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| Just Desserts by Lindelea | 203 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| Bodkin | Reviewed Chapter: Author's Notes on 10/10/2005 |
| Men are not to enter the Shire It's too absolute a rule, isn't it? And there are too many perfectly justifiable reasons that you can think of when the rule would be more of a hindrance than a help. And then you think - it's apartheid. Imposed for the best of reasons, but still apartheid. He is removing the choice from the people who live in the Shire. And you're right - there's the road. Surely it can't have been used only by dwarves and elves - it would have fallen into disrepair and the trade of those who depended on the travellers would have collapsed. Surely a system of visas of something would have worked better. Permission from Rangers supervised by the Borderers. One of those things that sounds a good idea. Like Elwing in her White Tower. Until you really begin to think about the ripples in the pond. (I love your note sections. So informative.) Author Reply: Thanks for the feedback. Makes me wonder... JRRT was born in Africa, wasn't he? Or am I mixing him up with another author? I have heard the Edict compared to Apartheid before. I wonder what JRRT thought of Apartheid, or if he saw any kind of analogous relationship between the edict and the situation in South Africa. I wonder if JRRT thought it through--did the Edict lead to the decline of ths Shire? Or was the Edict lifted at a later time, which mention didn't make it into the Tale of Years? What about the Road? One author I know wrote it as a sort of "easement" where Men could travel through the Shire on the Road but couldn't stray from the path, so to speak. I suppose that would mean they'd have access to inns along the way, for to travel all the way across the Shire would take more than a day... But I have gone for a strict interpretation here, where Men must stop at the borders. Pippin, while seeing the good in the Edict (I remember in "Rope" and again in "Merlin" he is meticulous in the enforcement, considering the King's request to allow Men at specific times for specific events and no more than that) might wish to stretch the rules somewhat, as was done for Bergil. Or perhaps he's concerned about the impact on the businesses along the Road. It has been nearly 20 years since the Edict was proclaimed... ...but how much Manly traffic was there in earlier times? What business would Men have had at the Grey Havens, I wonder, especially after the North-kingdom fell? Seems to me that Men of the North were either fugitives or gathered in small enclaves against the surrounding darkness. (Bree, the villages of the Dunedain, Dale, to name a few) ...just a few thorny issues that have raised themselves up as I was thinking this story through. So does stretching the rules begin the eventual failure of the Shire? Or was it the isolation that doomed the Shire-folk to diminishing and furtiveness? I would so *love* to see the Professor's take on this. | |
| Bodkin | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 10/6/2005 |
| What a lovely start. And there's Seledrith pondering on the attractions of Gwillam - reserved and gentle, not a hero, self-effacing - and I'm thinking if she only knew he has spent all his adult life so far in fear of being hanged and dare not shove his nose above the parapet. And yet - and yet he is still a kind-hearted loving gentle person. Not bitter or defensive or resentful at the situation Jack put him in when he was scarcely more than a child. It must be hard for Jack to have to hide, too. His history with hobbits dates back so far - and was so positive, on the whole. I'm not sure that Aragorn's edict was entirely sensible. It has its points but smacks a little of an apartheid established for the best possible motives, but actually creating a division between two of the free peoples - and enhancing the hobbits' xenophobia, whilst encouraging men to look on them as mythical creatures. I'm longing to know what happens next. | |
| harrowcat | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 10/5/2005 |
| I, too, went back to re-read All that glisters. Short version or long invloved plot this promises to be just as good. Author Reply: Great! Hope it lives up to its promise. (wrestling plot to the ground; let's see who wins...) | |
| Anso the Hobbit | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 10/5/2005 |
| Oh, lovely. I am very excited to see how this unfolds. :D More soon please! Author Reply: More on the morrow, I hope. And your request exists in summary; now all it needs is the writing. | |
| Elentariel | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 10/4/2005 |
| Sounds great, please update soon Author Reply: Will do my best! | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 10/4/2005 |
| Alas--terror, I suspect, unnecessary. I hope Pippin gets it all sorted out appropriately before Aragorn. Author Reply: I certainly hope *somebody* gets it all sorted out. It's in its third revision (can you believe it?) and important things keep changing. | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: Prologue on 10/4/2005 |
| Aha--It appears Jack is indeed going to receive his just desserts, and hope they are sweet ones! Author Reply: As they ought to be... eventually. | |
| Dreamflower | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 10/4/2005 |
| Oh dear! All this time, poor Jack, living in fear of the hobbits because of his actions, and yet if truth be known, he's a hero among them. I am sure there will be a legal tangle, but after the coup you pulled off in "As the Gentle Rain", I am quite sure that Elessar will find the right solution here. (Just as Beregond and Bergil how clever the King is with loopholes.) But it looks like there will be lots of angst along the way. Author Reply: An incredible legal tangle. Elessar ought to be carefuller about his edicts, I think, especially when they deal with hobbits, who after you've known them some centuries can still surprise you, as I'm sure Gandalf told him. | |
| FantasyFan | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 10/4/2005 |
| I had to go back and read the epilogue to Glisters to properly get into the headspace for this story, and I got involved reading whole chapters, and then some of the original reviews. What a body of work you have gifted us with! I wonder how long this is going to be? Obviously Diamond has told the secret, thinking Pippin will want to give his thanks in person - it really should take only a couple of chapters to describe the confrontation that's about to happen. But remembering the devious way you have with plot, anything could happen afterwards, and we might end up with another 70 chapter epic! Did you ever make plans for Jack and Will and Robin, past this point (we've already seen them turn up at Bilbo's)? Reading the original story, I was again moved by how heartbroken Pippin was about his actions, and how he blamed himself for his malice and ill intent, I wonder exactly what he will have to say to Jack. Many things have happened since then, and Pippin has continued to grow and mature, but this (as well as the parallel 'kidnapping' in Runaway) were certainly key events in that early coming to terms with his own limitations. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with. Author Reply: Thank you for the vote of confidence! At the moment the first draft looks more like a five-to-ten chapter work, but it's been revised twice already and who knows what is about to happen? It started out in three chapters, after all, and keeps growing like a mushroom. There is one more (unpublished) "Jack" story, another meeting with Pippin when Pippin is a little older. It is still pretty nebulous, but it's possible that Jack gets to meet Frodo again as well, after Bilbo has left the Shire. Hope so, anyhow, if I can get it worked out. Pippin's speech before the King in defence of Jack hinges on the exact points you mentioned. But that is nearly giving away plot points, and the plot points are still under construction, so I had better quit whilst I'm ahead. Thanks again. | |
| Bodkin | Reviewed Chapter: Prologue on 10/4/2005 |
| This is a very tantalising beginning. I do love Denny - he is one of my favourites and I am so pleased he survived the wounding in All that Glisters. And seeing this through his eyes is fascinating. What a turn round - from an exciting hobbit arrival and feast - and being dragged off to sit with his friends - to such a worrying situation. And Jack must be scared to death. Not just for himself, but for his boys, too. They're not children now, whatever they were x years ago when they all last met. Denny is about to become a daddy, too! Lovely. Thank you so much for writing this. I'm thrilled to bits! Author Reply: Replied to this but SoA ate it and now am out of time... but will get back to answer, I hope. | |