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| Blood and Fire by Clodia | 41 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| WendWriter | Reviewed Chapter: 7 on 11/16/2009 |
| That the death of Dior should be so horrible and pointless is the heart of this meaty tragedy. His relationships with his loving wife and loyal friends is perfectly displayed here. I can almost see this as a scene in a movie. Someone has got to film this! Author Reply: You are quite right: the pointlessness and horror of Dior's death was precisely what I wanted here, and indeed very much the core of the story. It was terribly depressing to write the whole piece, but this bit of it in particular. I still rather wish I could break canon and get him safely to the treasury! | |
| WendWriter | Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 11/16/2009 |
| Celegorm's mindless baiting of Dior and the king's dismissal of it as being thus is beautifully rendered here. The others hearing it, and their reactions are also nicely done. To say I'm impressed is to say mount Everest is a mountain - it doesn't do justice to the magnificence of this great story. Author Reply: I can only repeat: I'm so glad you like this story, and you're far too kind! I'm not sure Celegorm's baiting is mindless, precisely; while I was writing this, I was thinking of the cricketing practice of 'sledging', for some reason -- I'm not a cricket fan at all, but maybe it was the season for it. It made sense to me and I'm glad it works for you. | |
| WendWriter | Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 11/16/2009 |
| More masterful juxtaposition. I love the way Dior is so calm. The single combat to pit two opposites against each other was a brilliant idea. Author Reply: Poor Dior, he really is still my favourite tragic Tolkien figure after writing this story. The duel, I thought, was a reasonable interpretation of Celegorm falling by Dior's hand -- after all, if it wasn't a memorable death, why specify that? | |
| WendWriter | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 11/16/2009 |
| Your combat scenes are vivid and compelling. I could almost smell the blood and smoke of the battle. The relationships between people who love each other juxtaposed with the horror of the battle gives this chapter more of an impact. Great stuff! Author Reply: It's always a relief to hear that the combat scenes worked out! One of my reasons for writing this story was to get some practice with action and explicit violence, since in the past I've tended to avoid this sort of thing. It was a very useful exercise, I think. | |
| WendWriter | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 11/16/2009 |
| Erestor? THE Erestor? I thought of him as Noldor, but Tolkien never said which kindred he came from, as far as I know. The idea that he took part in and survived the Kinslaying is intriguing. I'd be interested to see how this affects his relationships with other Elves in later ages. *Hint* The way Celeborn is depicted is very well done and I find your Oropher heroic and a strong leader. Your depiction of him as Nandor surprised me - I thought he was Sindar, but who's to say I was right? He's a well-written, believable character. Author Reply: Characterising Erestor as a Noldo does seem to be fairly common in the fandom; but as far as I'm aware, it's pure fanon, without so much as a hint of confirmation even in any of the scraps of confused scribbles in the UT and the Histories of ME and so on. In any case, Erestor as portrayed here is the same Erestor who appears in my other stories -- all of my stories do work together to create an overarching narrative, and in fact this episode is really a key moment in my personal pseudo-canon. *g* (This is particularly important to one of my other stories, Nightingales and Starlight, which works as a companion piece to this story.) That Celeborn and Oropher work out relieves me! There are some snippets of evidence in the mass of material released by Christopher Tolkien that have Oropher as a Sinda, but for various reasons it suited me to make him a Nando; for me, only the LOTR and the Silmarillion are 'hard' canon in any case, not least because I can quite happily explain away the other bits and pieces via my own version of events. | |
| WendWriter | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 11/16/2009 |
| Galadriel's fraught relationship with her husband's kin is very well rendered here. I like the way you show the tension between them. Your description of the halls of Menegroth is vivid and the prose is lovely. Author Reply: I'm glad the tension comes through here! I'm not entirely sure that Galadriel's relationship with her inlaws *would* have been so tense at other times; but I'm sure everyone who's ever sat on a committee would say that important meetings can get a little fraught. And it must have been a particularly fraught time. I'm also very glad the descriptions work; I did want to get across something of what must have been lost with the fall of the oldest kingdom in archaic Middle-earth. | |
| WendWriter | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 11/16/2009 |
| This is such excellent, beautiful work! The prose is astonishing and your introduction of Oropher is neatly done. This story came alive for me as I read it and I found myself becoming immersed in the world you unfolded before me. You really are an exceptionally talented writer. Author Reply: Hi, Wendy! :D To begin, thank you so much for all your reviews! It was a lovely surprise and I'm so glad you liked the story. You're entirely too kind and I'm immensely flattered, naturally, so I hope you don't mind me filling up your inbox with review replies! | |
| Raksha The Demon | Reviewed Chapter: 9 on 10/19/2009 |
| Very scary and compelling - you tell the leap into the freezing water so vividly. No wonder Oropher wanted to head for trees and forests, to get away from blood-stained halls of stone. Author Reply: I am glad you like this! By this point in the story, I must confess I rather shared Oropher's urge to flee to the woods. As ever, thank you so much for (re)reading and commenting! | |
| Raksha The Demon | Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 10/19/2009 |
| This chapter really gets to me; encapsulating the worst horrors of war. Earlier, you showed us the heroics, the courage and initiative displayed by warriors defending their home. Here, we see the terror that happens in too many wars - battle-maddened warriors attacking women and children. The paragraph where the nurse tries to cling to Dior's little boys, and gets brutally beaten for her efforts, is heart-rending. This is where Feanor's charisma, his obsession with the Silmarils, his Oath, has led; the high and mighty Noldor reduced to carrying off children to a sinister fate and hurting their nursemaid as she tries to protect them. Just sickening and tragic. Galadriel's characterisation is excellent - she is a warrior who doesn't want to be passed over for what she thinks is a lesser task. And she hasn't had much to do with children. Yet she rises to the task of shepherding the non-combatants; and holds baby Elwing closer and closer, saving her from the Elven wolves who carry off the infant's older brothers. We see Galadriel's confidence and courage in the face of danger, and her grit and ingenuity even when frightened, and also her worry for her Celeborn, not knowing whether he is alive or dead. Galadriel earns her title of Great Lady here; power, charisma, courage and dignity. And in the flashback to Dior's interaction with Galadriel, we see his faith in her, and that fate justified; his calmness contrasting with Galadriel's more fiery nature. A tragic but brilliant chapter. Author Reply: Again, you summarise everything I wanted to say so beautifully. Thank you so much! ^^ | |
| Calenharn | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 10/19/2009 |
| Sad to think that they might have been able to save Dior's sons... Erestor surely misjudged the Noldor there, but (having been there myself) utter exhaustion does have a way of playing havoc with your ability to think straight. Author Reply: Whether the boys could have realistically been saved (at least by anyone on the Sindarin side) is a tricky question, I think, given their condition after the battle and the occupation of the region by (what remained of) the Noldor forces; still, that sort of calculation wouldn't be particularly comforting for anyone once the fate of Dior's sons became clear. In any case, thank you so much for reading and commenting! It's really very much appreciated. ^^ | |