News Resources
Login
Become a member
Help
Search
|
|
| About Us News Resources
Login
Become a member
Help
Search
|
|
|
| Stewards of Arda by perelleth | 42 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| daw the minstrel | Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 4/4/2008 |
| How odd for the Valar to feel time closing in. I'm also interested in the way you balance the idea of the Song that's always been and the possibility of changing things. Author Reply: Thank-you daw. The end of arda is so open that it gives room for all kind of speculation! | |
| Bodkin | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 3/31/2008 |
| Poor Thomas and Maria! Echoes of former loves and partings swirl around them - and I wouldn't be surprised to find that both of them shared some distant connection to the elves. I hope Thomas manages to ... attract the funding to help the forest, but I doubt he will have any long-term success. But at least he might be reunited with his wife. In time. I loved Celeborn and the lynx. And his discovery of the pond. And his ability to cope with the ingestion of quantities of vodka. While the Steve McQueen style Great Escape from Valinor is highly entertaining - when is the potential escapee going to try the motorcycle technique? It would seem as if Celeborn's reluctance to suggest that the end is nigh is justified. Although I'm not as sure as Manwe is that he's never been wrong. I'm looking forward to part 2. Author Reply: Thank you, Bodkin, your wishes are commands, there you go part 2... Time is ticking off, as always, only at different scales, but for Thomas and MAria is always more pressing, while Celeborn measures it differently... and yet he knows that arda, somehow will reach its end eventually. | |
| Redheredh | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 2/11/2008 |
| Thank you so much for another chapter! You know how I love this story! Each chapter highlighting a different location and crisis is a marvelous construct. You portray the awful decline and the condition of those working to salve these hurts so very well. In general, people have become so focused on the plight of the rain-forest, they have barely noticed the failing of deciduous forests. Yet, it is the same problem in their own backyard! I like the setting in Poland and environmental subject of this chapter very much, and seeing this particular one of the last four of quendi kind as the protagonist. The hunt was a nice, tense start. But, the sub-theme - the solitary male - catches one's attention at the very beginning and does not let go. I love how you used the solitary lynx to introduce that theme and establish the parallel between elf and man. Then, you show the parallel between Celeborn and Thomas so clearly. It was very touching, how they yearned to fulfil a higher purpose that included their natural purpose on this earth. And facing the usual next step of disoriented pursuit. Although... It was a little cruel of you to have Maria look so like Galadriel. And comparing poor Thomas' options to Celeborn's. Cruel in just making their situations so alike. Still, the irony you created, especially for Celeborn offering Maria the job, was very well done. And what reader does not enjoy good angst? ;) Hiding the path into Caras Galadhon was neat. Even if the mellyrn have been replaced with oaks, the way into the heart of elfdom on Earth remains secret. That some of old magic remains is appealing. Oh, you are such a romantic! I admit that I absolutely love what you do with people in love. Is the song a real song? Gosh, I wish that to be so. I could just hear the violin and Thomas singing in a voice like Yul Brenner... Hmm, I have a couple of guesses who this pesky grey-cloaked elf could be... ];} One reason I enjoy your stuff is that your ideas mesh well with my own. That is very reassuing that I am not so silly. :) Lastly, I must say that I feel Maria and her dilemma represent you. If not absolutely so, than you have lent her character a good deal of your personal experience. Her decisions look to be tough as well. Thank you again for this update and birthday wishes! But, I hope we do not have to wait until next November for Part 2! Sheesh! Post sooner than later, please! Pierogi! I like the ingredients in your recipe better than those in my grandmother's! Author Reply: YOu are most welcome, my friend. I was saving Celeborn for the last chapter and his stroy grew out of control... SInce your non birth-day is a moving date, I am expecting to hace the second part ready in a month or even less... I so love your thoughtful reviews! I was struggling with the part of the lynx for I was not sure that the theme would come across. Cruel in just making their situations so alike LOLOL AS I have recently expereienced with my re readings, when the personal mood is receptive one can easily deceive himself or herself with parallels and resemblances that are not so clear... and life is ironic, and cruel...but also rewarding, all at the same time. Only at times we see one side more than the other I suppose... :-) I pesky grey-cloaked elf could be... :-) I seem to remember that I wrote grey cloakked figure???? And THomas with Yul Brenner's voice had never occurred to me, but sounds inspiring... :-) I must say that I feel myself closer to Thomas's approach than to mAria's, even if I travel a lot... and life insists on placing me on a different ladded than the one I would climb! :-( And let me say, perhaps be both are silly, but at least are fools in good company! We could exchange perogi recipes: I used the one I got when I last was in BIaloweza three years ago, so I would love to taste your grandmas' reciep as well. HAve a good belated un birthday, and may our silly ideas never leave us. | |
| Elena Tiriel | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 2/10/2008 |
| Well, this story is truly fascinating, Perelleth! I love all the details of various locations, and it looks to me like you catch the "flavor" of the inhabitants of each area really well. Either you are an anthropologist, by training or by inclination, or you are simply brilliant! Or both. Well done! - Barbara Author Reply: You are too kind, thank you very much! SInce I am not fond of elves in moder times I am glad every time a reader is entertained by the tale! | |
| Haleth | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 2/10/2008 |
| You don’t want to hear the rest of the story. I already know the rest of the story. It's repeated over and over and over again in the Western Hemisphere (and probably other places, I just know more about the specifics here.) The story is a beautifully told tragedy. I wish it weren't so dared real. Author Reply: Thank- you Haleth. Reality almost always surpasses fiction, I believe. I just threw in the elves just to get some hope... :-) | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 2/10/2008 |
| And we continue in our destruction of the world and its beauty and diversity.... Author Reply: YOU are right. I can only hope that somethng good comes out of this, too. Thank you for reading, Larner! | |
| daw the minstrel | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 2/9/2008 |
| I love the idea of Celeborn having a "mane." The lynx's POV is wonderful, making it clear that a human POV is not the only possible one in this ravished forest. And of course, elves have a different POV yet. "Herds" of birches, alders, lime trees, oaks! Now that's elfy and I suppose lynxish. I laughed when Maria compared him to an elf lord. The discussion of the oaks' problems was fascinating and very well presented as dialogue. And the mixing of personal and environmental problems was so sad, stripped of sentimentality. he knew everything about fruitless wars That's a wonderful line, very evocative. So the scene in Valinor. Hm. Time is ebbing to a close? And who is this troublesome elf? TBC? Yay! Author Reply: Thank-you Daw. I really appreciate the time you take to read through *and* point out details. I was struggling withthey lynx from the very beginning, and particularly with those two words that you point out! The second part won't take too long, I hope. | |
| French Pony | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 3/13/2007 |
| Hi! It's in the middle of Exam Week here, so I haven't been able to remember to read and review things as often as usual. But I did want to let you know that I read this and that I enjoyed it. Author Reply: Hope everything went well. THis was not the most approrpiate story to have a good time between papes, but I hope you enjoyed the distraction, thanks for letting me know FP, I hope youenjoy the following break. | |
| elliska | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 3/10/2007 |
| This is incredible, Perelleth! I love these stories. The modern setting and the elves in it--you are the only author I have read that can pull it off. Maybe because of the details you include, certainly because of how well you capture the elves. I love it. And of course I love the themes. Wonderful! Author Reply: THank you, elliska! It is a challenge to TOlkien readers, I suppose. I for one do not read Elves in modern times, yet I have become slave of my own creation and keep seeing them almost everywhere.. I am glad that you like it! | |
| Bodkin | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 3/6/2007 |
| I just love this, perelleth. Father Nino is a great character - a real selfless priest whose faith gives him sight beyond the everyday - and a genuine philanthropist, too - to whom others are more important than himself. I love what he is doing for the people of the village. And his kindness even extends to the doctor (little though the doctor realises it). And he's right - Insa can do far more for his people as a lawyer than as a rice farmer. And then - the Bakin. Powerful, strong, elemental - and vulnerable. I love the way the old priest can spare his last moments to reassure the tormented elf ... “And I know of guilt, and shame, and forgiveness and redemption…and the deep mysteries of creation. A creator capable of bringing to life a being of light like yourself...cannot fail to take your grief…and shame…and remorse…and turn them into blessing and forgiveness…no matter your deeds,” So what Maglor needs to hear. And he sings ... I hope they do meet again. Eventually. Author Reply: Thank you Bodkin. I was amazed to realizae how may different names of otherworldy spirits would fit with mAglor' identity: a houseless, a doomed king, a forest spirit... the legends and alternative beliefs in this world so fit with Tollien's characters that it is easy to confound Elves with spirits and the other way. And in the middle of it all, a slefless persona, a true steward really to offer him what he needed. A troubled elf finding comofrt in the lesser humans seemed dsomehow fitting. I am so glad that you liked it. | |