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| Pearl of Great Price by Lindelea | 96 Review(s) |
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| Lady Forlong | Reviewed Chapter: 23 on 5/23/2025 |
| "Tallest hobbit in history" He doesn't know the half of it. "...Need to get your head out of the clouds and into the byre." Nah. No fun. Can't make me. Author Reply: Hahaha. It's all a piece with "too many stories" (of which I still argue there is no such thing). Thanks so much for reading and pausing to share your thoughts! | |
| Lady Forlong | Reviewed Chapter: 22 on 5/22/2025 |
| "More comfortable in a forest of trees than in a forest of hobbits." LOL ...and "How about a spot of tea?" as if nothing momentous had just happened. How classically hobbity of him. Reminds me of Merry and Pippin sitting in the ruins of Isengard and smoking. Author Reply: Merry and Pippin sitting in the ruins of Isengard and smoking That's perfect! (Thank you for the chuckle today.) | |
| Lady Forlong | Reviewed Chapter: 21 on 5/22/2025 |
| I’ll bet Gundy and Hally are going to get lots of business now that people have seen that "little sample" (understatement) of their work. Not to mention all the gifts. Between that and the land, they ought to be pretty well-to-do, as hobbits like to say. Hally’s cold is much improved (wink wink) LOL He deserves an academy award. “Before my mother changes my mind,” He’s not out of the woods yet, assuming he's not joking, as Pearl wonders. I can relate to Pervinca – I read too many stories too. And it’s all your fault, and others like you :) Author Reply: Your review made me think about what the Bolgers' life looks like in the future, and that took me down the side trail of how JRRT described Bilbo at the end of The Hobbit. Good food for thought, thank you for being the catalyst! In stories set later on the timeline, Hally and his older brother Gundy (named for their father) and a couple younger brothers live comfortably. I might even call them well-off, though I'm not quite sure about well-to-do, which I think might be a notch higher on the scale? For there are no gold – or even brass – buttons on their waistcoats. (On second thought, I doubt they have waistcoats... but if they did wear such a thing, the buttons would be beautifully carved works of art that someone of the gentry class would probably pay a pretty penny for, a notch above brass and maybe even up there with gold, when I think more deeply on the matter.) I think the key is that they are unpretentious; they were happy with their lot before, so a sudden windfall doesn't turn their heads. They will likely get the occasional commission from the gentry at a higher rate, but the bulk of their efforts will probably remain the same as they're used to pursuing: practical household items that are beautifully made "just because". (They live in harmony with the surrounding Wood and have an affinity for wood in general; when they carve, it's like they see the finished shape living inside the piece of wood, and so by carving they are simply setting free that particular facet of beauty and grace. A woodcarver once described their creations to me in those terms, and the image they painted with their words has stuck with me for decades.) And it's all your fault, and others like you Guilty as charged! (Or did I mean to say, "Kindred spirit!"? Or was it, actually, "Glad to be of service!"?) (Can there be such a thing as too many stories?) Author Reply: p.s. I might have given the impression that the four brothers are all woodcarvers, but that's not accurate. Hally is the woodcarver, meaning one who can bring out the fine details in an intricate piece of carving. His father was a woodcutter who was skilled at choosing trees to cut down, and he was able to do "rough shaping". In terms of eyesight, he could see the outline of the shape hidden inside the layers of wood, and so he could cut away the outer layers, thus streamlining the process by giving Hally quicker access. Hally didn't have to take time carving away the outer layers but could go right to work on the details he could see in the wood (as opposed to his father seeing a rough outline). Hally's brothers work with wood in different ways; Gundy is a woodcutter. He brings down trees and practices practical forestry management (i.e. he is careful and because of his close connection to the earth, as JRRT described hobbits in general, his practices are aimed to protect and promote the health of the Woody End where he lives and works). The two younger brothers are furniture-makers. I hope I'm not boring you! I'm in a contemplative mood today, so I'm probably rambling. (Who am I kidding? I am rambling. Time to seek out some protein, I guess. Who needs drugs when low blood sugar can induce an altered state of consciousness?) Anyhow, thanks for listening. I appreciate hearing your thoughts. (I can never seem to get enough of pondering the various aspects of JRRT's sandbox.) | |
| Lady Forlong | Reviewed Chapter: 20 on 5/22/2025 |
| Whoa! How cruel can you get, Lalia!?! I've come to expect it from Pearl, but -- Way to go, Ferumbras! Mama's boy finally grew a backbone and stood up to his mother! (clap clap clap) Author Reply: Lalia can get awfully cruel and spiteful, I'm sorry to say, even as she covers it with a proper manner and benevolent smile. Unfortunately, I've known a few people like her IRL. (Not many, thankfully, and not with the kind of power she has, double-thankfully.) Ah, Ferumbras. He has his moments. Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying the story. | |
| Lady Forlong | Reviewed Chapter: 19 on 5/22/2025 |
| "Watch out for young Rosemary." "Rest assured that I will." LOL If he only knew... What a wild hare-brained scheme! Author Reply: LOL! The trick is to keep the main parties completely above suspicion without throwing suspicion on any innocent parties! That can be especially challenging when trying to confound the plans of a spiteful, suspicious person... It helps that Bittersweet knows her Tooks well enough to predict certain behavior patterns and include them in the plan. Gundy and Hally are amateurs by comparison, but they seem to catch on fast. :) Thanks for reading and pausing long enough to share your thoughts! I appreciate it. | |
| Lady Forlong | Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 5/22/2025 |
| Bittersweet is a good name for a healer in more ways than one. I googled it and found out it’s also a flowering vine with medicinal properties, so it’s a good name for a hobbit “lass” too. And speaking of plucky hobbits -- She and Ferdi qualify as well. BTW, Pearl seems pretty "three dimensional" to me. They all do. Even Lalia, believe it or not. Don't let the critics get you down. Author Reply: Thanks for your encouragement! I actually put a fair bit of thought into presenting well-rounded, multi-faceted characters because they feel more real to me that way. A lot of the healers in my story are named after medicinal plants, as things have turned out (even though it doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense, for how would their parents know they were going to grow up to be healers?). Early on, it was a way of keeping track of who was who when a story had a lot of OCs to cope with. Thanks so much for reading and taking the time to share your thoughts! | |
| Lady Forlong | Reviewed Chapter: 16 on 5/21/2025 |
| Wow! Segments on the worm and holes in the buttons?!? Major attention to detail. I was afraid Lalia was going to find fault so she could get out of the contract, but I guess she's not all bad. And didn't anyone realize that Ferdi was going to freak out when they lit the Yule log? I hope that doesn't send him back into his catatonic state. Guess I'll find out in the next chapter... That being said, hobbits really know how to party :) Author Reply: JRRT certainly set the tone with Bilbo's birthday party! Hobbits and parties seem to go together quite naturally. (And parties can be so much fun to imagine and write about!) Lalia has some good points, which makes her a more interesting character in my view. The Tooks were rather short-sighted about the possibility of Ferdi freaking out when the Yule log was lit; however, it's quite possible they thought his earlier distress at the remembrance ceremony had to do with the stream rather than the candle. Tooks as I write them are quite wary of rivers and streams. Thanks so much for reading and sharing your thoughts! | |
| Lady Forlong | Reviewed Chapter: 15 on 5/21/2025 |
| So that's why Lalia was being so nice. I knew she was up to something... Author Reply: Mistress Lalia is a piece of work. JRRT's description of her did not strike me as complimentary... Thanks for reading and pausing to share your thoughts! You've made my day. | |
| Lady Forlong | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 5/21/2025 |
| Gotta admire Pearl, plucky little hobbit that she is. Author Reply: I'm glad to hear you say so! That's how I see her; she reflects the time and society and customs, yet she can think for herself, and she has a strong will and a firm moral compass. Very long ago, when this story was nominated for an award, several reviewers called her "flat", which I found confusing. I might describe her as "constrained", maybe, by her youth and circumstances and maybe even birth order. It really bothered me to hear people categorize her as two-dimensional, lacking complexity and not evolving during the story (at least one definition of "flat")! I'm quite fond of Pearl, actually. Anyhow, thanks for listening; I promise to stop grumbling now! | |
| Lady Forlong | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 5/21/2025 |
| Gotta love little Pippin :) Author Reply: Little kids can be so much fun to write (as well as interact with in real life)! They also keep you on your toes, I've found... Thanks for reading and pausing to share your thoughts! | |