's mad (and perhaps, if Gerontius weren't Thain, but rather Isengar's oldest brother Isengrim, things would go a lot worse for Isengar and he really *would* be "locked away"--can't you just hear one brother or another threatening him with such a fate when he gets out of line?), except that there is a wild-card in the mix. There are some hints of this earlier on, but it'll come clear soon. Thanks! | |
| Cuthalion | Reviewed Chapter: 9 on 11/16/2005 |
First of all, a very pleasant feast, in fact an engrossing entertainment: rich, abundant, varied, and prolonged. Afterwards, my guests would sip from their favourite drinks, and fill up the corners with their favourite dainties, and I suppose I should have to render some sort of birthday Speech, though I haven't the faintest notion what I might say. "Thank you for coming to my Party," I suppose. Hehe. And that scene at the end was heartbreaking. Poor Isengar. Author Reply: I ought to put a note at the end of the chapter to the effect that all that is Tolkien's, not mine. Perhaps I'll have to add a chapter of "Author's Notes" to the end. Poor Isengar. But this crisis just might bring about a sea change for the poor fellow. Let us hope. | |
| Bodkin | Reviewed Chapter: 9 on 11/15/2005 |
| Poor Isengar. He is so unhappy. I suspect he is rather wishing he had been lost with the ship - he is so out of place here back in the Shire and no-one seems to have much understanding of him. (Going home again is one of those golden apples in the eyes of travellers - but it is, so often, impossible. As Frodo learned.) Perhaps, despite smelling like fish, Gandalf will need to hang around a bit longer to try to help him. I love Bilbo trying to write extensively about food without actually mentioning the word. But at least, if he is going home tomorrow, it will be his last effort for a while. He'll miss Siggy though. Author Reply: Poor Isengar. You are right: Very few people understand him. Young Fortinbras II might, but I'm sure he's being kept busy learning and practicing the things he needs to know when he comes "of age" next year, considering his Uncle Isengrim, next in line to be Thain, has no children, which means his father might well be the next Thain after, and himself following. I think he will miss Siggy. He must have some friends in Hobbiton, though I haven't begun to imagine who they are. Most of his Baggins cousins on the family tree are ten years or more younger than he is. And... sobering thought... he outlived most, if not all, of them. | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 9 on 11/15/2005 |
| Alas for Isengar, who wishes the joyful life of the sea, with the adrenaline rushes and the changing seascape and the glad fellowship of sailors who must cooperate and get along or perish.... And Bilbo is preparing in his head for a day many years in the future, almost but not quite a century hence--preparing already. Lovely tale. Author Reply: Poor Isengar. I wonder if his Captain really would have taken him on, half-crippled as he was, with only one good leg and one good hand. I like to think he might've, for old times' sake. It was pleasing to think of Bilbo "preparing" for the Birthday so early, and it sort of fit with Gandalf's thoughts in the chapter, too. Thanks! | |
| harrowcat | Reviewed Chapter: 9 on 11/15/2005 |
| Oh poor, poor Isengar. And a lovely preview of THE birthday party. Author Reply: Poor Isengar. But you never know what might result from this little scene... | |
| Dreamflower | Reviewed Chapter: 9 on 11/15/2005 |
| I love Bilbo's journal entry! It reminds me of his words to Gandalf years later, about "snapdragons and laburnums". And his conversation with Siggy was wonderful--I'm so glad your Bilbo and Siggy are friends as well! Gandalf was so wonderful, with poor Isengar. *sigh* How sad! Author Reply: I do think Bilbo learned, with time, to paint pictures with words, don't you? It is fun to contemplate who would have been Bilbo's friends, growing up. (How much of a connexion do you think he'd have had with Brandy Hall?) The sad part is that he outlived so many... I wonder if it alienated some of his friends, the fact that he didn't age the way they did. Poor Isen, but it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good. Author Reply: p.s. it took me *years* before I understood what that last proverb means! | |