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| Beneath Strange Stars by Larner | 82 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| Tari | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 2/22/2012 |
| What a beautiful story of redempton and renewal. I was blown away by the words of wisdom that come from Eru. Had it not been for the posting of your recent chapter, I would have missed this story totally and that would have been a shame. This is AWESOME! Now, on to the next chapter. Author Reply: I am so glad that you like this, Tari. It was wonderful to be able to write this one. Thank you so! | |
| Noleme | Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 2/21/2012 |
| Great first chapter, I must say! As a rabid fan of the Feanoreans, I was most thrilled by the chapters on these guys; I like the way you render their speech, not many authors manage to keep the spoken parts believable (meaning reflecting the style they use in the Silm.) The characterisations also make a good read, athough I cannot help feeling the Sons' attitudes in the last chapter are somewhat unjust towards their father. Which may well be the author's intention in showing how much they were consumed by grief, in which case, please condone the following rant aimed at the conversation in the Losgar chapter. ;) [Noone forced the Sons to take the Oath, they did so willingly / they are each to blame for their own actions rather than anyone else because they could just have all disobeyed the way Umbarto did / Fea didn't doom anyone into crossing the Ice - he wasn't considering this option at all, thinking they'd return to Aman which they regretted leaving. Naturally he didn't consider Nolo's promise to follow him, because Nolo has already broken it by openly pursuing kingship. So, my sympathies are rather with those at Alqualonde rather than Nolo's host. ] ---end of rant, sorry--- ;) Author Reply: Aha! One who greatly honors Feanor, and with reason. Yes, his sons need not have taken the Oath--but they did, and much due to filial duty, I've always felt. And I suspect that they quickly found reason to regret taking it, particularly the two eldest of his sons, whom the Master indicated were the most noble and honorable of Feanor's offspring. Nolofinwe did swear his allegiance to his older half-brother, once their father was dead, and Feanor should have realized that Nolofinwe would honor that oath as strongly as his sons would honor theirs. So, in the end it came down to Feanor being convinced that his own brother was likely to foreswear himself, losing himself totally to Melkor's lies. In the end Melkor was the instigator of all that happened afterwards, and the author in the end of his own downfall as well. But Melkor was merely making use of Feanor's own sense of injury that his father had chosen to take a second wife and his disdain for his younger siblings and their issue. He should have realized from the relationship between Maitimo and his cousin that the second generation at least would not be left behind when he led his sons and their closest adherents from banishment through Tirion and eastward back to Middle Earth. | |
| Sunny | Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 2/18/2012 |
| I have always had a great fondness for Maglor (as I have indicated to you before), but I have always had a certain sympathy for Maedhros as well. I feel that he was someone who _might_ have been a truly great and wonderful sort of person, if he hadn't been so thoroughly scr*wed over by his father and that Oath. Tolkien tells us how Maedhros stood aside at Losgar, and also tells of how he sought for Elured and Elurin after the fall of Doriath - though without finding them. He also let his brother foster Elrond and Elros, which was one thing that strongly shaped the following ages. (And i somehow feel that he would have helped out Maglor to the best of his ability in this task.) In the end he was overcome by the Oath - and as his father's heir, I suppose that was probably inescapable. It makes me wonder what _might_ have been, though! Author Reply: I agree. I loved the essay on Maedhros's innate nobility that was nominated for a MEFA this year, and the reminder that in the Master's first conception it was Maedhros rather than Maglor who was to foster Elwing's sons. How would he have reacted to his father burning the Teleri ships? Why did he stand aside from the rest as the orders came from his father to set the torch to the Swan Ships? And the picture Erullise did set my imagination soaring. http://lotr-community.livejournal.com/182939.html#cutid1 | |
| Teresa | Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 7/20/2011 |
| Sigh..... that was so moving! Elwing and Earendil made such a difficult choice then! It seems that their line will always be the bearers of hope in one form or another and pay whatever necessary price for that hope. But it's so sad that they couldn't return to their children! Many thanks again for another peek into Middle Earth! I enjoy seeing how you flesh out characters who are only briefly mentioned and/or are seldom seen in The Hobbit and LOTR. :) Author Reply: I am ever honored to realize that my work has managed to move someone emotionally, Teresa. And, yes, Hope appears to be the responsibility of so many who bear their lineage! Thank you so very much! | |
| Armariel | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 5/27/2011 |
| Wow.......neat poem. I was afraid of dragons before I was assured by my mom, when I was about 7 or 8, that there was no such thing....lol ~~~~~{~@ Author Reply: I so loved reading that one line Tolkien wrote in "On Fairy Stories," in which he declared he had "desired dragons with a great desire." It's stayed with me for well over forty years, and I see it every time I reread the essay. | |
| Antane | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 5/26/2011 |
| That was neat! I don't crave dragons but certainly some excitement and right now some sun and warm weather! Namarie, God bless, Antane :) Author Reply: I agree--we didn't have a proper spring, and May has been more like March than the preparation for summer. Tolkien himself wrote the quote on which this dribble was based, so it was wonderful to have the chance to expand upon it. | |
| Freyalyn | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 5/26/2011 |
| Reminds me of the old saying: be careful what you wish for... Author Reply: This was based on one of the comments Tolkien made in his essay "On Fairy Tales," in which he stated "I desired dragons with a deep desire." I remember reading this when I was sixteen years old and a sophomore in high school, and it truly impressed me and has stayed with me all of these years. When Nath indicated that for her birthday she wished something based on one of Tolkien's other works, this remembered quotation kept working at me, and finally I had to write it out. Yes, Tolkien wished for dragons, and so he gave us Smaug, Morgoth's dragons in the Battle of Sudden Flame, and the one fought by Turin, as well as the one tamed by Farmer Giles of Ham. | |
| harrowcat | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 5/26/2011 |
| I really like this Larner. I also like the way that you don,t identify the writer. Author Reply: In his essay "On Fairy Tales," which was presented in Tree and Leaf alongside his tale "Leaf by Niggle," Tolkien stated that he'd "desired dragons with a deep desire." I first read that when I was a teenager, and it's stayed with me all of these years. One of the others who wrote a birthday gift to Nath used "Leaf by Niggle" as the basis for her tale, and I found myself moved to expand on this quote by the Master himself. | |
| Erulisse (one L) | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 5/14/2011 |
| Larner - I am so honored and humbled by this lovely look into the lives of Celeborn and Galadriel/Artanis in Ost-in-Edhil before the fall. It works on so many levels and I just can't believe that you were so kind as to drop back to the 2nd Age for me :-) Hannon le, Larner. - Erulisse (one L) Author Reply: Well, as the B2MEM responses have shown, I'm versatile, although I do prefer to work with the lives of our Fellowship heroes when I can. I hope I got the river's name correctly, but felt that using the name of the Nimrodel would be premature at this point, as said lady ought to have been living along its banks at this point, and so it wasn't yet renamed in her honor. I'm so glad that you appreciated this, and hope your birthday was a joyous one. I was dithering so as to what to write to, and then saw that you indicated this period in particular.... Thanks so very much for the feedback! | |
| Laikwalâssę | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 5/14/2011 |
| I still wonder why everyone needed that long to discover Annatar´s true identity. At least Galadriel is making a step into the right direction. On her you can count. I like this very much. Thank you. Lai Author Reply: It's beyond me how Sauron managed to mask himself as long as he did, Lai. But we are told that he did not truly unmask himself until he put the Master Ring upon his finger, at which time those who held the Rings for Elves were able to hide their charges without him being able to identify accurately who held them or where. And I agree--we can count on Galadriel Artanis if on no one else. And thank you for your review! | |