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Sunsets  by Lindelea 4 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.

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.

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.

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