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| Western Dawn by Thundera Tiger | 16 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| Tay'dariel | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 7/31/2005 |
| you make me sad, and you made my heart ache. I earon yello enya van naa Valinor wo i Eldar ar cundo Legolas,nya melme rel. Nya maruwan na wo i Eldar en Valinor. Eldalie, tua amin nna Elvenesse. Author Reply: Well, I have to admit that I'm blad I could touch you enough to make you sad, though I do apologize if you wanted to be happy instead! ;) | |
| Estel_Mi_Olor | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 7/29/2005 |
| That was quite stirring. I especially loved how you never referred to Legolas by name. It lends more depth to his suffering, I believe. You illustrated the paradox between the east and west beautifully, especially the promise and sorrow that each holds. My favorite line: "With a whispered a word of thanks for the friends that have caused both his greatest joy and his greatest sorrow..." One doesn't usually associate friends with sorrow-and this makes Legolas's suffering all the more poignant. In short, a beautiful vignette. As always, though, I eagerly await updates on your longer work. Thanks and keep writing! Author Reply: Many thanks! I probably had too much fun playing with contrasts in the vignette (with east and west being the most obvious) but I think it worked out in the end. As for not referring to Legolas by name, that was a decision made very early in the writing as I felt it seemed more...personal. Like we didn't need to know his name because we should have known it already. Once you tack on the title "elf" or "Legolas," he becomes a character rather than an experience, which is what I was more or less trying to convey. I'm glad you liked it. I wasn't sure about it myself. | |
| perelleth | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 7/22/2005 |
| hat a wonderful rendition of a summer dawn! I can almost picture it! I liked the fact that morning would come to ithilien from the west, and its tricky meaning to a sea longing wounded elf! But LEgolas is a wise one, and his decision to take each day as it comes is very elfy indeed! Wonderful. May I take advantage of this little vignette to inquire about how Elfhelm is doing in that trap you led him into, and what's going on with Eomer's memory? ;-) Author Reply: I'm very glad you liked the dawn. It's an idea that's been niggling at me for a while, actually, but it took a while for me to put it into words. I'm glad you thought it turned out all right. As for Elfhelm and Eomer, they're hanging tight. Eomer is lost in a blissful state of unconsciousness while Elfhelm is brushing up on his charms. They both agree that Eomer has the better part of the deal, but Elfhelm is never one to shy away from a challenge. We'll get to them soon, I promise! | |
| Rose Sared | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 7/21/2005 |
| Yes, I really liked the picture of the shadowed mountains against the lightening sky. What a wonderful paradox Tolkein's elves are, bound to Middle-earth but called to the West, cursed or blessed to love and lose for as long as they stay, and then intelligent enough to contemplate remembering, for ever. Lovely writing much enjoyed. Thank you Rose Author Reply: Thank you very much. I'm glad you liked all the contrasts. It's something that's always intrigued me about the elves, but since I had trouble putting that into words, I figured I'd let the surroundings do the talking for me. They were better at it than I. ;) Thank you very much again for the review! | |
| Elenora | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 7/20/2005 |
| I meant to leave this review when your story first was posted...RL got in the way and I'm only now getting in here. I love these "vignettes" you write...they usually leave me in tears - at least the last couple have - but I love them! I think that must be a good indication of the quality of your writing, that it can make me feel so very melancholy and despondent for a "mythical" race, yet as with so many LotR fans, it is difficult not to think of the elves as real creatures. Thus, reading a story such as this is extremely poignant and bittersweet. Also having just come off an "extreme downer" from reading Cassia and Siobhan's final two stories in their "Mellon Chronicles," my mood was thoroughly primed for your story! *SOB!!* Though LotR (at least Peter Jackson's version) has officially come to an end, I sincerely hope you won't stop "adding" to the body of work out there - your insights into the intriguing character of "our elven prince" has been a joy and delight to read. I always know that, if I see your name tacked onto a posted story, even though it may make me cry, that story will still be good. It's a given! Thanks for all the thought and work you put into these stories and vignettes. Author Reply: Hey Elenora, I'm glad you like these vignettes. I try to give most of them a somewhat upbeat tone, but there are a few that don't lend themselves to that. This one, for example, just didn't have an appropriate place for outright humor, so I had to settle for hope and imagery. It seems to have worked out all right. As for posting, I fully intend to keep writing. I was writing Tolkien fanfiction well before the movies came out, and the idea of it "ending" just seems strange to me. The movies were not the definition of Tolkien. Not for me, at least. In some ways they come close and I'll admit that they are enjoyable, but in the end, they just don't match up to the real thing. (I'll stop now before I run off on a rant about Gimli's characterization.) Anyway, many thanks for the review! Comments like yours always brighten my day, and I hope you continue to read! | |
| pipinheart | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 7/20/2005 |
| This is very nice,and the scene is very vivid as Legolas heart is troubled,yet looking at the sunrise gives him at last a kind of peace. Love the internal muses...Very nice piece..Keep it up... Author Reply: I'm glad the scene seemed vivid to you. I was trying to make a contrast with how very vague things seemed to Legolas for a while as he more or less went onto automatic pilot in climbing up the hill. The vividness of the morning sun was supposed to contrast with that as something he could latch onto, so I'm glad it came across correctly. Thanks for the review! I'll try to "keep it up." | |
| Brenda G. | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 7/19/2005 |
| I LOVE THIS!!! THANKS FOR THIS TREASURE. Author Reply: You're very welcome! | |
| ziggy | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 7/19/2005 |
| This is beautiful. A mix of poignancy and yearning- (I really begin to think about how it must be.. it reminds me of the thing we call nostalgia, but not the faint sense of what we once had, but that powerful sense of loss we catch sometimes when we go back to where we grew up, or where we were once happy - and its all gone / changed.) and anticipation. This vignette will linger awhile for me. Author Reply: Thank you so much for such a kind review. I like your idea of nostalgia. It's not something I was thinking about when writing, but I can see it. Except that for Legolas, this nostalgia is coming early because he knows he will look back on all of this and grieve. And that's a sharp loss for him. Thank you again! I like your interpretation. | |
| TithenFeredir | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 7/19/2005 |
| What a beautifully vivid image you weave so delicately with your contrasting threads of light and dark, east and west, grief and solace, the jagged mountains and the sea. It the same feeling of profound stillness as the dawn you describe. "Then he will look east for the sun, and morning will rise not from tortured mountains but from the endless Sea. And at that moment, he will be free. ...But oh, the price for such freedom! For when the day comes that he may look east toward the dawn, he will also look east toward a land where beloved friends—brothers in all but blood—once lived." This bit seems to capture Legolas' dilemma, and it is heartbreaking. This is a gem, Thundera. Thanks for sharing. ~TF Author Reply: I'm so glad you caught the contrasts. I had fun with those, even if they became difficult to write after a while. The thing that fascinates me most about Legolas and also Gimli is how they're both a walking a paradox. It's their strength as well as their weakness, and that's part of what I was trying to convey in this story. The dawn is both hope and despair for Legolas, especially toward the end of Aragorn's life. Many thanks for the review! I'm very glad that this story met with your approval! | |
| daw the minstrel | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 7/19/2005 |
| Sea longing is one of those things that authors conceive of differently and have trouble conveying convincingly. This story feels right to me. The longing is a being called home, rather than a disease, but it's painful because it can't be answered yet. And what's lovely about this is how you convey that in the landscape. Very delicately done. Author Reply: I'm glad you like the sea longing in this story. It's a tricky thing, and I suspect that I veer more toward that disease take than anything else. But maybe a balance between all the views can be found. Anyway, thanks for for the comments on the scenery, too. That was difficult because I wasn't sure how poetic I could be without descending into purple prose. Glad it worked for you! Thanks again! | |