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| Smoke and Steel: Smoke Nights by MissMilton | 4 Review(s) |
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| Denise | Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 3/15/2007 |
| OK, I really do know better. Absolutely, positively, I should never start a WiP when the last update is in a different year than the current one, especially when I know the author to be an exceptional writer who will suck me right in. But there I was, innocently trolling for Imrahil stories, when this intriguing tale popped up and… You’ve laid out such an interesting perception of Denethor (his asexualism), and it does fit well with canon, so kudos to the revealing and unique portrayal. I also love your strong, elusive, intelligent Finduilas, and the rich, languid atmosphere of Dol Amroth in general – another rather unique portrayal for me. It is highly political but with dramatically different rules than Minas Tirith. I kept having this real-world vision of a straight-laced New York businessman being tossed unsuspecting into old-time New Orleans. The moist heat, the slow, oblique nature of the politics, the canals, the people all seem to share attributes with the Big Easy (or maybe that’s just me, former Southerner that I am). Keen, wicked conversations, and keen and evocative descriptions, too. Your characterizations are superb. I love your phrasing and writing style; favorite lines just kept piling up, one after another. You led marvelously up to Finduilas getting under Denethor’s skin in the first chapter (poor, confused fellow – I never thought I’d be feeling sorry for *Denethor*), and then step back and let us learn a little more of your Denethor’s history and mind. He knows Aragorn’s real identity and purpose, he has some skill at probing minds (I particularly love the imagery you use in describing this), he loves M.T. above all. His starting to think of Finduilas in terms/images of his beloved city is a telling way of indicating the depth of his feelings for her. I really enjoyed the whole of their gradual coming together: the deepening trust, the realization of true feelings, Finduilas’ independence and why she appeals so strongly to Denethor. I dearly hope you find the time and inclination to continue this – there are so many issues to explore, and I very much want to know how you see their lives evolving from this point, given what little is described in canon of their relationship. Please? *gives best hopeful puppy eyes* Author Reply: Hi Denise, Thank you for your wonderful, wonderful review. I don't have time to answer in more detail right now, but I just wanted to let you know that I *am* working on the rest of the fic. I'm sorry it's taken me so long, but unfortunately I have a very demanding RL occupation and only recently (ie, in the past month or so) have I had time to write fic again. The next chapter takes place when Denethor is sixteen and details his relationship with his grandmother and what he learns from her. I'll reply in more detail to your review as soon as possible! Cheers, Anna | |
| Bodkin | Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 12/20/2005 |
| I do like strong, intelligent, wily Finduilas. I think she might get round Denethor .... at least twice. I feel sorry for Denethor, really. I'm not surprised he was jealous - he seems to have been treated rather shabbily. But Finduilas will defend him - and that will do him good. Author Reply: I do like strong, intelligent, wily Finduilas. Thanks. I'm very glad people seem to be liking my interpretation of Finduilas. I think she might get round Denethor .... at least twice. Well, she does get him to be rather more... flexible as it comes to what he's willing to do in order to make her happy. I feel sorry for Denethor, really. I'm not surprised he was jealous - he seems to have been treated rather shabbily. But Finduilas will defend him - and that will do him good. You'll see a lot of interaction between Denethor, Finduilas, Ecthelion, Thorongil and Denethor's sister Celebwen in upcoming chapters. The relationship between Denethor and his father is quite complicated, and I think that quite a lot of its problems stem from the fact that they have very different personalities, as you'll see. Thanks once again for reading and reviewing! -----Anna | |
| halewyn aredhel | Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 12/19/2005 |
| Yes! I had been reading this on another site, and have waited forever for an update. This is such a terrific story, and your portrayal of Finduilas is unique and wonderful. I'm intrigued by why you've chosen to portray Denethor as asexual, though... Can't wait for the next chapter! Author Reply: Yes! I had been reading this on another site, and have waited forever for an update. I'm really sorry about the huge delay between updates. Lots of RL stuff getting in the way, I'm afraid. The next chapter should be up much quicker. This is such a terrific story, and your portrayal of Finduilas is unique and wonderful. Thank you! I'm so glad you're enjoying this and that you like my Finduilas. I've always thought that, for Denethor to love her, she'd have to have a rather... arresting personality. Like I said below, she owes quite a bit to Carole Nelson Douglas's interpretation of Irene Adler. I'm intrigued by why you've chosen to portray Denethor as asexual, though... Like I said to Nilmandra, it's just the way he's coded in canon. There's no particular significance to it, other than the fact that this fic is my attempt to conciliate my reading of him with the fact that he, well, had children. I knew that, with someone like Denethor, it would take quite an intense relationship for him to be willing disregard his boundaries like that, and here we are. *g* Thank you once again for reading and reviewing! ----Anna | |
| Nilmandra | Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 12/17/2005 |
| I like your strong Finduilias.. she knows who she is and what she wants, and she is no one's pawn. The references to Thorongil and the speculation as to what Denethor knew.. and how much he grew to despise him, is fascinating. Denethor's admittance of his lack of sexual desire was also very interesting... I am glad we know they eventually had two children, which I assume are his and therefore, somewhere, he found that desire for her. Author Reply: I like your strong Finduilias.. she knows who she is and what she wants, and she is no one's pawn. Thanks. I like her a lot myself--she owes quite a bit to Irene Adler, actually, both from the Conan Doyle short story and (mostly) from the Carole Nelson Douglas Irene Adler series of books, which I heartily recommend. The references to Thorongil and the speculation as to what Denethor knew.. and how much he grew to despise him, is fascinating. I'm glad you liked that; we'll see a lot more of who knows what about whom and the interactions between those characters when the action moves to Minas Tirith. Denethor's admittance of his lack of sexual desire was also very interesting He just strikes me as asexual in the canon (though not quite as much as Boromir). I know that when he see him in RotK he's suffering from clinical depression, but in my view, even the remarks about his early life lend themselves to this interpretation. I am glad we know they eventually had two children, which I assume are his and therefore, somewhere, he found that desire for her. Yes, Finduilas's children are all Denethor's. *g* I think you'll find there are some hints already in this chapter of how that came to be... after all, Denethor tells Finduilas that all they can do is lie together like brother and sister, but I don't know a lot of brothers and sisters who lie together in the same way they do--not outside of Faulkner, anyway--and what I was intending to do was that he loves her enough to start tweaking his boundaries a little in order to make her happy. | |