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| Truce by meckinock | 89 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| obsidianj | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/18/2007 |
| Great start. I thought it was a one-shot, since this is a birthday present and they tend to be short, but I was nearly to the end when I realized no way are you going to be able to finish in the rest of the chapter. I love the way you describe Denethor without making him out to be all evil. His grumpyness after a night of too much celebrating was very believable. You paint him as a good commander who is respected and followed but not loved. Thorongil seems to have all that and the love of the troops, which naturally rankles Denethor. I like it that he is following Thorongil and not leaving him to his fate even if he is not very font of the man. I had to laugh at the marriage maneuvering of Finduilas. Denethor is in a fine pickle. I look forward to the next chapter. Author Reply: Hi, obsidianj, I guess I fooled a lot of people with the unexpected WIP. The story actually was meant to be a one-shot, but when it got rather longer than I like my chapters to be, I cut it up. I'm glad you liked Denethor. I've seen varying portrayals of him, too, and over time I've found myself gravitating more and more towards a sympathetic treatment of him. He's a tragic character - but a noble, heroic one. Even though he's rankled by Thorongil, he respects him. He is in a pickle. But he could be in a worse pickle than being pushed to marry a beautiful princess he loves :-) Thanks for reviewing. I'm glad you're enjoying it. | |
| Gandalfs apprentice | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/18/2007 |
| Hello, meckinock Great beginning! I'm glad you've started a new story. Author Reply: Thanks, GA. It's good to be back in the saddle again. | |
| Agape4Gondor | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/18/2007 |
| Yikes! I wouldn't have read this if I had noticed it was a WIP (work in progress) but I am VERY glad I did. I see now (went to check you out) that you do seem to finish what you start... so I'm hopeful I will not be left waiting and waiting. It is an excellent start. I love your Denethor - sounds real to me. Thorongil, though we have yet to meet him, seems to be completely in character. I like the marriage thing with Finduilas. Will be interesting to see where you take this. Also, very much like the brother-in-law. Good contrast. I guess I'm tired of reading only lordly Gondorian warriors... not that he's not lordly, but he's real. Again - excellent start. Waiting (impatiently) for more. Author Reply: Hi Agape, This is one-shot but it got slightly out of hand, so I decided to chop it up. There will be only one or two more chapters (I haven't quite made up my mind.) So no never-ending story, I promise :-) Glad you're enjoying the surprise WIP, though. I am really enjoying getting into Denethor's head. Thanks for reviewing. | |
| daw the minstrel | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/18/2007 |
| I really like the way you're showing the Denethor-Thorongil dynamic from Denethor's POV. And you're treating him subtly, which is uncommon in fanfic, though it's what Tolkien certainly did. I liked the hint that he suspects Thorongil is more than he seems. As always, the details bring this alive--the cold boots, the sloppy weather, the need for a freeze to make travel easier. I cringed at the slaves' bare feet. I just noticed this morning that one of my heels has cracked from the cold, dry weather and I haven't been walking around barefoot. So apparently, PJ's TTT wasn't the first time Aragorn went over a cliff???? Author Reply: So apparently, PJ's TTT wasn't the first time Aragorn went over a cliff???? LOL, it turns out Aragorn is quite the veteran at cliff-jumping. I have to tell you, I love Denethor's POV. He's such a noble, do-gooder boy scout type. He's always done everything exactly right, and he just can't figure out what he did wrong to end up second best. He had everything worked out, and then life just slapped him upside the head and he never saw it coming. Poor guy. | |
| Elflingimp | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/18/2007 |
| Well that woke me up! I just got up to your story this morning half asleep but by the time I was done reading I was wide awake! Good or should I say great cliffhanger! My heart was beating fast by the time I was done reading,what a good wakeup call! LOL Author Reply: I've never written an actual, literal, cliff-hanger before! It was kind of invigorating for me, too. Glad you enjoyed the wake-up call :-) and thanks for reviewing. | |
| French Pony | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/18/2007 |
| What a neat Denethor here! He's irascible, hungover, annoyed, and totally believable. You can see that he really does have most of the gifts of a formidable commander, and that being a Captain-general is something he's really good at. But he lacks the charisma of Thorongil, and so he ends up doing the work while Thorongil gets the credit. And Denethor ends up being the one to go after Thorongil to clean up his mess, too. He is not going to be a happy camper, especially coming home (with or without his father's favorite) to increased marriage pressure, which I'm sure is something that would just make him crumble into little bits. Author Reply: I'm glad you like irascible, hungover, annoyed, Denethor. He was much more enjoyable to write than I ever expected. You're so right; he's extremely gifted; he just doesn't have the charisma (and possibly, to be fair, that extra spark of intuitive genius) that Thorongil has. A really complex and intriguing personality. Thanks for reviewing! | |
| fliewatuet | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/18/2007 |
| I sincerely hope that this is not the end of the story? I mean ... how can you leave your readers hanging like that? Seriously: excellent beginning. You have me hooked :-) Author Reply: I sincerely hope that this is not the end of the story? No, there will be one more chapter (I think; two at the most). It was supposed to be a one-shot but when it got up to around 12,000 words I decided to chop it up. Glad you're enjoying :-) | |
| Ainu Laire | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/18/2007 |
| *squees in a most unnatural way* NEW STORY! And it's a birthday present! A shared birthday present! But that's still so sweet, especially since it's so dang long! I mean, it's not even done after the first chapter! I've never seen such a long birthday present! You know, I was reading Thorongil stories earlier today, and I was really craving some. How did you know? :P Oh oh oh, I'm so thrilled. Now time to compose my thoughts to make a somewhat coherent review... Denethor... you portray him excellently. He isn't evil (like I've seen him in other Thorongil-era stories... some have written him as extremely vicious), he isn't stupid, he isn't completely-over-the-top arrogant, and it seems that his biggest strife with Thorongil is for the admiration from the steward, which seems pretty understandable, especially considering his personality. I truly like how you portray him, and I am interested in seeing how he is in other chapters. Thorongil going after orcs with slaves... yep. Definitely him. Only something like that would make him disobey a direct order. I like your OCs too, as usual. They are completely believable, and they aren't completely flat like so many others write OCs. Oh, you truly are a great author, and whenever you update and complete this story, you better keep on writing ;) But dang, I can't wait to see what happens next! Don't make us wait *too* long! :) Author Reply: Hi, Laire, Yeah, it's a shared birthday present. I know that's kind of cheating, but when your birthday was coming up I really wanted to write something Aragorn-y for you, only I was so far behind already and I didn't want you to be in college before I got your story done. So, sorry for that. But glad you enjoyed it anyway. I'm glad you were in the mood for Thorongil. I promise that you'll actually get to see him in the next chapter, too LOL. Denethor, yeah. I never tried to write him before. I've read some great Denethor characterizations, but I have to admit it was the bad ones that really made me resolve to write him. I hate to see him portrayed as a Central Casting bad guy when he's so much more noble and layered and tragic than that. And yeah, Thorongil would so totally go after the escaped slaves :-) Glad you enjoyed it. | |
| Raksha The Demon | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/17/2007 |
| The story is off to a great start! I can't remember if you've written Denethor before, but you're doing a great job here. He's scrupulously fair in giving his rival credit where it's due, but begrudges Thorongil the love of Ecthelion, which is perhaps the bitterness of a son who wants to be the sole joy of his father's life, and perhaps a sign of the possessiveness that Denethor displays in ROTK. Denethor's mixture of compassion and disgust at the sight of the debilitated, exhausted Mordor-slave, is also characteristic. I think that Faramir would have felt mainly compassion. It's interesting that you paint Finduilas as being rather predatory; I will enjoy finding out if this is just Denethor's perception (i.e. he isn't used to being the object of a woman's desire, or she's tired of him being interested but making no move) or if Finduilas, who has been hallowed in most fanfic stories as a lovely gentle lady in love with Denethor or a tough-minded stateswoman also in love with Denethor, really is just an ambitious young woman pursuing the best catch in Gondor's marriage market. The only thing that didn't really work for me was the banter between Denethor and Turgon about Denethor's sister's sexuality/procreative qualities. I don't see Denethor being so cavalier in attitude, in conversation, about a sister of his, even if they weren't close or friendly. Update soon, please! Author Reply: Hi, Raksha, This is indeed my first stab at Denethor. He's such a complex, noble, tragic figure that he kept calling to me. That's a good observation about how Faramir would have seen the rescued slave mainly with compassion - I think you're right. There have been a lot of different takes on the Denethor-Finduilas relationship, haven't there? I don't feel like I have much new insight there, really. Denethor is acting like a comnmitment-phobic male because that's what he is :-), and Finduilas I think is responding fairly typically to that. As far as the brother-in-law goes, I was considering Denethor's attitude to be more chronically annoyed than cavalier, but that might not have been the way it came across. Thanks for reviewing! | |