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| The Blue Wizard Blues by GamgeeFest | 9 Review(s) |
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| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 20 on 7/15/2007 |
| I was interrupted before I could quite finish this the last time. They are now finished, Sauron has completed his purpose, and Frodo is free now of mudh that troubled him. Too bad Semira is spoken for, as Rick truly loves her, I think. Author Reply: Frodo may just stand a chance of happiness now, so long as he doesn't let this new encounter with evil make him forget everything he has learned. Rick certainly has fallen hard, but he'll respect that Semira is married and admire her from a distance. Hopefully, once they can leave Harad behind for good and return to the West, he'll find himself a nice lass to settle down with. :) | |
| lovethosehobbits | Reviewed Chapter: 20 on 7/10/2007 |
| oh this is *riveting*!!! What a fantastic tale. Author Reply: Thank you so much! I'm glad you're enjoying it! :D | |
| cookiefleck | Reviewed Chapter: 20 on 7/7/2007 |
| And so the deed is done. Good job of bringing all the main characters together at the end and describing the drama. Poor Frodo and Sam, that was a difficult task, physically and mentally draining. I'm looking forward to the final (?) chapter. Author Reply: Done at last - and just in the nick of time. There were some close calls there, but they managed to pull it off. Frodo and Sam again bear the brunt of the trauma, poor guys. I should write them a fluffy story next. :D Hehe, this was supposed to be the final chapter, this climax originally taking place in chapter 18, but the story keeps getting stretched out. It doesn't seem to want to end. I have at least 2 more chapters but I see this easily going for three chapters. There's a lot left to tie up and we still have to get our heroes back to Gondor. So maybe three chapters and an epilogue? I'm not sure at this point and I'm hesitant to post any more until I have it all written, at least in rough draft form. Thanks for reading! I'm glad you're enjoying the story! :) | |
| elanor winterflowers | Reviewed Chapter: 20 on 7/5/2007 |
| Well, this was great! Not only did the heroes end in great success, but the writing was really excellent. I loved the business of Frodo glaring during his confrontation with the wizards, his own editorial comment as he came to grips with their minds. Also loved the striking image of the sun sinking "into the wedge between two hilltops, concentrating its powerful rays..." And I was really struck by this: Erratic though their power may be, power it still is, and it emanates from the rings into Sauron’s very core. He clutches his fist around them, feeling their poisonous power as it courses through him, overwhelming him with its intensity. He had not expected to feel this way again and he stands there enraptured as the sun sinks lower. Splendidly written, and I read it several times because it's just perfectly worded, but then I got to thinking: "Enraptured..." Might all these Maia have been no match for the power of the Rings they themselves forged? I'm not sure how that would come about, but the idea that the power of the Blue Wizard's somewhat inferior Rings would shoot right to "Sauron's core" and that he could feel the "poisonous power" and be overwhelmed by it for a long moment kind of suggests that when the Maia pour their own malice and deceit and lust into the creation of these objects, it somehow makes "entities" of the Rings themselves in ways they might not have expected, so that suddenly they themselves are not safe from them. It occurs to me now that Sauron wanted his Ring back as much as Gollum did; one assumes he wanted to amplify his power, but what if he was really as addicted to it and addled by it as Gollum was? Just thinking out loud, but it was very intriguing! Author Reply: Thank you sweetie! Frodo's battle was quite intense for him and he had to use every drop of enery and determination he could muster to fight the wizards as long as he did. It occured to me that Sauron hasn't been in possession of a ring of power for well over 3000 years now. He did have some of the dwarf rings but there's no indication that he ever would have used them, being made for much lesser beings. Considering that he made his Ring using much of his own being, then it likewise would have been necessary for him to make the wizards' rings in a very similar fashion (they being Maia also and just as powerful as him in many respects). So the wizards' rings, while inferior, also held a part of Sauron's former evilness and even though are not as powerful as the One, the two of them together would have momentarily overwhelmed him. He would have mastered them with time though, just as he mastered his own Ring (or, if you will, formed a symbiotic existence with it, one equally dependent on the other to live). So to answer your question (or at least I hope I'm answering it), I think that yes, Sauron did need his ring back just as much as Gollum, if not more so, for the ring contained a piece of himself and without it, he could not be whole. But, as it *did* contain a part of himself, once he had it, it would not have commanded him or possessed him as it did the other Ring-bearers. An interesting discussion! I'm glad you caught on to that as I wasn't sure if anyone would. Thanks for reading and for giving much food for thought. :D | |
| Althea | Reviewed Chapter: 20 on 7/5/2007 |
| That was intense. I love how you kept shifting scenes and letting us see what was going on with each of the main characters and how you brought all the threads together at the end. Thank goodness the hobbits are safe. I was really worried about them. Author Reply: Shifting scenes was the best (and most complicated!) way of keeping the momentum going. Coordinating everyone's whereabouts and actions and making them sync with everyone else's was quite a wild ride for me as well! I wasn't sure if I could pull it off but it seems to have worked quite nicely. :) The hobbits came very close to the end there, but divine intervention arrived in the form of Rick. :D There's still the shock to work through and much work to be done before they go home, but they're at least whole and sound. Thanks for reading and all your wonderful reviews! | |
| Andrea | Reviewed Chapter: 20 on 7/5/2007 |
| Wow! That was the best chapter so far! With the rapid changing of perspective it felt like watching a movie, a good one, of course ;-) Like Baggins Babe I must say that I really loved it when the girl called Frodo "little shaman"! And I would call him no less! What a great performance! And Sauron did resist the lure of the wizards' rings. In my opinion that should be enough to show the Valar that he has changed completely. And hey, Rick's timing was great, wasn't it ;-) Author Reply: The best? Oh my! Thank you Andrea! This chapter was a bit of a whirlwind to write and edit, trying to figure out where everyone was related to everyone else and trying to keep the momentum going. Frodo is going to immortalized as the "little" shaman in the legends of Khand now. If he thought being made a legend in Gondor and Rohan was overwhelming, he really hasn't seen anything yet! ;) Sauron might not realize it yet, but it was *his* affection for Rick that helped him overcome the temptation of the rings in time to complete his task. Being their maker, he would have gathered his wits back together eventually, but he couldn't afford to linger. Sauron's just had his first lesson in the power of love and it's a lesson he'll need again and again. Rick might have missed the action, but he was right where he needed to be. His was a crucial role and he played it perfectly. :D Thanks for reading and going along for the ride! | |
| Dreamflower | Reviewed Chapter: 20 on 7/5/2007 |
| Yay!!! The Good Guys WIN!! (As if there was any doubt? But you certainly did keep us in suspense the whole time!! I was really uncertain for an instant, when Sauron was distracted by the power in the wizard's rings...) As I suspected, Frodo really was a force to be reckoned with! I knew he'd get the better of them. But I'm worried about one thing, now. Since the wizards are dead, will Sauron be able to consider his mission over? He won't be able to take them to Valinor now... Author Reply: Indeed. It just wouldn't be me if the bad guys won, though I guess I *could* have gone that route. ;) I couldn't have the resolution be *too* smooth though, so I added Sauron's temptation somewhat late in the game. I figured it's been long enough since he last held a Ring of Power (over 3000 years now?) and being as the wizards are also Maia and so their rings would have been almost as powerful as his own and that they were also created by him, that there would have been a moment of temptation. He would have been able to master it sooner or later, but there wasn't time to wait for later! He was cutting it close as it was. Frodo did what he needed to do and he's bested the wizards with the help of his friends, but that's not to say he didn't suffer from his encounter. If Sam's brief contact with them was as intense as it was, it's fair to say that Frodo's would have been equally so, and it lasted much longer. *hugs Frodo* I think Eru has the last word on things, whether the wizards are brought to Valinor or killed in Khand. Now, to see what Sauron will make of it... Thanks for reading!! | |
| Baggins Babe | Reviewed Chapter: 20 on 7/5/2007 |
| I have been following this story, and what a rollercoaster it has been. You've really kept us all on our toes with this one. Thank goodness those Rings have finally been destroyed. I loved the description of Frodo as 'the little shaman.' Thankfully Sauron was able to resist the call of the Rings and do what had to be done. I was hoping Aragorn's trust was not misplaced. The fight scenes were very well written too - a departure from your usual stories but a fascinating look at what might have been. Author Reply: It's not often I get attacked by a plot bunny as fierce and adventerous as this one, and thank goodness! This is exhausting! But also a lot of fun. :) Frodo's reputation as shaman will soon exceed his 'little' stature once this story starts circulating. They'll be singing his praises in the East as well as the West! Sooner or later, Sauron would have been able to put the rings down, but he really didn't have time to wait for 'later'. Rick showed up just in time, to both save the hobbits and remind Sauron why he was doing what he was doing. Thanks for reading! I'm glad you've enjoyed the story, odd though it may be. :D | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 20 on 7/4/2007 |
| Am so glad the thought of Rick was able to help Sauron turn aside the temptation of these rings. And now all are free, even the Wizards, although it is the freedom of death and dissolutionment. Alas that they fell that far. Now, has Sauron survived, or is he free as well--free to return to his beginnings? Author Reply: Rick really played his part here well. He might have missed most of the action, but things would have gone much worse had he not been there to created those distractions. And Sauron, though he might not quite realize it, is finally beginning to understand the power of love. :) The wizards really were much more depraved than I envisioned them when I first starting writing this story last year. They did fall far from the tree and sank rather deeply into the worst of the worst. I think they might have even topped Sauron on some counts. Sauron's fate is far from over. He has much evil left to undo. Thanks for reading and sticking with this odd little story! :D | |