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| What's left behind by perelleth | 6 Review(s) |
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| elliska | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 1/21/2006 |
| The first part of this does a really good job of showing the difficulties that still remained in the forest even after the war and the wariness of the warriors that had seen peace come and go in the wood. And the second part, with Legolas and Gimli! I just tried to find the parts of that that I most wanted to comment on and I realized I would quote almost all of it. Gimli is great. And Legolas not being able to hear the trees is too sad. It doesn't seem fair he should lose so much after all he did. But that undoubtedly contributed to his decision to move to Ithilien, as I imagine you are going to show us. I am really enjoying this story, Perelleth! Author Reply: Those were tough times, I believe. The road to recovering keeps on painfully, even after the tv cameras and foregin journalists are gone to the next spotligh... er.. sorry! a lapse! :-) A I told other reviewers, Legolas' lot after the War never seemed a reward to me... in the short term. Moving to Ithilien, when he had lived in a forest that he had loved and towards which he no doubtedly had a responsability seemed a hard choice. Galadriel's words mean doom, and I always wondered about Thranduil's reaction to hear that a son of his! of all people, had been struck by sea-longing... Sea longing, too, interests me, as a way to be called home, although Tolkien contradicts himself at places, since no doubt his view on it all changed with the passing of the years... So I found that I had to move forwards in time, to see the whole picture and find a possible answer, and the result of it is this story... Gimli's perception of Fangorn forest is my favourite part of this chapter. It was difficult to find what could have been the Dwarf's impression of the forest, until the architectural analogy came to mind, and it made sense to me, remembering the wonderful arched vaults of Moria... I am so glad that you are enjoying it, Elliska, and thanks for following through! | |
| Redheredh | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 1/21/2006 |
| Alright, I admit it... Mallereg is my favorite. So far, anyway. ;P Author Reply: Well! I believe that his family won't mind if you take him home for a week or two... he's needing a holiday, you know? Glad that you like him... despite all! ;-) THanks again. | |
| Nilmandra | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 1/19/2006 |
| This chapter had so many good things, but I will start with the last. I really like that you have Legolas unable to hear the usual comforting sound of the forest - for indeed the sea longing has made him no longer able to find peace beneath the trees. I wonder if his wife will see this immediately... and others of his family... and what their reaction will be. The joy of homecoming quickly to be damped by a sea longing, then by his request to move to Ithilien and leave what they have all risked their lives for at home. The whole interchange between aunt and nephew was also very well done. The sacrifices of the crown prince is clear - one son dead and the other driven to exhaustion in the fight. Tense family relations and guilt. And these conflicting duties between safety and stewardship of the forest. They are all so close to it.. and now home comes Legolas with a much broader perspective and he is about to change everything. Very well done. Author Reply: I am glad that you liked my version of sea longing! ;-) Sea longing intrigues me, and LEgolas' particularly, for, as I have commented before, it seems a poor reward for all of his toils. Galadriel's words always seem ominous to me, and he doesn't take them very happily either. The fact that he sails short after Aragorn's death means that he enjoyed less than a yen of the freed land, and that away from his forest.. It did make me think for a long time.. and that's what prompted this story in the end, I believe. Things at Lasgalen must have been pretty discouraging, and they have all been so concentrated in their own problems that an external view shall somehow clash with their. This traveling world wise LEgolas is going to surely challenge some of their most established beliefs! :-) Thanks, I“m glad that you are enjoying. | |
| French Pony | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 1/19/2006 |
| This chapter seems very appropriate to this time of year. Everyone is grouchy, and egos have become fragile and nerves easily stepped upon. The situation with Borgalas and Mallereg feels like it's coming to a head, and will take some skillful handling to defuse. But Legolas seems to be making his way home, and everyone will be glad of that. It'll be some sorely needed joy, as well as the distraction of having Gimli around. One small nitpick -- Legolas does not ride Arod with a saddle. Author Reply: Yes, they all are taut as bows and suffering from kind of winter depression, although they have reasons for it. I don't believe that the views must have been very pleasing out there that winter... There are few things sadder than a burnt forest, to my eyes...And Legolas has his own problems too. Was it BIlbo, who said that "the road goes ever on"? ;-) Regarding the saddle.. Well, we know that Legolas asked the Rohirrim to relieve Arod from tack when they met in the midst of nowhere. YEt I could not force myself to bring them all that way, heavily packed, armed and with spare pieces of armour...and bareback. But hten, I could have easily omitted the detail of the saddle, as none would have wondered where all those packs and things hung from, and would have saved attentive readers like yourself, the trouble of wondering... So point taken, thanks, :-) | |
| daw the minstrel | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 1/19/2006 |
| I like Laeriniel. She knows what she's doing; she sees it as valuable; and she's not afraid to do it, even if it does involved defying Borgalas's orders. Mallereg is intriguing. He's obviously tough, but he's more afraid of what's at home than of orcs in the woods. He and Laeriniel negotiate who's in charge of what quite well. She's his elder but he's in command. I look forward to seeing what happens at home, but I don't think this visit to diseased trees is going to go well. Author Reply: I like Laeriniel, too. She's struggling hard, as all of them are. Their land has suffered a thorough invasion and destruction, and less than half a year has passed, and they are still fighting the aftermath of it all, the physical effects as well as the pain and the loss... And, unlike the people in Gondor, they do not have the physical prove of a change: no new king, no new white tree, no shadow clearly and visibly departed, but a forest burnt and despoiled to the very core. No wonder, in my opinion, that they are al still shaken, and scarcely willing to care about what happeend in any other place! But they shall survive, eventually, they are wood elves, after all! :-) | |
| Bodkin | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 1/19/2006 |
| It seems that Legolas might not be very popular once he returns to Lasgalen. Not even, possibly, with his wife. It is fascinating to take something, turn it round and look at it from a totally different angle. Poor Mallereg. He really has had enough. Very sneaky of Laerīniel to see that he gets home - but he needs to. Very badly. The work that is involved in doctoring the forest and sorting out the current threats seems absolutely enormous, and these elves are wearing themselves in the ground in an attempt to perform miracles. Gripping stuff! Author Reply: I believe that, right now, Laerīrniel only thinks of seeing him riding home, and cares less about the rest. But she's not going to be *that* happy when she learns about his plans, I bet... It is fascinating to take something, turn it round and look at it from a totally different angle. That's what I find fascinating about ff. how each of us draws different conclusions based on the same story... I never considered that LEgolas was a particularly young elf, nor that he“s return home would have been a very joyful one, since Galadriel's words seemed to me to herald a deep loss for him... so I was deeply susrpised when I found out that almost everybody in fandom agreed in that he was quite young and that his going to Ithilien after the war had not been a life-chanching, most disturbing event, for him.. and those round him...looking at it from a diferent angle, as you say. Thanks for giving it a chance. Different angles are at tiemes difficult to follow..;-) | |