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| The Unquenchable Light by Virtuella | 2 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| Lindelea | Reviewed Chapter: 20 on 3/23/2025 |
| Yeah, regarding labeling entire nations "evil", I suppose that fits the "good vs evil" theme. But even JRRT opened the door to not all Men in different nations being evil in his exploration of Sam's thoughts in Ithilien: It was Sam’s first view of a battle of Men against Men, and he did not like it much. He was glad that he could not see the dead face. He wondered what the man’s name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil of heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would not really rather have stayed there in peace – all in a flash of thought which was quickly driven from his mind. I took "what lies or threats had led him..." in the sense of what we call today disinformation, as in a malicious twisting of facts to manipulate people's thoughts and actions. I can definitely see Sauron and the Mouth of Sauron employing that tactic. Along similar lines, the Haradrim in my stories are a mix of noble-minded and evil-minded people, with strong and weak individuals in both categories. It takes all kinds to make a world. *** As to this chapter, my first thought was to hear some soldier in the back of my mind saying blearily to a comrade as the ships sail away, "...Man, those Elves sure know how to throw a party...!" Uh-oh. Here comes the ambassador. To quote a certain princess, "I thought I recognized your foul stench when I came aboard..." O-o-o-o-o-kay-y-y-y-y. Enter the Tree Women, stage left. (Did I ever mention how pleased I was that you brought them into this story?) Oh! So the Tree Women aren't simply very long-lived, like the Ents in Fangorn, but they've actually planted a colony of sorts and are thriving and growing. Oooo! "pale caterpillars": I'm guessing silkworms? Oh, the Tree Women have Trockenbeernauslese and Eiswein!!! Of course they do. I remember the taste, like golden sunshine. Someone told me that the best of it stayed in Germany and was not exported to the US, so I never bothered to buy it after we left Europe. Wish we were still there, these days. Aha! And the Tree Women (like my Eagles) differentiate between speaking folk and the other kind. (My Eagles are allowed to swoop up Orcs and "drop them on the rocks to break them" but are not allowed to eat them. They probably wouldn't be good to eat, anyhow.) “If you’ve treated them well,” she said, “they must love you and they will follow you.” Why do I suspect the horses won't follow them? our palace. As Buggs Bunny would say, "The noive!" I wonder if Tilar overestimated the support she'd get from others? The Krandi don't even have folding chairs? They sound unprepared for the marching life. "did not quite look right" Hmmm. But "shall we shoot it?" had me laughing, it sounded so much like the little boys I've known. I have to say, if you hadn't mentioned the Krâ being honorable and not evil, I'd be worried about the eight of them coming in out of the dark to meet in the tent. (Shades of Hemry's Dauntless, where the Syndics appear to slaughter all the Alliance leaders who come to parley...) Hahahahaha! Was Dorwinian Wine involved, I wonder? “I’m in a mood to die.” “Excellent.” Sledgehammer! Good name (even if it's not the name). My hobbits have a similar name: Weed Killer (Or "keed willer" if you already happen to have imbibed one over your limit.) Really gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "slaying the enemy"! ("killing your enemy with kindness", maybe?) Okay, I was kind of wary of these elves when Jarin encountered them (if I'm remembering right), but now I'm starting to like them. (Do I have to spell everything out to you? Sheesh, this turned out to be a long review. Apologies if you find such annoying. (I adore long reviews, for my part [especially on one of my own chapters, LOL], but I realize not everyone loves discussing Tolkien's creation as much as I do.) Author Reply: Yes, I love that quote, one of the best in the book. The Kra can't take much luggage. They already have tents and food supplies to worry about. Are you a Discworld reader? Samuel Vimes uses the tactic of getting folk drunk to avoid a fight in "Thud!" Thanks for all your observations! | |
| Leithian | Reviewed Chapter: 20 on 3/8/2025 |
| “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘛𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳?” 𝘛𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘶𝘯 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘖𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳. “𝘐’𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘳, 𝘖𝘭𝘢𝘯,” 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥. “𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥? 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘞𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘥𝘰. 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵. 𝘈 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘦𝘳𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘒û𝘻 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯.” Oh no! “𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘴,” 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘌𝘻𝘦𝘯 𝘒𝘦𝘮𝘳𝘢, “𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥.” 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘳â. “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦.” Hamujil is so brave to accept and I really hope he doesn't regret it... Let's hope that Ezen Kemra is a man of his word. The last part of the chapter, though, was pure gold. And somehow, that unnamed Hwenti elf has all the grace of a High-Elf. Take care Author Reply: Yes, Tilar is the traitor, though I tried to make readers think it was Miriel. ;-) Initially, I had intended for the plan to work out, but then it seemed to me that was too easy and it would be better if Hamujil had to put his life on the line after all. Oh dear, I didn't mean for the Hwenti man to come across like a high elf, he was supposed to be good-natured but flippant and condescending. I'm going to have to take a look at that. | |