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Keep Alive the Memory  by Celeritas 5 Review(s)
Kara's AuntyReviewed Chapter: 14 on 3/14/2009
Hello Celeritas,

I am shamefully overdue in finishing your lovely fic, so I beg your most humble pardon, m'dear.

This was a very sad chapter - the saddest of all I've read so far, actually. Kira's reeling from loss after loss (the Book, her friends, her hope, the King) and her pain was almost enough to make me cry. Thanks goodness she was able to renew some old friendships (with Kerry & Sandra) and share her dilemma with people who understand fully what she's experiencing.

I'd still like to have five minutes with that odious git Tom. Will you let me? Hmm?? I'll teach him some proper manners! Grr!!

M ;)

Author Reply: Kira may be losing a lot, but I'd like to think that this chapter at least marks a bit of a turnaround in how she deals with her losses. For one thing she's actually been able to talk about it with people who actually understand.

Tom will get his comeuppance--eventually. And it should be quite painful (in more ways than one) when it happens.

DreamflowerReviewed Chapter: 14 on 12/27/2008
Oh, I'm so glad that Kira has re-established herself with Kerry and Sandra!

Tom still irks the daylights out of me. His apology was so half-hearted it was pathetic. And then he tried to turn it around and put all the blame on Kira. I just wish that someone, somehow, would pound a bit of badly needed sense into his hard head!

A really good chapter!


Author Reply: *grin* I love Kira's bookish friends--but unfortunately they live so far away that I don't get to use them very often!

I've always hated the "sorry if" apology, so often used by politicians today. It fails to recognize that some actions are objectively wrong, regardless of whether anyone was offended or not. So of course I had to put it in the lips of Tom, who may indeed be sorry, but if he is it's for all the wrong reasons.

And you're not the first person to wish that Tom gets beaten up at some point... ^_^

Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for the review!

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 14 on 12/27/2008
Sad, but blessed in its way. Now to see if the blackness of the ink in her dream will now flow THROUGH her into seeing to it the story continues!

Love the Tree Party. Sad that Aragorn and Elanor have died before Kira could meet them; but there's always the chance she'll get to meet Eldarion and/or his sisters! And I'm so glad to hear that memory of Elanor's!

Author Reply: Yes, we're moving from despair to catharsis, so that hopefully Kira will be set to heal over the next few years.

It was a real shame about Elanor's passing, but I couldn't in good conscience let her live long enough to know what happens to the book--that would have broken her spirit. Aragorn's death, on the other hand, was a conscious element of the setting--it's the time when almost all of the remaining relics of the Third Age pass beyond. I wish I could have done more with him than I have, but there you have it. And you're right; we've still got a number of canons out there for Kira to meet!

Glad you liked the memory as well--Elanor has to be one of my favorite minor canon characters, so I had to give her something special (and put in an obligatory eyecolor jab, heh!).

Agape4GondorReviewed Chapter: 14 on 12/26/2008
Excellent chapter - though all my hopes were dashed that the 'real' book was still, somehow, saved....

I loved the reunions - that was great - I do so hope that one day our little heroine will be able to spend 'real' time with these dear folk.

Though - the hint of darkness does not portend well for Hobbiton - and perhaps for all of Middle-earth? What cataclsym might be upon Eldarion?

Author Reply: *grin* Glad to have pleased, though, sorry, it really is gone and I'm not going to try to retcon it back in...

I loved the reunions, too! Even though it may be a while, Kira will definitely spend 'real' time with them again--even if she has to wait till she's of age!

VirtuellaReviewed Chapter: 14 on 12/26/2008
The inclusion of the party tree and associated folklore is a lovely touch. Good for Kira that she gives Tom a right telling. I've been waiting very patiently to see Kerry and Sandra turn up again, so I've been rewarded. :D
Delightful scene when Sandra explains how Sam taught Elanor to remember Frodo.

Author Reply: I think just about all of the knowledge we have about the 4th Age Shire gets put into this story somewhere; I couldn't not use such juicy nuggets as the Tree and try to come up with what the hobbits themselves would have thought of it.

I did like getting Kira angry enough to tell Tom off; unfortunately it seems to have had no effect. And yes, Kerry and Sandra were bound to turn up again; it just took them both a while!

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