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Stirrings of Shadow  by Fiondil 16 Review(s)
EruherdirielReviewed Chapter: 70 on 7/15/2014
You were right, this is a slightly darker book. But then again, the subject matter is darker too.

I like all the OCs. Especially Widfara. Does he ever see Aragorn again? Does Aragorn reveal his identity to his swordbrother?

I enjoyed seeing the hints and foreshadowing for TT. It gave me such a thrill to recognize certain bits as something that would be important later.
~Eruherdiriel

Author Reply: Hi Eruherdiriel. Widfara is a favorite OC of mine. He does follow Aragorn to Gondor at the end of this story, so he obviously saw him for some time after leaving Rohan. Whether he ever learned the truth about Aragorn's identity, I have no idea. I would like to think he did at some point. And the whole point of this story was to foreshadow what would be the conditions in Rohan and elsewhere during the Ring War and how the seeds of those shadows were sown.

I'm glad you enjoyed the story. Thanks for letting me know. I appreciate it.

EcthelionReviewed Chapter: 70 on 9/16/2013
Let me just say that I have thoroughly enjoyed your story. I have liked all your stories so far but this one was probably my favorite. I really hope that you will write a sequel to this about Aragorn's time in gondor. Thank you for writing such interesting and thought provoking stories. Keep up the good work!

Author Reply: Hello Ecthelion. I am so glad you enjoyed this story so much as well as all my other stories. Everyone has their favorite, even me. I have no plans to write a sequel with Aragorn in Gondor any time soon, but you never know. Stranger things have happened. *grin* Thanks for taking the time to leave a review. I appreciate it very much.

Soledad, not logged inReviewed Chapter: 70 on 12/5/2011
I've been reading your stories in no particular order for quite some time and with great interest, but I must say that this one is my favourite. Perhaps because the Valar - whose attitude always remain me why I turned my back on the Catholic Church - are only marginally involved. ;)

In any case, you actually made me like Aragorn again, which seemed almost an impossibility after the movies, and I enjoyed your take on the Rohirric culture (not to mention your awesome language skills a great deal. It made me inspired to pick up "Emissary in the Mark" somewhere in the future again, and I've all but given up on that story, so for that, I'm particularly grateful.

I wanted to ask: would you mind if I linked this story to my reading recommendation page? In case you want to check out the page first, it's here. Feel free to say no if you don't want to see your story listed among the other stuff, I won't take any offence. :)

Congratulations to a captivating story, I liked it a great deal.

Author Reply: Hi Soledad. Wow! I never expected to get a review for this story after all this time. I'm not even going to wonder how the attitude of fictional angel-like characters could ever lead anyone to leave any denomination. *grin*

On the other hand, I'm glad that my depiction of Aragorn meets with your approval. Of course, the Aragorn here is about 60 years younger than the one we meet in LOTR but he's definitely based on book!Aragorn. As for my take on the Rohirric culture, I guess it's because I studied Old English and Anglo-Saxon Archeology while I was attending the University of Nottingham, England way back in my uni days. I've always been fascinated by the Anglo-Saxon culture and enjoy extrapolating that culture to the Rohirric one much as Tolkien himself did.

And I am absolutely thrilled that you want to link this story to your reading recommendation page. Thank you and thank you for taking the time to let me know how much you enjoyed this story. I really appreciate it.

obsidianjReviewed Chapter: 70 on 1/16/2010
I finally had the time to finish the story. That was quite a ride. You brought the characters, canon and original, to life. I got very fond of the riders of Rohan especially Widfara. I hope there will be a new story about Gondor and we hear more from him.

Author Reply: I am glad you finally got the chance to finish the story and enjoyed it so much. Thanks for letting me know. I appreciate it very much. Perhaps someday, time and the Muse permitting, there may be a sequel to this depicting Aragorn's first year in Gondor with his friend Wídfara, but I can't promise anything at the moment.

ArasindaReviewed Chapter: 70 on 10/14/2009
Dear Fiondil,

Thank you for a wonderful story with exciting situations and the delightful talent to fill in the blanks that Tolkien left for our imaginations. When I originally read that Aragorn had served in Rohan, I wondered what the experience might have been like for him. Plus, how would he deal with his ties to Imladris? At times I find myself including your tales with the Tolkien canon when asked by friends about The History of Middle-Earth. I must be more careful in the future. For the present I patiently wait for your new chapters about Finrod, and once you have completed all of Glorfindel's second book, I will sit quietly during the short summer break and completey enjoy it, too.

Sincerely,
Arasinda

Author Reply: Hello, Arasinda. Thank you so much for your lovely comments. I am glad you enjoyed this tale of Aragorn so much. I really appreciate you taking the time to let me know. I do hope to finish Glorfindel's tale before next summer, so you definitely have something to look forward to *grin*.

KayleeReviewed Chapter: 70 on 5/14/2009
YAY! Wonderful, wonderful, meldonya! I'm so glad to see that Earntungol and Tungolfrod *grin* Or should that be, Thorongil and Gilhael, have made so much of an impact on Rohan!

Oh, but Saruman...of course it was Saruman! Who else! And so he's there, biding his time..."I'll get you, Star-Eagle, and your little cousin, too!"...Okay, not quite :-p But hopefully he didn't realize that Aragorn was ARAGORN! *grin*

Ah...quick correction to your reply to another reviewer. You meant 60-odd years later. Not 600. *wry grin*

Anyway, I'm so glad to see mention of Theodwyn, and to know that Theoden grew up around his "big brother"...it's a pity Theoden doesn't seem to remember much of him when the King returns!

And now for Gondor...someday, dare we hope. *grin*

(As for that "tl;dr" reviewer in Ch. 1...their loss, I say; this was epic, brilliant, and as beautiful as though the Master Professor himself wrote it. You sure you're not channeling Tolkien's mind?)

~Kaylee!

Author Reply: Hi, Kaylee. I'm glad you enjoyed this story. I've enjoyed reading your reviews. Don't worry, I made the correction on the number of years. I think I need new glasses. *lol* I have no idea if there will be an actual sequel or if I will occasionally write short stories similar to "NORTH". We'll have to see.

I do wish people would not write in chatspeak when writing reviews. I saw that "tl;dr" review and have absolutely no idea what it means. I deleted it anyway as it was anonymous and (to me, at least) meaningless.

I doubt I'm channeling but I've been immersed in the Professor's world for about 40 years so I guess I know his mind a little better than someone who's only read him casually.

Thanks again for all your reviews and your encouragement, Kaylee. I truly appreciate it.

Midnight PromiseReviewed Chapter: 70 on 5/13/2009
*blinks, looks at chapter title. Blinks again*

WHAT?!

Every Wed. (and Fridays of course) I come home, get chocolate, sit at the computer and read your updates, now your saying its OVER? (I may be slightly over reacting but I am on a sugar rush right now. . .)

I kept expecting for Thrandir to appear. . .>_>; Oh well, just leaves room for the sequel right.

Right...? o-o;;

With summer coming up, and more free time for me to laze around the house, I cannot wait for more material to read from you. :0) *coughs* No pressure. ^_-

Hope everything is going great!



Author Reply: Well, I did warn you (and everyone else) *grin* Anyway, I do have other stories in the works and in June I will begin posting a new multi-chaptered story on Wednesdays to replace this story, so stay tune. Thanks for letting me know how much you enjoyed this tale. I really appreciate it.

ErulisseReviewed Chapter: 70 on 5/13/2009
This has been a great exploration into the ever-building character of the future king. I hope that you take this theme further to explore the enmity that develops between Denethor and Aragon - two who were fast friends while Aragon was in Rohan. A pleasure, as always, to read new chapters from your pen.



Author Reply: Thanks, Erulisse. I'm glad you enjoyed this tale. Whether I continue this theme and do a sequel of Aragorn's time in Gondor remains to be seen.

ParmalokwenReviewed Chapter: 70 on 5/13/2009
This was a marvelous story. Will there be a sequel? It could answer many questions, such as: How did Aragorn's friendship with Denethor fall apart? Why didn't Aragorn reveal his identity after his famous victory at Umbar? He was a very popular man at that moment, he could have become king then. What did he do in Harad and Rhun?

I wonder who remembered Thorongil when Aragorn returned to Rohan during the Quest?

Author Reply: I don't know if there will be a sequel at this point, but you never know. And I'm not sure who would have been alive 600-odd years later in Rohan to remember him. Thanks for reading and reviewing this story, Parmalokwen. I really appreciate it.

Author Reply: Oops! My bad. I meant 60-odd years later. *lol* Sorry for any confusion to those reading this.

SunnyReviewed Chapter: 70 on 5/13/2009
So – goodbye to Aragorn, and his adventures in Rohan. Now he is off to have more adventures in Gondor.
It is sad – he got along so well with Denethor in this story, but we all know that it is not going to last.
Are you going to wrinte more vignettes than the one we have already seen about Aragorn’s time in Gondor? I know, that is up to the Muse.

So we are given a glimpse of the one who was _really_ behind the trouble in Rohan. And he is already plotting more trouble.
Let us hope Saruman did not see more in the two Dúnedain than a pair of northern mercenaries.

In any case, it will be interesting to see what the Muse has for us next – how soon are you going to start posting the Darkening story, and are there other items in the pipeline?


Author Reply: Don't know if there will be a sequel to this, Sunny, but I am working on the Darkening story though it's not yet ready for posting. I will have another mulit-chaptered story that I will begin posting in June in place of Stirrings. Keep your eye out for it. Hopefully you and others will enjoy it. Thanks for all your reviews. I really appreciated them.

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