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| At Hope's Edge by Cairistiona | 352 Review(s) |
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| meckinock | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 12/14/2008 |
| Wow, the sights and smells and physical aftermath of battle are grimly and realistically portrayed. The draining of adrenalin and the quiet, frantic headcount, and the dismayed realization that another man was lost. This is grim and gritty and quite matches the chapter title! Looking forward to more... Author Reply: Thank you! "grim and gritty" ... I like that! That's definitely what I wanted, that and the (again I love your word choice) "quiet, frantic" feel to the chapter. I do think that too often in stories... whether fanfic or novels... the physical effects of the aftermath are glossed over at best or ignored. I wanted to be sure to show that Aragorn had the same sort of reactions as any man after a fight like that. More to come next week. Thanks again for your review! | |
| meckinock | Reviewed Chapter: Prologue on 12/14/2008 |
| Ah, finally! I'm glad you finished this. Looking forward to reading it. Author Reply: Yes, finally finished it, after what, a year? LOL I hope you like it ... I will always be extremely grateful for the help you gave me at the outset. I really don't think I would have gone anywhere in the fandom without your friendly welcome and this story especially would have died a quiet death on my hard drive without your input. Thanks again! | |
| Estelcontar | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 12/14/2008 |
| What a wonderfully poignant and insightful first chapter. Your description of the battle was so vivid, I felt I was there with Aragorn fighting that orc, and feeling exhausted. His pain at the death of Mallor is just right too. It illustrates beautifully the kind of leader Aragorn is: one who loves and cares for his people as if they were his own kin. That Mallor felt as if Aragorn were his father was a good point too because it shows the kind of close knit relationship a fairly small people like the Dúnedain of Arnor share. It so sad that Mallor had to die so young. He was such a sympathetic character. His death, though, highlights the self-sacrificing life the Dúnedain of Arnor led in order to protect their ancient territory. Author Reply: Thank you, Estelcontar! I'm glad you mentioned the close-knit aspect of the Rangers, because I agree with you in that they would no doubt form very close bonds. Going through hardships together is something that binds men closer together than just about anything else, I think, and there definitely was plenty of hardship for the Dúnedain of Arnor to endure. And I often wonder how many young men they lost to battle, like Mallor. Scary times they endured. | |
| Szepilona10 | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 12/14/2008 |
| How sad! Mallor was so young(older than me, but anyway). His poor mother! Update soon please! God Bless! ~Szepilona10~ Author Reply: Yes, it is a sad start, isn't it? Poor Rangers, and poor Mallor, and yes, his poor mother. Next update will come Sunday or Monday. Thanks for reading and reviewing ... and God bless. :) | |
| Linda Hoyland | Reviewed Chapter: Prologue on 12/10/2008 |
| Poor Aragorn,what a grim outlook he faced.I've a nasty feeling the young boy will be the next doomed one.You write Rangers beautifully.I find this part of Aragorn's life very hard to write.I eagerly await more. Author Reply: Thank you so much, Linda, for your kind review. I'm glad you like the way I write Rangers... they've become near and dear to my heart, so I'm glad to know you think I'm doing them justice. And of course, I can't say what comes next, other than, um, well ... no, I won't say anything. ;) Thanks again for the lovely review. | |
| Marchwriter | Reviewed Chapter: Prologue on 12/9/2008 |
| Dear Cairistiona, At last, I can return the favor of a review! What a charming and engaging beginning to what promises to be quite a story! I can tell already that a great deal of work and time and consideration went into this piece. I would love to discover your interpretation of the matter of the Nazgul for that quote has often fascinated me (I also thought that there was something of the flashback in his "unseeing eyes aas if walking in distant memory or listening to the sounds of Night.") Tolkien was a soldier of WWI; it's not inconceivable that he would have been aware of such things--or even suffered some of them himself. Now for all of the delicious detail you put into this very promising prologue, I do have one aspect that jarred me a little. Your OCs look very engaging, and I look forward to meeting, but I wonder if Aragorn, having known these men for an indeterminate length of time, would have described them in such thorough and...gushing? detail. I know that letter writing was the best way of communication then, and men put a lot more into their words and were comfortable expressing a lot more than they seem to today, but the almost overabundance of description seemed...off. Perhaps, it's just me, and that is, of course, only my opinion. I still very much look forward to what you come up with (actually, I'm quite glad this story is already complete, so I don't have to suffer :) My own readers, unfortunately, will have to for a little yet.) All the best, Marchwriter --more detail? Less of an out and outright description of the men. Would aragorn spend so much time describing his men in that intimate a detail? Author Reply: Thank you for the review, Marchwriter! I'm glad you mostly liked my beginning. In answer to your question--I do think Aragorn would describe the men as such. For one thing, this was a letter to his foster father. Had the letter not been a personal one but a strictly military report, then no, he would not have mentioned any of them in such terms. But being a missive to a loved one, I think we can give Aragorn some leniency in waxing a bit eloquent about his friends. But mileage varies and you're fine in disagreeing with my take on it. :) As for the Nazgûl quote, I have that exact same impression of it--I think Tolkien probably was very aware of men who had such experiences after combat. Wouldn't it have been great had Tolkien given us more detail on this? But then we wouldn't have the fun of exploring it ourselves. Thanks again for the thoughtful review. Hopefully my take on Aragorn will ring more true for you in future chapters. | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: Prologue on 12/8/2008 |
| What to say, and what to leave unsaid, that is often difficult. Alas for the one who will be king, now when all looks otherwise. Lovely impressions of his life amongst his own folk. Author Reply: Thank you, Larner! I do really want to paint the life of the Dúnedain with my stories, so I'm glad you commented on that. I think it must have been so hard, waiting so many years, watching the world grow darker and more evil, and not being able to do anything toward reaching that destiny... those are the thoughts that formed the genesis of this story. Well, that and Tolkien's vivid description of Aragorn's traumatic memory of the Nazgûl. ;) Thanks again for the review! | |
| Silivren Tinu | Reviewed Chapter: Prologue on 12/8/2008 |
| Now that is really a promising beginning! You already had my full attention when I saw the FotR quote at the beginning - I always would have liked to know *exactly* what Aragorn was thinking about when he said those words. It seems my wish will be granted at last. ;-) It seems Aragorn has taken the deaths of those Dunedain very hard - you already hinted at it in "Keeping Watch", but he seems to be even more downcast now. I'm very glad he has Halbarad at his side to help him through whatever is to come. It is so like Aragorn to not want to worry Elrond and pretend that he's alright - somehow it makes me sad. He's so alone because of it. A wonderful beginning, I'm looking forward to more! :) Almut Author Reply: Thank you, Almut! I'm glad you liked the start of this. And yes, that quote intrigued me from the first time I read it, too. It just seemed to me that whatever happened to him must have been really terrible for him to have such a reaction however many years after--he seems to all but have a flashback, from the sounds of it. And for someone as strong as Aragorn to still be troubled ... well, there had to be more, right? I hope the rest of the story holds up as well for you as the prologue! Thanks again! | |
| inzilbeth | Reviewed Chapter: Prologue on 12/8/2008 |
| I'm absolutely delighted this fabulous story is finally seeing the light of day. It's one of the most realistic, gritty views of how life might have been for the Rangers, and for Aragorn in particular, that I have ever read. Those long years between his return to the North and the finding of the Ring, must have been so difficult for Aragorn and at times maintaining hope, almost impossible. I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the ride one more time! Author Reply: LOL ... well, thank you so much for all the help you gave me or this thing would *not* have seen the light of day now nor any time soon. It really is hard to imagine just how hard life was for Aragorn and the rest of the Rangers. Hopefully I'll have done it justice by the time the story is finished. Thanks again! | |
| Estelcontar | Reviewed Chapter: Prologue on 12/8/2008 |
| What a fascinating prologue. It's beautifully written, to the point, and gives one some tantalizing foreshadowing of what it's to come. Furthermore, you get a completely believable and cannon faithful Aragorn. In his letter to Elrond you see the caring and thoughtful leader of the Dúnedain, who worries and frets about his people and about the effects his despondency might cause on Elrond. On the other hand, through it all you feel a gentle streak of humour which lightens the piece, and illustrates well one of my favourite traits of Aragorn - his sense of humour. Well done. I can't wait to read the other chapters. Author Reply: Wow, thank you, Estelcontar, for such a lovely review--I'm amazed you pulled all that out of this because I have to confess, I didn't consciously try to do any of those things. But I suppose in knowing Aragorn and the person he is, when one writes, those traits will come through. And thank you again for being my "test reader" on this! I hope you enjoy the second time 'round ... there'll be a few new things here and there. ;) | |