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| To See A World by Nightwing | 15 Review(s) |
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| e_vrouw | Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 3/27/2004 |
| Love the chapter! There was a lot of information to process but you added funny comments at the appropriate times. That really helped to lighten the mood and prevent the story from becoming dull. Can't wait to see Tarnan meet Legolas. Though I wonder.... He still doesn't know Legolas is blind, right? Will Legolas try to hide it from him? Now THAT would be fun! Ramhar and Malcovan don't like elves, and have most probably (in my eyes) meet the elves of Mirkwood. Legolas is the prince of Mirkwood. Does anyone else see dangerous thunder clouds looming overhead? This chapter came very quickly. Hope you can keep up the pace. ;) Just an after thought: Where's Tithlam?? I really like that cat but she wasn't mentioned. Not even once! :( | |
| Ithildin | Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 3/27/2004 |
| I’m fairly new around here and I wanted to let you know that I’ve been enjoying your story. The plot is intriguing and grounded in realistic details. It’s fascinating watching how Legolas is learning to cope with his limitations and how Aragorn is learning how to aid his friend without being too overprotective. Simply *love* the little cat. Squeaky, indeed. The purrrfect touch! :) The descriptions of their preparations for winter are great. Most modern city-dwellers have no idea how critical such preparations would be for survival or how much work would be involved in making them. I’ll be interested to learn more about Malcovan and Ramhar and why they hate (or fear?) Elves so much. I shudder to think what these baddies might have in store for our heroes. Keep the updates coming, I anxiously await each one! *** I know this is off-topic for the review, but I wanted to respond to some points you discussed in one of your previous review-replies, I hope it’s O.K. to do so… On the subject of the Laws and Customs of the Eldar essay and elven sexuality – funny, I never got the idea that Tolkien intended folks to think that married elven couples quit having intimate relations after their children grew up. I think what he was simply saying was that after having a few children – they stopped having *children* – not that they stopped having sex. He explained how much more of the parents’ energy went into the developing child than with mortals – it’s not surprising they elected to limit the number of offspring. And the part about not living together – I don’t interpret that to mean that such behavior was the norm or that the split was necessarily ever permanent. No, I believe he was trying to explain that *some* of the Elves did this *some* of the time. Their marriage was strong enough that they could be free to enrich their lives and further their own development as a person even if it meant living apart for a time. They didn’t have to live together all the time to be happy together. I don’t interpret that to mean that the physical relationship ended. As you pointed out, Tolkien’s Elves were passionate people, and they loved passionately as well, but they had more control of their physical passions than humans. As immortals they had plenty of time, too, so delaying gratification was not a hardship. I personally don’t see anything in the LACE essay as portraying their relationships as cold or dull or distant. Tolkien seems pretty clear that his Elves were celibate when single and faithful when married, but that doesn’t mean that they chaffed under those moral standards. And as for all the sad, lonely Elves in the Halls of Mandos – I have a different take on that too. I think Tolkien was stressing that the Halls of Mandos were a place of quiet contemplation, rest and regeneration – lest anyone get the notion that it was ‘party-time’ in there. Most Elves probably didn’t stay long, and the ones who did probably had enough to work through to keep them from being bored. The only ones that I ever considered ‘sad and lonely’ would be the few that chose *not* to be re-embodied for some tragic reason. We each have our own interpretations and opinions on these things, I only hope I have communicated that the information in the LACE essay need not be taken as something that diminishes the vibrant, passionate lives of the Eldar. Ithildin (* | |
| French Pony | Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 3/27/2004 |
| Cool! A warship that sank in 1545, and the bows were still usable? Dude, that must have been an awesome find. Was that ship the Mary Whosiewhatsie? I can't remember if the second name is Jane or Celeste or something, but I know that one of Henry VIII's ships was the Mary Something, and she sank and it was a big deal. Ahem. On to the actual review of the actual story. "We have been isolated here a long time, and would welcome a fresh story." Truer words were never spoken. Yes, this chapter was something of an information dump, but it was a very welcome information dump, both for the information and for the presence of Alun and the mention of some of the other people living in the area. It's amazing how just one additional character can open a story up and give it a big breath of fresh air, and Alun came along in the perfect time for that. The Bad Guys have earned my undying hatred. You don't just leave a horse to die. That is Bad, Bad, Bad. If you must kill the master, make arrangements for the horse. Malcovan is interesting. He's a socerer, therefore one who deals in magic. There are a lot of more or less magical people running around Middle-earth, and they come in many flavors and sizes. Let's see. He's specifically called a sorcerer, so he's probably not one of the Istari/Wizards. Gandalf he wouldn't be, nor Radagast. I can't quite see him as Saruman. Alatar and Pallando don't seem to be in the vicinity. Best guess is that he either has a Lesser Ring of Power (I seem to recall some characters mentioning those through the course of Tolkien's writing) or he's a Rogue Maia, or possibly both. Maybe one of the unfortunate Kings who got hold of the Nine Rings, on his way to wraithdom but not there yet. I shall have to keep an eye out for him. Aragorn and Legolas have gotten themselves into a precarious situation, no bones about it. It's good that they have friends and that they spent all that time doing the (wonderfully detailed) preparation for the winter. But basically, they're in the same position Wladyslaw Szpilman was in -- trapped and dependent on friends to bring them food. Fortunately, they have good friends, including a little kid who will no doubt raise Legolas's sagging spirits. I think that, while they are not at all in an enviable position, they are nowhere near as bad off as they could be. I think they'll do pretty well. This was a good, satisfying chapter all around. | |
| LKK | Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 3/26/2004 |
| Oh, I don't like that foreshadowing at the very end there. Isn't it bad enough that you've made Legolas blind (apparently permanently)? Now you have to go and have a dark shadow momentarily rise up and separate Aragorn and him? To borrow a phrase from another universe: I have a bad feeling about this. Very informative chapter, Nightwing. It's not easy to keep a reader interested during long bouts of exposition. Exposition while necessary can sometimes be deadly dull. Yet, I was thoroughly intrigued by the political history of the city. Nice job on a difficult task! Finally, I just wanted to say that I get quite a kick out of identifying the real life sources of your chapter titles. I wish I was as clever about those things as you are. :-) | |
| Kitt of Lindon | Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 3/26/2004 |
| Bored? Nay! I love explanation chapters. Now I see how its all coming together. Right, glad you said that if a mortal can do it, an Elf can do it better. Fan fic authors seem to forget that about a lot of things. Your updates are becoming so frequent that it's hard to keep up. (not that I'm complaining) Your updates never fail in livening my day. | |