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Sunsets  by Lindelea 8 Review(s)
LarnerReviewed Chapter: Author's Notes on 12/28/2007
I'd not seen the alternative ending before. At least they died together, and were properly greeted there.

Nienor NinielReviewed Chapter: 3 on 10/4/2006
I've read this one and "Fading of the Years" earlier today... they are both so sad and sweet. I agree that those two probably couldn't have been without the other, and I like the idea of the Feast very much - what else could Hobbit afterlife be?

But I have to say that I like the last chapter of "Jewels" even more, because none of them has to stay behind, and also because of the lighthearted manner in which they go after a last adventure.

Take care, Nienor

Author Reply: Ah, Nienor, here is another review that I don't remember reading before today... at least it is less than a year in between your writing it and my reply!

Y'know, JRRT didn't say anything about the Hobbit afterlife, but it certainly seemed to me that a Feast would be a fitting reward.

I think I prefer Jewels as well, and in part because Pippin doesn't spend a lonely year after losing his Merry. And Merry doesn't have to wait a whole bitter day, after losing Pippin... no, they sort of go together. Marigold told me once that she read somewhere that they died within a day of each other. (That's how Fading got written--it was the spark that inspired the story.) I suppose Jewels could fit that, even if you had to stretch it a bit.

Thanks!

Elf FriendReviewed Chapter: Author's Notes on 2/9/2005
Whoa...

Lyta PadfootReviewed Chapter: Author's Notes on 12/6/2003
I'm not certain which ending I prefer - "Sunsets" or "Jewels". "Sunsets" has Strider able to be there for his friend, "Jewels" has Merry and hints of a reunion between the hobbits and their wives.

Author Reply: I think "Jewels" edges out "Sunsets" for me, if only because Merry and Pippin are together, as always, and the promise of reunion is comforting. I do feel sorry for Strider, however, when I imagine him finally finding them later. It would have been hard for him in any event, to lose them whether while sitting by a bedside or when he was away.

Lyta PadfootReviewed Chapter: 3 on 12/6/2003
Beautiful. Pippin and Merry are together once more.

FantasyFanReviewed Chapter: Author's Notes on 12/6/2003
When I read this long ago, I never realized the significance of the phrase "may all your dreams be of peace." Yes, I recognized that Pip was gone, but not that this was a traditional way of saying goodbye. Did you plan that from the beginning and re-use it in "A Small and Passing Thing" or did it become a traditional phrase because you re-used it? Pip's last conversations with Aragorn are sweet, in the earlier chapters, but I think I like the second scenario better, because it does seeem right for them to end together, when they had been so close all their lives. The other think I like is that it is impossible to be sure, from the first paragraphs, exactly who is speaking which lines, and so you can't know who fell and broke whatever they broke, and who decided to stay (not that there was any other real option). Even with Jewel's and Sock's names in there, it could go either way - but secretly I think it was Pippin who fell. I expect you know for sure.

Author Reply: O yes, the phrase was planned and deliberately used earlier in "Jewels", when Thom and Ruby died, and again when Saradoc died. I have since used it in other stories, such as Paladin's death in "Flames", before writing "A Small and Passing Thing".

I like the scenario of them passing together, myself.

You're right, I do know for sure... but you are an awfully shrewd guesser.

Lyta PadfootReviewed Chapter: 2 on 12/4/2003
Pippin and the boy are so sweet. MORE!!!!

Lyta PadfootReviewed Chapter: 1 on 12/2/2003
Beautiful. Pippin maintains his sense of humor right to the end. But what of Merry?

Author Reply: Thank you for the review! Your question will be answered in chapter 3, I think, which is due to be posted on Friday (am posting every other day so that chapters go up at the same time at ff.net and SoA.)

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