News Resources
Login
Become a member
Help
Search
|
|
| About Us News Resources
Login
Become a member
Help
Search
|
|
|
| The Time of Probing by Larner | 7 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| Andrea | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 7/28/2013 |
| Great chapter! I found it most interesting that It might have had an effect on the S.-B.s. Maybe their frequent visits to Bag End were caused by the Ring, too. For It created some kind of longing in them, to get there and get It. And of course, Pippin in just wonderful! Author Reply: I suspect that the Ring would react to almost anyone with an orcish attitude, and there's no question that the S.-B.s were unpleasant as they could be so much of the time. And I love the idea that It might have called to them to come and get It. Oh, but I DO love Pippin! He is such a delightful combination of wisdom and spontaneity! Thanks so! | |
| Linda Hoyland | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 7/9/2013 |
| A very peceptive view of the Ring's evil influence. I loved Sam and Arwen's conversation. Author Reply: Oh, thanks so much, Linda. I'm glad that you liked the conversation. And I suspect that the Ring Itself had more influence than Tolkien indicated in the books. | |
| Antane | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 7/8/2013 |
| For someone who just met Sam, that Elf is very perceptive about our favorite gardener and nurturer. Love Gandalf's reactions to Pippin's words about The Look. :) Namarie, God bless, Antane :) Author Reply: Oh, Arwen is most perceptive anyway, as befits her parents' daughter and the granddaughter to Galadriel and Celeborn. And I found that Pippin in this chapter insisted on being Pippinish to the extreme, and that Gandalf simply couldn't control his amusement in the end! Heh! | |
| curiouswombat | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 7/8/2013 |
| What fascinating insights into the effect... It... had on those who bore It, or even came close to It. Author Reply: It's been interesting to think on how the Ring might have affected various people, and how Bilbo and Frodo unconsciously tried to control Its influence on themselves and on others. Thanks so, CW! | |
| UTfrog | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 7/8/2013 |
| Love the discussion between Arwen and Sam. Good insight in both of them. Thank you Author Reply: I suspect that Arwen was fascinated by all of these Hobbit visitors to her father's house, and that she and Sam would find one another interesting. I don't think that she'd let any of them know that she and Aragorn were affianced, but that she'd manage somehow to learn many things about them that Aragorn might not come to know until after the victory against Mordor. Thank you so! | |
| shirebound | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 7/8/2013 |
| Gandalf and Elrond gazed thoughtfully at one another. “Water is antithetical to Its nature, after all,” Elrond murmured. What an interesting idea. The Ring must have been quite uncomfortable in Tom Bombadil's house, with all those water-filled vessels of water lilies set about. Author Reply: There have been other discussions in my stories of how limited the Ring's powers were when It was stuck at the bottom of the Anduin--until a Hobbit fell into the water almost on top of It, no one had been able to locate It, in spite of most likely Sauron's slaves and mercenaries being sent to search for It even before Saruman tried the same. The Ring was forged in the fires of Mount Doom--It was undoubtedly much dampered by being surrounded by water. So it was fun to imagine that Bilbo would find himself feeling more comfortable when It was kept in a bowl of water! Heh! As for it being uncomfortable surrounded by Goldberry's water lilies, I'd not thought about it, but I think you are right. Maybe that was why It tried to coax Frodo into sneaking out of the house that evening when he put It on to make certain that It hadn't been switched by Tom. | |
| Dreamflower | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 7/8/2013 |
| What an interesting look into the effects of the Ring on Frodo and Bilbo during the time they possessed it. I love the way you show how aware Merry and the others were of its effects on Frodo without even realizing what was causing those effects--but they know Frodo and when he was acting out of character. Nicely done! Again, I am fascinated by the ways in which the two of us are the "same only different" in our ideas on that. Like you, I have Bilbo (and later Frodo) put the Ring aside from time to time, if they feel that it's become too much of a "distraction"; like you, I have Bilbo being haunted by nightmares of Gollum as he nears his last few years in the Shire. (BTW, LOVE the notion that being put in a bowl of water dampens its influence! I wish I'd thought of that one!) But we differ in our notions of how "strong" the Ring was, and how long it remained mostly asleep, and in how it may or may not have extended its influence beyond Bag End. One thing I've never seen you address is the Ring's influence on its bearer's health--for example, "my" Bilbo was only ill once in the sixty years after he returned with the Ring--and that was on an occasion during which he had left the Ring behind on a journey. And once the Ring came into Frodo's possession, he was never ill either. This is a very interesting story! Author Reply: We each tend to get our own idea of how the lives of Frodo and Bilbo might be influenced by the presence of the Ring, of course, so I've had fun thinking that unconsciously first Bilbo and then Frodo managed to keep the Ring focused on them so as not to seek to influence other Hobbits, not that your average Hobbit was likely to help the Ring make Its way home, of course. Personally in my-verse both Bilbo and Frodo, once Frodo outgrew his early heart murmur, were mostly pretty healthy anyway, except for the influenza epidemic the first winter Frodo spent as Bilbo's ward in Bag End when both became very ill, and Frodo developed pneumonia. The Ring drowsed, but when It became aware of any possible heirs to Bilbo It sought to interfere, except when Lotho was expected and It was trying to score off Bilbo by allowing what was most likely going to be a most unsuitable heir to be born. In my-verse Frodo's parents spent most of Primula's third pregnancy in Buckland, and Bilbo asked Gandalf to offer her what protection he as a Wizard could. (This story is still being worked upon, by the way.) Whether their relatively good health was due to the Ring or natural Hobbit resiliency I've never truly decided. But I agree that even if It didn't particularly relish Its bearers' tendency to keep It safely by them and away from chances to head back to Mordor, it probably still did Its best to safeguard them as It could. Thanks so, Dreamflower! | |