News Resources
Login
Become a member
Help
Search
|
|
| About Us News Resources
Login
Become a member
Help
Search
|
|
|
| A Creature of Fire by daw the minstrel | 321 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| LiljeConvallaria | Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 12/26/2018 |
| ...of course I could not visit my favorite LOTR author without reading my favorite story. (Why yes I DO love torturing myself) Trying very much nOT TO CRY because I would have a hard time explaining to my father why his grown up adult daughter is crying!! If there was a sad movie on I could pretend I was crying because if that....buuuut I don’t think watching blitz chess would cause these kinds of tears. 🙄 Author Reply: Thanks, Lilje. Nothing like a good cry to make you feel better! | |
| Asms2 | Reviewed Chapter: 11 on 5/12/2016 |
| Holy cow, this story is an emotional ride! I tend to prefer to read about family and friendship bonds over romance, but I was quite pulled in by the angst in this! Legolas was really hurting, and I felt for him. When he watched his brothers take happiness in their wives and felt the loneliness and despair…my heart just melted. Was Thranduil out looking for Legolas when he found him and Beliond in the woods? Or was that just a chance happening? I think that Legolas was probably a little hyper-emotional before he even saw Tuillinn in this story. He seemed to be having some effects from the Shadow and also feeling a bit lonely. Then Tuillinn walks into the camp and he instantly latches onto the hope that they could bond. That relationship progressed fast. They had only ever seen each other once before, and not spoken in 10 years. (I liked how Eilian was like "But I've never even heard him mention her before"). They must have had a good connection though, because Tuilinn seemed to be into Legolas too. Anyways, it was quite hart-breaking to see Legolas so down. But I actually really enjoyed reading it. His family, fellow warriors, and Beliond all rallied around him to help. And they were so sweet in their comfort and efforts. Great writing! :) Author Reply: Thank you! I hesitated to do this story because I'm not a natural romance writer either, and Legomances have a bad rep. Also I decided to try to do the story all from Legolas's POV, which was hard. I had to resort to him overhearing stuff and getting letters. And Legolas is so stunned during the later part of this story, that it was difficult to show what everyone else was doing too. But in the long run, I think that single POV gave the story an emotional punch it wouldn't have had otherwise. Thranduil was indeed out looking for his baby. Eilian went home and sang like a bird about what Legolas was going through, and that was after he and Beliond conspired to let Legolas take Tuilinn's body to her parents but then make sure he went back to the stronghold rather than his patrol. So Thranduil had a pretty good idea where to watch for his son. You're absolutely right that the scenes with his brothers and their wives were meant to set Legolas up for falling in love. I wasn't sure about the love at first (or nearly first) sight, but Tolkien says some things that seem to suggest that elves recognize one another as the person they're meant to love. I don't know. My beta wrote a story as a present to me in which Thranduil meets Legolas's mother and falls in love at first sight, so I ran with the idea. :-) | |
| LiljeConvallaria | Reviewed Chapter: 11 on 11/9/2015 |
| Congratulations on getting your own story published! That is so amazing! :-) You have a way with words I always liked, and of all LOTR stories I used to read, yours are the ones that made the biggest impression. Whenever I see people complaining about OC in fanfiction, saying they don't read stories with OC's in it, I think of your stories. Years after I first read them, I still think of the family you created for Legolas as "real" It's impossible to say which of the stories that's my favorite, it depends on my mood. But this one. This one is the one I would read if I needed a good cry. I want to thank you for all the wonderful stories you've written. I hope your Muse is always inspired, both for your original work and your fanwork. Hugs for you. :-) Author Reply: Lilje-- I've been dragging around today, sick with a migraine, and I think your review may have cured me. :-) At least it made me feel better. Thank you for the congrats and your kind words. This story was a departure for me because it's all from Legolas's POV, and I missed being able to move from one character to another. And Legolas was out of it for a large part of the story, so I had to try to convey what was going on around him even when he was fully conscious of it. Also, Legomances have a bad rep in the fandom, so I was treading on tricky ground. But it turned out that single POV gave the story emotional power I wasn't expecting. So I learned a lot. Anyway, I appreciate this review. daw | |
| NotACat | Reviewed Chapter: 11 on 4/10/2015 |
| I'm going to have to read this again once I find out who's been chopping onions… Author Reply: Is it wrong that I'm glad I made you cry? I really hesitated to write this story because Legomances have such a bad reputation in the fandom. And then I decided to do it all from Legolas's point of view rather than multiple pov's like I usually use, which made for challenges in some places because he's so out of it, but I still wanted to show what other people were doing. But in the long run, I learned a lot writing it. And I made readers cry. So there you go. daw | |
| Winterwitch | Reviewed Chapter: 11 on 2/10/2014 |
| Here by the recent rec of this story in the Faerie archive shoutbox discussion. I really enjoyed this compelling and intense read, and the world of the woodland elves you created. The story was very sad, of course, and I cried quite a lot for poor Legolas - how bitter for him to find out after so many years that Tuilinn loves him after all, just to loose her in this way. It was really heartbreaking. Apart from your amazing characterisations and your well-developed original characters (I'm really interested in the relationship between Legolas and Galeas now and hope I'll find more about them in your other stories) I most loved all the "practical" detail you brought into your story. The way the patrols are organised and how they all work together, the camp life, the differences between the patrol stations and the dynamics between the characters down the smallest details. Author Reply: Those folks over at Faerie were very kind about this story. I was thrilled people still enjoyed it. This story was a departure for me because it's entirely from Legolas's POV when I usually jump around from character to character. It was pretty challenging sometimes to convey what other people were doing or thinking because Legolas was so out of it. But then, it was fun to try that too. Also, this was my one stab at a Legomance, a genre which has a pretty bad reputation in fandom. My OCs got out of control after a while. I found them easier to write than Legolas, actually. I think I feel some need to be careful with canon characters, but Legolas's brothers? I could have a lot of fun making up stuff for them. Anyway, I appreciate both that you took the time to read this story and then to tell me you enjoyed it. You made my day. | |
| curiouswombat | Reviewed Chapter: 11 on 8/1/2008 |
| I have been working my way through your whole series of Legolas stories for the past week. I would have reviewed before, but had forgotten my password! But when I reached the end of this one I had to take time to get soted out so that I could log in and comment. The whole series are so well written that I have been totally drawn into them - and this story has, literally, reduced me to tears - I still have a big lump in my throat. Poor, poor Legolas. Author Reply: Thank you, curiouswombat. You're making me feel very, very good. This story was tricky to write for various reasons. For one, I used only Legolas's point of view, rather than the multiple POVs I usually use. Also, Legomances are notoriously badly received, so I was treading tricky ground. But mostly, I depressed the heck out of myself writing it! LOL | |
| Annariel | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 9/3/2007 |
| Bless you Thranduil and Beliond!!!!!! Author Reply: Yeah, Beliond knew Legolas needed to go home so that's where he was going whether Legolas liked it or not. And Thranduil, as always, came looking for his lost baby. | |
| Annariel | Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 9/3/2007 |
| OMG you are evil!! Poor Legolas, my beloved prince!!! *cries disconsolately* Marvelous your description of the Dale's devastation greetings Mirkwood Minstrel Author Reply: I'd never seen a fanfic that described the destruction of Dale so this was interesting to write. I pictured it as being like a firebombing, a really terrifying event. And when I read Tolkien's descriptions of it, you can see how awful it must have been. Legolas was just devastated. Poor guy. | |
| sofia | Reviewed Chapter: 11 on 11/18/2006 |
| Just finished rereading this story. I have to say it was even more sorrowful reading how Legolas was so happy to see Tuilinn and how he was looking forward to bond with her. Knowing it would not end well was sad. Still one of my favorite pieces. I have one question though, Legolas tells Tuilinn's parents that he would visit them sometime and I am wondering if you will ever write a story in which Legolas does visit them? Author Reply: This story tore me up to write. Being stuck inside Legolas's grieving head depressed me no end. But what a good idea for a story! | |
| LOTRFaith | Reviewed Chapter: 11 on 8/9/2006 |
| Hello Daw... Long time no see ay? :-) Anyway... I just wanted to let you know again... :-) How much I love this story... I'm sitting here my nose running and my eyes blurring because of the tears still clogging my vision. Anyway... Just wanted to let you know that your story still makes me cry a river Author Reply: Is it wrong that I'm glad I made you cry? LOL. One of the things that took me by surprise in writing this story was the power that comes from using the POV of a single character who's in a highly charged situation. I made me stay in Legolas's emotions which probably makes the reader do that too. Thanks for telling me, Faith. | |