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On Solid Ground  by Lindelea 5 Review(s)
Grey WondererReviewed Chapter: 13 on 2/19/2004
I thought they had it made! Boy was I wrong! Hope they get Faramir out and then find their way out. I am still enjoying this one.

HaiReviewed Chapter: 13 on 2/18/2004
Let's see so the Thain's wife and daughters are okay, the whole picnic party made it back and the Gamgee crew are at the Smials. I love the way the hobbits all pull together when there's trouble! All the way from Hobbiton and some coming from Buckland! I'm glad that Ferdi found the boys! Atleast they are all together, even though some are now buried in more rubble! Can't wait to read more and find out what happens next!

ConnieReviewed Chapter: 13 on 2/18/2004
Oh, just when it looked like the boys might get out in one piece... Poor Farry may have inherited his father's bad luck. The worst things always seem to happen to Pippin, and now his son is keeping up the family tradition.

Ferdi is a good one to have around in a situation like this. The one sense that everybody else is missing most he doesn't even need. If I were in that situation, I can't think of anyone I'd rather be stuck with than a blind person in familiar surroundings, even if things are tumbled about.

I find myself wanting to start singing "There's got to be a morning after". I grew up on disaster movies, too.

Connie.

Author Reply: The funny thing is that the minute you mentioned the song I could hear, who was it? Maureen McGovern? singing it in my head...

Yes, this story has been in the planning ever since "Where the Merlin Cries". Ferdi was actually supposed to die of his injuries in that story, and another hobbit blinded, who would end up leading other survivors out of the pitch-dark aftermath of the earthquake in this story, but I was so depressed at the thought of Ferdi dying that Dana helped me talk myself into saving him instead...

As to Ferdi following in Pippin's footsteps... it is a running joke in my "canon" that the luck of the Tooks is legendary in the Shire, for what reason, I don't know... but they're so bold (for hobbits), being Fallohides and all, that it's a wonder the Old Took made it to 130. They really must have *some* kind of luck! In that vein, in one of my stories, I have Pip recount an old Shire proverb: "If hobbits were trees and a wind blew down the forest, the last tree to be standing would be a Took", and Bergil answers, "Yes, but you would not be that tree..."

unaReviewed Chapter: 13 on 2/18/2004
hey,great story, but at this point i think it would be helpful if you posted a list or something of Peregrin's family. He's got so many sets of twins thats its getting confusing. thanks!

~Una

Author Reply: Good point! I have been working on a "Cast of Characters" because this story is so *huge* but hadn't got it into the computer yet, it's just down on paper. Will be posting it as an appendix soon.

Thanks for reviewing!

FantasyFanReviewed Chapter: 13 on 2/18/2004
I'm relieved that Farry and the other boys have been found at last. It's good that Ferdi is with them - he's much less likely to lose his head in the dark, and even though Farry is old enough to marry, he hasn't the breadth of experience to deal with a situation like this, especially with all his brothers to worry about. I'm sad for Telebold. We've just met him, in the other story, and now he's gone. I wonder, is the aftershock in this chapter the same one that the others have already experienced, that nearly got Ruby, or is it yet another? It seems that they were close to finding a way out, following Ferdi's nose, when the rumbles hit. So close, yet not out of danger. I hope that Farry is not badly injured in the fall, and that they can reach him soon.

By the way, how long do you estimate that this story will be, from your outline?

Author Reply: Such a treat to come home to one of your thoughtfully-written reviews!

Telebold appears in one of the early-Thain stories as well, I think, either "Striking Sparks" or "FireStorm" if I'm remembering correctly. He's Mardi's son, Rosa's brother, Tolly's nephew (and Hilly's, though Hilly hasn't appeared in this story by name as of yet). Does that place him for you?

This aftershock is the same one that happened when Pippin was still in his study (the healer, Siggy, threw himself on top of the Thain), and that closed up the pit which they'd just pulled Forget-me-not out of.

My editor and I are in the midst of discussing whether she ought to re-order the bits of story to put them in chronological order, or if we should maintain the level of tension achieved by not addressing Faramir until now... She likes the dramatic tension but we both worry that it might be too confusing for the reader. What do you think?

The story appears to run about 20 chapters, from the outline. I couldn't tell before, but now that I see how many chapters have resulted from the first part of the timeline I can make a rough estimate. Not much left to go, really... though it might surprise me and end up "long" in the writing.

Thanks for reviewing!

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