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| A Thousand Lutes by MP brennan | 9 Review(s) |
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| Suzelle | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 9/9/2013 |
| Okay, gotta admit, my first thought upon finishing this was, "OH, COME ON!!" because I wanted so badly for Aragorn to reveal himself to Amyan and for him to figure out just who this healer was! But of course he wouldn't have done that, and it'll have to exist only in my wishful-thinking mind :P. But this was a lovely timestamp to Ransom--I love the little details you give us into the life of the prisoners of war, and Amyan's character is wonderfully fleshed out. And I loved, too, the slice we get of his grandmother's later life. Author Reply: Yeah, I was kind of mean to Ayman (and the reader). I'm currently working on yet another timestamp in which (among other things) Ayman finally puts all the pieces together. He's surprisingly fun to write, so I'm sure I'll return to him in the future. Thanks for the awesome review! -Brennan | |
| rs | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 7/27/2013 |
| Keep them coming! I so truly enjoy your writing. I just love your Aragorn. He is so enigmatic, every movement he makes, his expressions, his speech, his reaction to things, everything... how I perceive him to be and how Tolkien (I believe) has made him to be. I love it! More More More! | |
| demeter d | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 7/24/2013 |
| Another chapter in the "Ransom" story. Yea! I will quite happily continue to read any bit of this which you choose to share with us. I have enjoyed seeing your various writing styles and points of view. This one seems less a changing around of narrator and point of view as a focusing; First you have an omniscient narrator looking at the prison compound. Then you come in closer and focus on one man. Then, we are looking at the scene through HIS eyes and reading his thoughts. The description of the compound and the makeshift infirmary remind me an awful lot of the American television series "MASH", set, of course in a "Mobile Army Surgical Hospital" during the Korean War. They use the best healing techniques they know in really primitive conditions. And Aragorn's talking to him, trying to get him to focus on less fearful things than the present task reminds me of the surgeons bent over their patients in that combination of tent and rough cabin they had for a surgery, talking about baseball, or movies, or anything away from their gory task, until a crisis arises, then they snap right to the surgeon's aid. I suspect that when Ayman saw the guards saluteing the "Gondorian healer of middle years" he may have thought the man to be an army officer who was also a medic, or perhaps a high ranking staff member from the Houses of Healing. I will guess that perhaps Aragorn is kept abreast of the progress of the prisoners, and when he heard that the prisoner would need more work he took the opportunity to meet Ayman. It has been fascinating to pick up on your many little clues...Ayman's father cleaning medical tools in a flame, the memory from the family stories of the herb which was almost magical... And then, Ayman's cautious question,"Who are you?" Now, what I would like to see after you have explored as many points of view as you can think of, is the story of the day when Hakim comes to the prison compound to get his son, and tells his son that they are invited to dine with the Gondorian King, who then turns out to be both the enigmatic healer and "Dakheel", of his family legend. It is too bad that both of the Grandparents are "beyond the circles of the world" as many here say. It would be a comforting closure for them to know that his becoming a slave was not, in the end, the bad thing they both feared it would be. | |
| Ellynn | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 7/24/2013 |
| More! More! More! | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 7/24/2013 |
| Ah, but he has met the healer of his family's tales, and he cannot credit it! Wonderful! Author Reply: Thank you! I'm glad you liked! -Brennan | |
| UTfrog | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 7/23/2013 |
| This is wonderful! Thank you so very much for another expansion on your great story. I am so glad Aragorn found a way to meet Hakim's son. Much good comes for both lands because of the different interactions. I hope Gandalf is also kept informed. Thank you! Repeated many times. Author Reply: Thank you! It's great to hear that people are still enjoying this little sub-universe. I am trying to write the story you asked for where they all sit down to dinner and reminisce, but the muses keep running in different directions. Maybe one of these days I'll corral them. ;) -Brennan | |
| Matt | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 7/23/2013 |
| I've followed all of the shorts that came after your main story and generally wasn't as crazy about them as I was the original. I realized after the last one that its the voice that the story is told in that I haven't liked. This third person 'historical' voice is, IMO, much better than the first person "story teller's" voice that you used in the other follow-on tales. Great job with this and with allowing Aragorn the chance to figure out what he would do about one prisoner. LOTR ff is full of this kind of story but you tell this one well and fill in the background details needed very nicely. Thanks for your hard work on this. Author Reply: Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you enjoyed this one. Yeah, I intentionally experimented with different styles and POV's in this series--especially with the "story tellers" in "Strangers." I feel like I grew as a writer from having written it that way, but I'm not completely satisfied with it. I'm working on a longer Aragorn-POV version of those stories which will be similar in style to this piece. It's a monster project, though . . . Thanks again for giving these stories a chance! -Brennan | |
| shirebound | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 7/23/2013 |
| “I don’t think I’ve seen you before.” “Other duties have kept me away.” I really appreciate how honestly, yet how simply, Aragorn responds to questions he only wants to partially answer. Very nice story. Author Reply: Thank you! Aragorn's caginess in this was a little frustrating to write, but I like how it came out. I think he would try not to lie when he could avoid it, but at the same time, he has to conceal certain things if he wants Ayman to open up to him. I'm glad you enjoyed this story! -Brennan | |
| Elentarri | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 7/23/2013 |
| :D Nice to see another story. :) Author Reply: Glad you liked it! -Brennan | |