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| Lesser Ring by Larner | 344 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| Szepilona10 | Reviewed Chapter: 52 on 5/6/2008 |
| I loved this story! And you always write very interesting Authers Notes too! What happend to Benai and his crew? Did they defeet(you know, cut the feet off) the slavers(jk)? Anyway thank you for writing such interesting stories! God bless! ~Szepilona10~ Author Reply: Thanks so, Szepilona. So far I've not gone into what happened to Benai and his folk. Don't know if they'd defeet the slavers, but I'm certain they dealt with them effectively. And thank you for looking back at some of my earlier tales. | |
| Soledad | Reviewed Chapter: 51 on 1/15/2008 |
| This was another endearing story of yours - as I'm getting more familiar with your recurring original character, each new story is like another piece of a wonderful puzzle, waiting to be put together. BTW, I found "Go out of Joy", but where is the other story into which Bartolo has managed to worm himself? I don't seem to be able to find it. Author Reply: So, you've now come to know Ruvemir. Am so glad you enjoyed this one. Bartolo is a slight mention here and there; his name appears briefly in "For Eyes to See as Can" where Frodo and Bilbo don't go to his wedding to Delphie but send a gift, and spend the time fighting over whether or not Frodo's going to receive a lavender waistcoat Frodo doesn't want; he's mentioned briefly again in "The King's Commission;" he's a main character in "The Tenant from Staddle," appears in "Second Mum," and in the short story "A Matter of Record" in the collection "'Neath Anor, Ithil, and Gil," and I think may have a mention in "Stricken from the Book" in "Moments in Time." We see him briefly in both "The Choice of Healing" and "The Acceptable Sacrifice." He's a bit more of a presence in the second one. He's only mentioned in "The Ties of Family," if I recall correctly. As I've been writing "The Tenant from Staddle" around a number of other shorter stories I've written, he and Delphie and their family tend to get more play in the more recent short stories I've written. Ruvemir has appeared in "The King's Commission," "The Ties of Family," "Lesser Ring," and a short story in "Moments in Time called "Memorium." I'm starting to look more at some of your stories as well--when the ISP from Mordor accommodates it, of course. NEVER use Hughes.net--it's REALLY the pits. | |
| Soledad | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/14/2008 |
| This is a highly interesting start! I must admit that I've read your author's notes first - the geek in me always makes do so - and I find the parallels fascinating. Even though I always associated the Haradrim with the medieval nomadic realms of Iran and Central Asia in my head and Khand with Egyptians and Africa. Reading on... Author Reply: Interesting how we find ourselves associating competing cultures with the Haradrim. I think of the Rhunim as the nomadic realms of Iran, myself, and have postulated further lands to the east and cultures similar to China, Mongolia, and India. Am glad to find the author's notes interested you. My mother was fascinated with archaeology, and passed that interest on to me. Hope you continue to enjoy the story as you read. | |
| Tari | Reviewed Chapter: 51 on 5/16/2007 |
| This chapter is by far the icing on the cake. It is beyond description. Beaitiful and awesome just don't seem to be enough. The last paragraph brought me to tears. Thank you so much for this wonderful experience. Tari Author Reply: I am so very glad you liked it. I'd written this chapter long before I got anywhere near the end of the story, and even wrote it before I got to the chapter where Aragorn knows his own vision of Frodo with the butterfly. I've long felt there was such a relationship between Frodo and Aragorn, different from that he shares with Sam, that susptained both King and Ringbearer over the years. | |
| Tari | Reviewed Chapter: 44 on 5/10/2007 |
| This chapter was spooky. Very chilling. I almost felt sorry for Setra’amun. His stubborness was his undoing, but at least he repented (I think) in the end. Author Reply: I deliberately made this chapter rather dark, and wanted to look at how one such as Setra'amun might come to choose redemption at the end. For him and his brother Sa'Harpelamun, I wanted for him to realize the former priest was quite mad and murderously so that he might realize there was another way. Obviously I succeeded in communicating the intended mood. | |
| Tari | Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 4/18/2007 |
| Ohhh! This is so good. I do have a question though. What does Farozi mean? Author Reply: So glad you like it. In coming chapters you will see more familiar characters, and hope that you will appreciate their coming. Farozi is a term that is a twist on "pharoah." Considering that I have made the folk of Harad proto-Egyptians, I decided their ruler would be much as a pharoah of ancient Egypt was. In a similar way, the ruler of Rhun I named the Shkatha, again a twist on Shah. I have always loved archaeology, and loved figuring ways to make Harad resemble Egypt with a bit of a Middle Earth twist. | |
| Tari | Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 4/17/2007 |
| I just read the first five chapters of "Lesser Ring" and am abosolutely fascinated. I can't wait to read more. Tari Author Reply: I'm glad you discovered it, and hope you continue enjoying it. It was fun to write it, I found. | |
| Christina | Reviewed Chapter: 51 on 3/16/2007 |
| Once again you made me cry. I have enjoyed your stories and look forward to more. I'm also enjoying "The Tenant from Staddle" and "Stirring Rings." (Hint) Author Reply: Now that "Go Out in Joy" has been finished (I HOPE, although the nuzgul that sparked it has been MOST tenacious) I've resumed work on Rings, and should be back to posting a chapter from one of the other at least once a week again. Although one doesn't know, does one, with nuzguls taking to masquerading as simple plot bunnies. And am so very glad this story so moved you. Thank you indeed. I'd been prompted in reviews that Pippin's idea that Frodo and Earendil might manage to meet ought to be at least looked at, and so it was that this chapter wrote itself several weeks before I was done with the actual main story line. | |
| Queen Galadriel | Reviewed Chapter: 52 on 5/16/2006 |
| I've had to go through the rest just enjoying but unable to review. The nearer June gets, the crazier everything gets, it seems--I can't wait till the day I leave for the CCFB, since it will at least provide some relief and a very welcome change from this chaos that is my life right now. How nice that Ankhrabi and his family got to come to Gondor for a while, as well as the others. And it was good to see some of those most familiar to me--Master Faralion, Mistress Loren, Lasgon, and of course Ruvemir and Elise! I had to smile at Faralion trying to compose while listening at the welcome feast, and the way his hands moved as if he were already plucking the strings of a harp. Glad I'm not the only one who finds myself doing that, scarcely even knowing it at the time. :) I hope that in time Faralion and Aragorn will become close friends. I love that your royal household is inhabited by cats! :) Kitling seems to be the type that could get into a good bit of trouble if she wanted to. :) And it's so sweet that the little white kitten attached itself to Aragorn. That's just what he needs. :) And Ruvemir's gifts are wonderful! Wow, painting too? It was truly touching that he would do a portrait of Aragorn with his two brothers. Aha! So Aragorn was finally trapped into joining the guild of bards! *grin* And I trust it wasn't a small conspiracy that arranged that. Very clever! :) The vision of Frodo and the butterfly was beautiful, and I love it when you end your tales in Tol Eressea. That last chapter was very moving, and the description of the light and the butterflies *so* vivid and almost lyrical. So glad Frodo got to meet Earendil--I hoped he would, and I think they would find that they are kindred spirits. Wow! You really put a lot of effort into this--linguistic elements and everything! But it's perfect; the cultures and language blend perfectly together, and if you hadn't given the details on what was your own invention, I wouldn't have been the wiser. I think, even if I should read other stories of Harad in the future, "Mamari and Babari" will always be "Mother and Father" and "An" will always make me think of a ruler, and so forth. I've enjoyed this very much, and I'm almost sorry I've reached the end, though it's a peaceful and satisfying one. God bless, Galadriel Author Reply: So glad you enjoyed this one. I've only read a couple other stories in which Harad figures, and they've been more Arabic in feeling, so they'll give you a different sense altogether than my version. I used to play the piano (not particularly well, I'll admit) a good deal more than I do any more, and in listening to music I used to find my fingers would move to the music; and I've seen similar things with college friends who were deeply into music. It only seemed right Faralion would do so as he listened to the details of the trip to Harad and immediately think how he could make a lay of it. Most artist are trained in painting, even if it's not the medium they prefer to use. That now and then Ruvemir might do a painting just again seemed right. Yes, Aragorn is indeed now a member of the Bards' Guild--and just about time! I love cats and dogs, so of course they'd find their way into Aragorn's home, don't you think? And at least the new white kitten has accepted Aragorn as its own person. I, too, love to finish my stories on Tol Eressea, although not every one does so. And the image of Frodo and the butterflies was one that infiltrated my imagination about a month or so before I finished the story, insisting it be made part of it. And as I'd already indicated the meeting between Frodo and Earendil ought to happen according to Pippin, I had to work that in, too. And am so glad you appreciated the cultural highlights and how I worked historical and imaginative elements. Thank you so much for letting me know how you liked it. Now, once you've read "The Ties of Family" you'll be all caught up. Am taking time off to review "The Acceptable Sacrifice for myself, and am almost done; have begun on my next story, but found myself hitting a writer's block so let it stand for a few days. Have fun in Colorado. Wish I could go to the ACB convention this summer, myself. | |
| Queen Galadriel | Reviewed Chapter: 36 on 5/15/2006 |
| I tried to slow down so that I wouldn't end up writing reviews the length of short chapters, but I guess I didn't manage it after all-sorry. :) Yes, I can well imagine that the distribution of alms might make the Shirefolk uncomfortable, open and accepting as they generally are. It horrified me, even being quite familiar with some of the typical reactions today, when my grandfather told me of when he was a boy, seeing those who were blind or otherwise supposed to be different selling pencils by the roadside or more often near shops--horrified and angered me for obvious reasons and doubly because of the perception of blindness that such sights instilled in Grandpa which, seemingly, nothing I do or say can overcome. But to Pippin it must have been worse, being pretty much unfamiliar with such treatment of people, and knowing Ferdi as he did. I can't see Ferdibrand Took being made to beg and liking it--no one with any dignity would submit to something like that, or at least I should hope not. I got a kick out of Ruvemir's tale of the flabbergasted guild master! LOL! That is so believeable! It's a sad thing that he and Ririon have to make such demonstrations--they can make one feel ridiculous sometimes, depending on who the audience is--but it will be to the good in the long run. Wouldn't it be nice if everyone could live in a place like the Shire? :) That a grandmother, a *grandmother*, and a mother--that any creature capable of love could seek to ruin the happiness of her daughter and then to slowly kill her own grandchildren is so terrible that it's almost incomprehensible to me. I must suppose then that it was not love that drove her, but malice and selfishness. She couldn't love her daughter and yet subject her to that kind of suffering. Those poor children! I love the dreams and the prophecies, and how they were brought about. That battle has to be one of the most suspenseful I've read in a while. I was terrified that Ma'osiri would die! That act of bravery was so touching. God bless, Galadriel Author Reply: Somehow I missed this one. I saw pencil sellers in the early nineteen seventies in Seattle, of all places, when walking down the street with college friends who'd been blind from birth who were already working on their professions. And my husband's previous wife, who was at the time a high-functioning partial compared to my husband's total blindness, was far more handicapped than my husband ever dreamed of being. While he was finding ways to do what he wanted to do, she was finding ways to avoid doing much of anything, teaching their son that "you don't have to work--welfare will take care of you," as he told us solemnly one day when he was still only six years old. It was always interesting trying to counter her negative influence, we found. As for the murderous grandmother--unfortunately such exist in our world; and I can't believe that particularly in a land that had been so long under Sauron's influence that such things would have been infrequent. The desire to overpower others with our own wills is frightening at times. And it is in fighting such individuals and twisted appetites for attention at the expense of the happiness of those we'd impell to the worship of ourselves that such as Aragorn and Arwen most shine. I think he and Frodo would have been most horrified and righteously furious with such as this and the father who abused his family--to so twist love into a goad for self control would have been so contrary to both their awareness of just how precious love is and should be. And am so glad you appreciate the battle and the courage of Ma'osiri. A delightful child, I found him to be. | |