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| A Perilous Journey to Lorien by LadyJaina | 1 Review(s) |
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| periannore | Reviewed Chapter: 7 on 5/13/2022 |
| By the too low number of reviews for this story I've concluded that A Perilous Journey to Lorien is one of the most overlooked treasures in LOTR fandom. Since Starting your story yesterday I've been single-mindedly rereading the chapters and thinking about them. I'm through chapter nine and holding while I try to do chapter seven some justice with this review. Shows how much I don't know: the messengers of Elrond passed by Lórien on their way home up the Dimrill Stair. Great Tolkien research by you and now I have to get busy and track down the stairs I forgot were in LOTR. As I'm Frodocentric I appreciate that in the midst of what seems to be a hopeless battle you managed to insert a glowing tribute to Frodo: Typical Frodo, loyal and far too humble to realize his own importance, of course he and Merry couldn't hide. It was a thing of honor—and Frodo was the reason they were all here. We can see Pippin's idealism, one of the admirable qualities of youth. Where weaker characters would accept as fate that because of their size they couldn't make a difference in this battle, Merry and Pippin, so close they can finish each other's sentences, hatch a plan with few words and Merry says, "We can't win. Not here, but we're not going to stand here and wait for them to cut us down." As we know from the orc encounter on the anduin Merry and Pippin are willing to risk their lives to deflect the enemy's attention from Frodo by making targets of themselves. To give himself a shot of courage Pippin thinks: abandoning one's defenders wasn't the Took way. What a positive thought. Does Merry convincing Pippin to go through the tunnel gate to the old forest refer to one of your stories or is it a random, pertinent recollection you invented for this saga? Without belaboring many points of combat that would send the squeamish among us searching for a different story, you inform us about how soldiers fight with succinct statements like: His chance lay in avoidance and careful jabs. Who knew? I skim over fight scenes only caring about who survives at the end. I even do it with Tolkien's but I'm not doing it with yours. Your wonderfully long chapters deserve more reviewing but I've already gone on too long. I'm neglecting my volunteer work and Evan's gone to bed without me. Can't help it. That's what happens when we find a long, suspenseful, story full of Middle Earth presence and Fellowship goodness. Author Reply: Wow, wow, wow! What a lovely review! Thank you for all your kind words. At times, I, too, have been perplexed by the lack of reviews (the story has been crossposted on FF.net and AO3). I'd assumed the LOTR fanfic heyday had passed and that there just weren't as many people interested. I'd also wondered if there was something wrong with my summary--those that have left comments and reviews seemed to have really enjoyed the story, though, and I truly love hearing everyone's thoughts! It's been a while since I researched for this chapter, but I believe the Dimrill Stair is the way you would take the pass of Caradharas if you were going over the mountains. Regarding the tunnel gate into the old forest, I'd say it is an embellishment of the actual event. In the Fellowship of the Ring, that is the path the hobbit's take the night they finally leave the Shire. Tolkien doesn't specifically say that Merry talked him into it, but I like to imagine they had many a discussion as they planned their route--Pippin seemed pretty scared of the forest. Fight scenes are soooo hard to write. I'm not a fan of gore, so it's tricky to paint a vivid picture without saying too much. For me, the angst and inner thoughts surrounding the fight tend to be my focus, otherwise I feel like I'm choreographing a video game LOL. Thank you so much for reading, and for stopping to share your thoughts! I hope you enjoy the upcoming chapters, too, lots of hobbit-y bravery. | |