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Sundry Scrolls II  by Raksha The Demon 84 Review(s)
Little DwarfReviewed Chapter: 9 on 8/18/2008
I'm very, very glad this is just an AU! And I don't want to think about how the story might have been twisted, had Faramir taken the ring... This *is* the darkest of possibilities, and personally I'd rather have Faramir die painfully at the hands of orcs... :(

But what a marvellous display of writing skill! "At once, he knew a heady joy, as if he drank deep from a wine long stored in dark cellars." - excellent simile!

I like the piece for the writting and the style, but I loathe the very idea that Faramir might have fallen in this way...

Author Reply: Believe me, Small-Dwarf, I loathe the idea that Faramir could fall to the Ring too. Cool, compassionless Faramir is not someone I'd like to meet. That's why this is AU; and not an AU that I plan to take any further, brrrr.

Thanx for reading and reviewing this sinister AU, L.D.!

Linda HoylandReviewed Chapter: 11 on 8/17/2008
A delightful look at how Legolas got his name!

Author Reply: I'm glad you liked the ficlet; Linda; This was my first venture into Thranduil's territory; and I had a little fun with the Elvenking; who I think would have been a very proud and good father.

Linda HoylandReviewed Chapter: 10 on 8/17/2008
I loved the chilling foresight in this ficlet.And the mention of hope at the end sends a shudder down my spine!Poor Denethor,he could havebeen all his father had hoped for and more.

Author Reply: So much could have been different, for Gondor, Faramir, and of course for poor Denethor, if he could have held onto hope (a tall order, but others faced terrible odds in the story and forged ahead) and welcomed Hope into his city. But it should be remembered that Denethor did withhold the Tower of Guard from Sauron's grasp throughout his stewardship; and Minas Tirith did not fall.

Thanx for reviewing, Linda!

Linda HoylandReviewed Chapter: 9 on 8/17/2008
This is a very chilling and scary tale,which I'm delighted came about as result of my impromtu challenge,as I never thought you would write Faramir as unable to resist the Ring!Just brilliant,as Faramir with the Ring would be a force to be reckoned with who might end up making the Witch King look quite harmless!I am reminded of what Legolas said about Aragorn,as the two are of similiar quality.

Author Reply: If Faramir had let himself, he could have succumbed to the Ring's lure as did Boromir, to save Gondor. And imagining Faramir as Ring-bearer, losing his compassion and becoming very dangerous, was interesting.

Thanx for reading and reviewing, Linda!

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 11 on 8/17/2008
So wonderful to see this one here as well. Love this tale of naming!

Author Reply: I wondered how a proud, tough-minded warrior king managed to name his son 'Green Leaf', LOL. Glad you liked the piece!

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 10 on 8/17/2008
If only he could have held that estel in his heart to the end!

Author Reply: I deliberately tried some wordplay on the estel motif, considering Denethor's history with Aragorn, and Aragorn's deliverance of Minas Tirith. Thanx for the review, Larner!

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 9 on 8/17/2008
Ah, yes, another of the more awful might-have-beens. And to lose compassion for his father was perhaps the worst thing of all.

Author Reply: Thanx for reviewing the tale, Larner. Writing the insidious corruption of Faramir was rather ghastly - he could be a horror if turned to the dark side.

Little DwarfReviewed Chapter: 8 on 6/29/2008
Beautiful little piece!! I loved the rebirth/regeneration/renewal motif, and the small flower as the symbol of it... And Faramir comparing his finding to Aragorn's is very in character and well-inserted! :)

All in all, another wonderful series of vignettes!!! You really have a great talent at placing so many and so deep ideas in so few words! :) Excellent job!!!!!

Author Reply: Vignettes can be fun to write; and I seem to have become addicted to writing them.

I thought of Faramir toiling away at the razing and reclamation of Minas Ithil for decades; and had to let him start seeing signs of new and uncorrupted life. Faramir would appreciate the flower, as a Ranger and Lord of the Garden of Gondor.

Thanx for reading and reviewing!

Little DwarfReviewed Chapter: 7 on 6/29/2008
Wonderful!!! You're right about the 'purposeless' part - though Gandalf had one more important task to make: help Aragorn find and restore the White Tree, to give Gondor a reminder of its roots...

Are Olorin and Sauron brothers? I know they are both Maiar, but doeas Tolkien mention them as 'brethen'? (not physical, of course, but maybe in the way that Manwe and Morgoth are brothers...)

I loved the last line and the contrasting use of the different names! :)

Author Reply: I'm not entirely sure that Gandalf was aware of the existence of the new White Tree at this point. If he had known that there was a fruit of the sacred-to-the-Kings tree still alive and not too far from Minas Tirith, surely Gandalf would have told Aragorn before they set out for the Black Gate, to give the King hope. I tend to think that the Valar themselves held the sapling in reserve, and gave it an extra growth spurt after Sauron fell. Then they would have communicated the fact of the tree's existence to Gandalf, but not necessarily the night after the last battle, with King and wizard so far from the little Tree.

I thought that Gandalf might have, at one point in his long-gone 'youth', have thought of Sauron as a brother, since they were both Maiar and most of the Maiar served the Valar. A bit of poetic license, perhaps.

Glad you liked the use of the different names - Gandalf and Sauron had accumulated so many!

Little DwarfReviewed Chapter: 6 on 6/29/2008
Oh, my! This was a very good ficlet, though I'm very, very glad it is just AU! I wouldn't have minded Denethor surviving, but Faramir's death because of his father's pride makes me angry!! :(

But I really loved your characterization, and of course the writing! (as an English major, good writing is a must for me, so that's why I keep mentioning I like your style...)

I also liked this part: "He had led the defenses on the south wall, fighting in the front until the Morgul-spawn retreated, caught between the hammer of the captains of the West who scoured the Pelennor and the anvil of Minas Tirith itself." - book Denethor would have been able to do just that, he, who walked clad in armor beneath his robes... (remember the scene in the book?)

Oh, and this: "The City (...) now throws open her broken gates to Isildur's upstart heir like a giddy strumpet opening perfumed knees." - what an expressive simile!!!

Author Reply: I'm glad the piece is AU too; it would just be too horrible to have Denethor survive only to sit around, embittered and irrelevent, and Faramir dead.

Yes, a strong, martial Denethor rallying the troops on the walls of Gondor would have been something to see. Tolkien said he had been a great Captain.

Poor Denethor would have felt, watching the people of Minas Tirith welcome their new King, that the City had personally betrayed him; the joy of the crowds would have put him in mind of a strumpet behaving promiscuously...

Thanx much for reading and reviewing, Little Dwarf!

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