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A Took by Any Other Name  by Lindelea 9 Review(s)
trishetteReviewed Chapter: 1 on 2/17/2005
Oh! Poor Pippin.. I hope he's not the character death! I suppose I ought to.. traverse off to the next chapter and find out.

Author Reply: Well, it was nice to hear from you! I'm afraid I haven't quite posted to that point, but I wanted to warn people ahead of time in case they avoid such stories.

Hoping to post another chapter on the weekend (two, if I get my way but at the moment one is more realistic to hope for).

Thanks!

DreamflowerReviewed Chapter: 1 on 2/4/2005
Oh boy, two more chapters! And just enough time for them before I go to work! I love this conversation between Diamond and Esmeralda. Pippin's aunt knows him so well, and she's so concerned about the estrangement between her brother and his son. I love Diamond's tart and no-nonsense attitude about it. And I love the healer's discomfort at being privy to such personal discussion.
This is going to be so hard for Pippin to come back from. Orcs. One of his worst nightmares, in the Shire.

Author Reply: Goodness, I missed answering this review!

I love hearing you hit the highlights.

You're right. I cannot imagine Orcs in the Shire (except, perhaps, in the time of Bandobras). It was all I could do to imagine them in the Old Forest!

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 1 on 2/3/2005
I see I have some catching up to do in some of your other stories. You are about the most prolific writer on the site I'm aware of, I must say!

Author Reply: Goodness! Is prolific a good thing, or a bad thing?

Grey WondererReviewed Chapter: 1 on 2/3/2005
I have no idea how my review managed to go away when I posted it a minute ago, but I am stubborn enough to try again. You can delete the empties. LOL I enjoyed the way the healer was embarrassed by Diamond and Esmeralda's frank conversation. I also loved how Diamond could see some of Pippin and his father in Esmeralda. Lovely chapter. Glad therre was more posted of this so soon. After my reading session last night I was quite in the mood for more of this.

Author Reply: Deleted empty review. It showed your email address, and I don't know if you're sensitive about such things. Am very glad you're stubborn enough to try again!

Thanks for hitting the high points. Am trying to wrestle the next chapter to the ground even now. If I win, I'll post it tonight.

Pearl TookReviewed Chapter: 1 on 2/3/2005
Very intriquing so far. Abattered and abused Pippin, a pregnant Diamond and a concerned everyone else. I'm really looking forward to reading more :) VWD!!!

Author Reply: Thank you, Pearl. I really feel awful, revisiting this event. The Pippin-angst is so thick you could stand a spoon up in it.

Hai TookReviewed Chapter: 1 on 2/3/2005
Your story "Seeing the Forest for the Trees" always intrigued me, I was fascinated by the idea of Orcs being in the Shire and the hobbits having to deal with them. I had never thought of the set backs it might have for Pippin. The physical seemingly being the least. I'm glad you have rather taken it up again, through another story! I'm looking forward to more, thank you!

Author Reply: Thank you! I never thought I'd revisit this time, until I started wondering just how Faramir Took got his name...

FantasyFanReviewed Chapter: 1 on 2/3/2005
I'm always so excited when you begin a new story. Whether it's in a familiar setting and time, like this is, or branching out somewhere new, I always have a sense of anticipation for thrills and heartache and excitement and good old-fashioned hobbitness. I forget to say sometimes how much I feel enriched by your imagination and wit. Thanks for continuing to put these gifts out there for us to squeal over.

This is really a tough time for Pippin, isn't it? He's not too sure of anything right now, except the love of his wife and his cousin. I can imagine that getting over another orc abduction and torture is going to be difficult. I hope Farry's impending arrival helps distract and heal him.

I think you have an error in this chapter as posted. The two lines, "Through it all, Pippin continued to sleep, but the healer did not seem concerned by that fact. Esmeralda laid Diamond’s plate aside and returned to the bedside." are repeated in the thirteenth and fourteenth paragraphs. (Unless Diamond is really hungry enough for two plates.)

Looking forward to the next chapter!


Author Reply: Thanks for the catch. That was supposed to be a cut-and-paste to move the text to a more appropriate place, and it ended up a copy-and-paste, I think.

I certainly appreciate your encouragement. Sometimes RL gets busy, people don't have time to review and I feel as if I'm talking to myself (which I do, but at least I don't answer myself... yet). And my RL has gotten busy too. But so long as people are reading I will keep carving out from RL writing projects some time each day for writing LOTR stories, and posting a chapter as I finish it. (And hopefully enjoying the "outside" perspectives that the reader brings to the story.)

Yes, this is a tough time for Pippin. At a time when the present is full of promise for the future, building upon the past, he's cut off from his roots, after being brought up as a loyal Took. I sure wish Frodo were around for him to talk to... He could use an older and wiser cousin, and there are things he doesn't want to talk to Merry about. Frodo would be a little more detached, and he hasn't had some of the shared experiences that Merry and Pippin have had.

Still, even without Frodo, you'll have some of your wishes: strong womenfolk having their hour to shine. Or so the outline promises. Haven't quite finished the draft yet, though a few of the chapters are written (first, last, and some of the middle).

And it takes my mind off "Thain" which is not going at all, at the moment. We are discussing just how much of the next sheaf of pages is "background" and how much is "story". The scene takes up right after the Thain's bombshell, but it is possible all that will get cut and we'll start off with the ride home (for Pearl, and the Brandybucks, and the Thain, and...). Dunno. Am of two minds.

Thanks!

Mysterious JediReviewed Chapter: 1 on 2/3/2005
It will be interesting to see how this leads up to the naming of Faramir.

Author Reply: I always had the nagging suspicion that there was some extra significance to the name, and so now I'm going out on a limb and writing about it.

Thanks!

Connie B.Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 2/3/2005
I don't know what it is, but I realy like this story.

So, is Pippin's problem more mental and emotional, or is it more physical? Enguiring minds want to know.

Thanks for the quick update.

Connie B.

Author Reply: It's sort of fun, returning to the timeframe of "Jewels". Haven't written a "young steward" story in just ages. This sort of spun off the latest Ferdi story ("While There's Breath") though the connexion might be too subtle to notice, really... But this story just sort of grew during the latter part of that story as I was throwing ideas at my editor friend, pondering Pippin and Ferdi's relationship over the years. I realised that I have always shown the relationship from Ferdi's perspective! So it'll be a bit of a treat to go the other way...

Pippin's problem will hopefully become clearer as we progress.

Thanks!

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