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Sons of Fellowship  by Conquistadora 7 Review(s)
mystarlightReviewed Chapter: 20 on 12/17/2019
This chapter made me cry.

Reviewed Chapter: 20 on 3/29/2004
I absolutly love this story!!! It is now saved in my favorites so I can check it regularly. Please update more. (I don't usually post responces so please know it's high praise that i am.)

Thanks for such a wonderful tale.

Author Reply:
I appreciate it. :)

FirnsarnienReviewed Chapter: 20 on 3/26/2004
Oh my gawd! I just finished reading this story, (took me two days btw...) and I've got to say...I loved it! Your style of writing is incredible! I felt as if I were actually reading something Tolkien himself wrote! Your use of the old language is impecible, not one word in these 21 chapters did I find to throw me out of the story! This is absolutely incredible!

You've also managed to throw in some wonderful angst for Legolas without being mushy nor redundant. His turmoil is very plausible and the plot of this story is truly believable. I can actually imagine these events happening after the war of the ring, everything in this story has a very real grain of truth in it.

I think the most incredible chapter you've written, the chapter that captures the sadness and stark reality of war is this last chapter, chapter 21. Seeing Legolas come home to a burnt out Mirkwood and to a memorial with the names of all his friends engraved upon it was just so poweful. The imagery you conveyed in this chapter is incredible. I know I keep saying that, but truly, I can't think of a better word to describe the feelings you evoke with you beautiful words. I am deeply impressed!

I'm really hoping that chapter twenty-one was not the last chapter though. The story is not finished! There is still so much I'd like to see, the reunion between Legolas and his father, Thranduil's reaction to Gimli, the condition of the woods directly surrounding the palace, Legolas' reaction to finally coming home, and so many other little things. Please tell me there is more!

In the meantime, I'll keep my fingers crossed that indeed, you've plans to write the remainder of this story. :) Again, I love this story! It's overwhelmingly awesome! :)

Namarie from a fan,
net

Author Reply:
Set your mind at rest! There are well over 30 chapters planned at this point. :)

Wow, what a glowing review. :D If I had the time I'd reply in equal length, but believe me, it's appreciated. Especially the "grain of truth" bit. ^_^
Chapter 21 was actually something of a drag for me, but I'm glad it was worth it!

Just sit tight, and we'll get going again sometime soon. :)

LamielReviewed Chapter: 20 on 3/25/2004
The tone of this chapter is interesting: it seems to swing from deep melancholy to a gentle humor, from the beautifully stylized prose that characterizes so much of this story to a simple direct statement. Gimli's thought, "Mahal, that was a big dog," made me smile simply because it was so different in style from much of the story. I think that you're working on portraying more of Gimli's nature, and it shows in the writing. To my mind it's a sign of a very skilled and sensitive author.

As you say, it's impossible for many of us to grasp what it must mean to lose one's home so utterly, as Legolas sees Mirkwood here, as the Hobbits saw the Shire. But you portray the grief and confusion well, though you shy from probing Legolas' thoughts too deeply. I think it's a nice balance -- after all, both Legolas and Gimli have lived through the full terror of War, and seen Mordor. They are seasoned warriors, and though the hurt runs very deep, Legolas isn't going to just sit and grieve over it. Ultimately he's an Elf of action (hee!) and he'll try to find a way to heal the wood as best as possible. For that reason his guilt at having left Greenwood is beautifully poignant, and he must be torn by the choice: stay to restore Eryn Lasgalen, as his father and people will surely want him to do, or take the Elves to Ithilien.

Oh, and some of those names on the memorial were familiar. Annael, Brethil... might this be a tribute to some of our favorite Greenwood authors? Though I do hope that this Annael isn't the same one as in Daw's stories. I just couldn't bear it.

Beautifully done, and I look forward to more.

Lamiel

P.S. I do like the image of Thranduil keeping wolves as pets. Wow.

Author Reply:
Study the flow of mood here, and I guess you have studied my mind. :)

We used to live next to two huge fields just beyond the treeline in the backyard. No one really grew anything there, but they were both full of weeds and more cute little mountain cedars than you could shake a stick at.
I vividly remember topping the bluff one day astride Chili Muchacho and seeing that couple of tractors had razed the entire place to the ground.
Not quite the same thing as a forest fire, but I took that ground-level experience and upped it a few notches.

No, actually, I just used whatever legit names I had at my disposal. So I don't doubt that Daw's Annael is quite safe. Surely it's not inconceivable that a name could be repeated at least once, even among Elves. :)

Thranduil loves his industrial-strength doggies. ^_~

mistry89Reviewed Chapter: 20 on 3/25/2004
"you were not here"
.
.
"he remembered the guttural hiss and growl, turned to him when even Mithrandir slept, mocking his refusal with bitter laughter, no less vivid though it was unmade."

Ah Legolas, and this is what he has carried with him (and what a horrid, chilling, piece of writing - it feels awful to read, and must have felt worse to write .. if that makes any sense at all).

Thank you for the chance to meet Radagast properly, despite the circumstances. He isn't exactly soothing anyone's fears about Thranduil's reaction to Gimli, however!


This piece strikes me as particularly interesting:
"Radagast had confirmed his suspicions with time, for he was habitually more affable than Mithrandir, and answered inquiries with less cunning. Thranduil
appreciated Mithrandir's underlying severity and had never dared press him beyond the limits of subordinate prudence. One Alfa-wolf will recognize another.
As for Curunir, or rather Saruman, Thranduil had met him seldom and loved him even less. At least Radagast did not smoke, and for that he was more
welcome in their halls."

.. partially because it fits in with my own view of Gandalf and Thranduil and how well badly they would deal together! Radagast is also must more closely involved with creatures and the living land, whilst Mithrandir has an interest in Men and and overwhelming fondness for Hobbits (and pipeweed!), and Saruman always preferred more esoteric matters.

And this is too much:
"Not a leaf falls without His knowledge, and do not think He does not know what has befallen the greenwood."
I don't think of myself as a cryer, but ....
.
.
"In time it shall return to dust and be forgotten, even as they. When we have gone, these names will mean nothing to anyone."

I'm really glad this chapter is nearly over, it's heartbreaking and thank goodness for:
"Legolas sat up with the wolfhound, stroking the velvet ears, seeming to find ineffable comfort simply in that one piece of home."

Finally,
"Gimli wondered if he would not be put to more trouble to win the same forbearance from his own kin."
Yeah, me too, but I had no idea you were going to put us (me!) through this first. It's fabulous and desperately moving and I'm sorry I quoted so much, but ...
Thanks for sharing this, even if I need cheering up now ... I'm off to find a silly/fluffy story, preferably one with no rotten orcs!

Author Reply:
Hope you've cheered up by now. :) After this it gets lighter for a while, I promise.

calenoreReviewed Chapter: 20 on 3/24/2004
This was very touching and eloquent. It was very easy to imagine Legolas' despair, particularly when he found the memorial listing the names of his fallen comrades.
Oh, btw, I like the titles you've chosen for 20 and 21... quite fitting and appropriate, since you incorporate the talk about Iluvatar.

Author Reply:
Thanks. It *is* Lent, you know. ;)
I've been thinking a lot on those lines lately.

JocelynReviewed Chapter: 20 on 3/24/2004
Ooooh! (Whiiine!) That's not FAIR! Wanna see how the ELVES react! (Jumps up and down and stamps feet) You are driving me crazy!

I myself have speculated how it would be for our poor elf returning home to find the ruin that the fire undoubtedly made of his father's realm. It must be shattering for Legolas. And I love how Gimli grows more and more tense the closer they get to home.

Thranduil keeping dogs? Hmm. Not an image I'd had of him, but it seems to fit somehow. Please please pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease update soon!

Author Reply:
Just hold your horses for a while! We're getting there. :)

As for Thranduil and his dogs, there is one brief reference to be found in The Hobbit:

". . . they became aware of a dim blowing of horns in the wood and the sound of dogs baying far off. Then they all fell silent; and as they sat it seemed they could hear the noise of a great hunt going by to the north of the path, though they saw no sign of it."

More domestically, they are based on what my sister would like in a dog, but I think those huge things must cost at least $800.

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