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Hope of a Star  by Mirach 5 Review(s)
EllieReviewed Chapter: 10 on 7/27/2010
Exquisite. Beautifully exquisite! Loved loved the ending magnificent! WOW! The ending brought tears to my eyes with the uncertainty and the final long awaited reward of joy. sigh.. very nicely done!

Author Reply: Thank you very much! I'm not sure if I ever got such an amount of superlatives in one review ;) I'm really glad you like it!

ShemyazaReviewed Chapter: 10 on 7/21/2010
I can't help thinking how hard it must have been for Earendil to watch the events surrounding his sons. How proud he must have been to see the nation that his son Elros wrought only to then experience the anguish as Earendil watched everything Elros built brought down.

The heartbreak associated with his other son Elrond was of an entirely different nature altogether. He had to have suffered with Elrond as he lost Gil-galad and countless others; as he probably watched helplessly as Celebrian was captured and tortured and his son's subsequent anguish at not being able to heal her mind. Even as Elrond watched scion after scion of his brother's house grow up and then die, often needlessly and violently before they even had a chance to fulfil any kind of real future. And the final suffering for Elrond, to watch his daughter choose a mortal life and have to let her go, for the sake of Middle-earth.

So many sacrifices all for one family and Earendil witnessed them all from above.

Poor bloke, and yet....he was an absent father for a lot of the time, by choice in fact. I don't count the last time when he sailed to ask the Valar for help, that was a very courageous act especially since he would have known that his death would occur just from setting foot on Valinor. However that doesn't excuse him or Elwing for deserting them; I certainly feel sorrier for Earendil than Elwing, because, as a mother, I wouldn't have put a jewel over the lives and welfare of my children.

Anyway, beautifully written and executed. Through your writing I voyaged with Earendil as he toiled across the skies. I look forward to the final chapter.

Author Reply: Thank you for sharing your thoughts in the nice review! I really like the character of Eärendil, maybe also for his fate that reminds Frodo's - saving Middle-earth, but not for himself. And it was even worse for him because he knew he left his sons, and had to live with that for ages...

Elwing was a brave woman, but her priorities seem a bit strange - but that happens often when dealing with a Silmaril. The only explanation I have is the foresight inherited from Melian. Maybe she knew that if Maedhros hets the Silmaril, neither Middle-earth, nor her sons will survive: without the Silmaril Eärendil wouldn't reach Valinor, and Morgoth would conquer the free people of Middle-earth...

shireboundReviewed Chapter: 10 on 7/20/2010
What a beautiful chapter, from beginning to end. And how lovely to think that the hobbits might have been so greeted and honored... and that Earendil found both parents and one of his children at long last.

Author Reply: Thank you very much! I'm glad you liked the hobbits' welcome =) I was also happy for Earendil when I finished writing this chapter, he deserved it, didn't he?

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 10 on 7/20/2010
These reunions have finally come! And indeed his hope is fulfilled as has been so strongly desired for so very long. One son's gift lost due to treachery; one son's return to himself; the finding at last of his long-departed parents!

How wonderful!

Author Reply: Thank you very much! It was really a long waiting for Eärendil, until this chapter! But finally his family in Valinor is as compete as it can be =)

CairistionaReviewed Chapter: 10 on 7/20/2010
So many wonderful chapters in this.... I really should leave reviews for all of them but you know how much I've enjoyed each and every one. :) And this one no less--I love the rhythm of the waves that you work into the entire piece, and of course, the long awaited reunion with Elrond is perfect. How his heart sang in that moment! Beautiful.

Author Reply: Thank you very much, Cairistiona! You don't have to review, your help with the grammar is by far enough!

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