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| The Time of Probing by Larner | 109 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| Dreamflower | Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 8/8/2013 |
| What a fascinating spell they all have woven! I love how everyone joins in and it is a group effort, to combat Sauron's solitary will. Because for Sauron, it is the One, which will answer to no will but his own for it was made of only his will, his power, and his malice; but for these others who are crafting a protection for Frodo, it will be a blend of many wills, many wishes, hopes and dreams, all meant to a single purpose: to lend Frodo strength, not to dominate him, but to aid Frodo's own will to dominate over that which would try to subdue him. Author Reply: What a wonderful expression of the situation, Dreamflower! Yes, all are seeking to work together to aid Frodo to bear with and continue defying the one. Thank you so very, very much! | |
| Antane | Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 8/8/2013 |
| I was going to say I am glad the danger has passed, but in a big way it is only beginning. But I am glad anyway because of the songs sung and who sang them and what they sang about, especially the hobbits. Not for naught are they with their beloved. Namarie, God bless, Antane :) Author Reply: There had to be something special about Frodo Baggins to draw such giving love from Sam and his cousins, after all. And each individual offers the strength each holds for the protection not just of Frodo himself but for all who might be influenced by the Ring. Thanks so, Antane. | |
| shirebound | Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 8/8/2013 |
| A most powerful chain indeed! What an amazing way to send the Ringbearer forth on this dark journey accompanied by the strength and goodwill of everyone. Author Reply: The others aren't yet aware that they are going forth on a dark journey, save, perhaps Sam, who already has an inkling--"By the long road, or not at all," as he described what he realized must be done before he could return home. And even before the War of the Ring properly begins all are working together as they can, doing their best to remind Frodo of the love, beauty, and wholesomeness he will labor to protect via his endurance. Thank you so very much, Shirebound! | |
| UTfrog | Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 8/8/2013 |
| Very powerful protections were wrapped around the ring, indeed. Great and very moving descriptions of each person's contribution to that protection. Great chapter. Author Reply: They needed powerful protections, I believe. Each offered what he or she knew best, and did so in defiance of the dark and in cooperation with the others. Only by all working together, after all, could the Shadow be properly opposed. Again, thank you so very much! | |
| Linda Hoyland | Reviewed Chapter: 11 on 8/6/2013 |
| A very realistic and dramatic vision of what Tolkien only hinted at. The evil shard truly has a will of its own. Author Reply: I suspect that the shard, as was true of the Ring, had its orders and sought however it could to see it done. And it was good to join others in looking at this seminal moment in Frodo's life. Thanks so much, Linda. | |
| Linda Hoyland | Reviewed Chapter: 9 on 8/6/2013 |
| This is very poignant as we know what happens to Halbarad.I like the way Arwen plays an active part. Author Reply: I cannot imagine that Aragorn would fall in love with a woman who was merely an ideal. She had to have her own personality and greatnesses or he would not have remained as constant as he did. | |
| Dreamflower | Reviewed Chapter: 11 on 8/4/2013 |
| Elrond suddenly gave the Wizard a piercing look. “Do you know,” he asked, his voice barely muffled by the cloth over his lower face, “what has been twisted in order for the Morgul knives to do their work?” Gandalf looked surprised and puzzled by the question. “No, I must say that I do not. Why?” Elrond shrugged. “We know that the Enemy cannot create anything new, but can only twist what was there already as part of the original Song of Creation. There must be some other process that was twisted to cause the victim to become a wraith. Also, from what realm was the wraith world wrested?” A fascinating exchange, and one I hope you intend to expand upon, whether in this story or another! Author Reply: Actually, I have expanded upon this, in "Filled with Light as with Water" and "Reunion." Although there will be some comments on it in the Author's Notes. Gandalf saw a bit of transparency about Frodo on his first awakening, and foresaw that Frodo would not come to harm but might in time become as a vessel of glass filled with light for eyes to see that can. This indicates that the intention of the spell of the Morgul shard was turned from evil to whatever proper process had been twisted to empower the Nazgul's cursed blades, and that in the blessed transformation the individual subjected to the process apparently became increasingly a creature of Light. It has always been my fancy that Earendil underwent this process as a result of wearing the Silmaril in the Nauglamir to find his way to Valinor, and that Frodo thus followed the example of the Mariner. And in my-verse the Wraith-world was created by seeking to usurp a portion of the Realm of Possibilities, and that the Rings of Power allowed their wearers to enter this realm in order to find the portions of the Song that allowed the works of their imagination to be made manifest. With Frodo freed from the curse of the Morgul blade he could enter the proper Realm of Possibilities as would an Elf Lord, once he realized this was possible to him, and in my-verse he used it to color and make more life-like the clay figures he took to constructing in his later years on Tol Eressea. Thanks so, Dreamflower! | |
| Antane | Reviewed Chapter: 11 on 8/4/2013 |
| I am glad that Frodo's kin go to be there beforehand. All that suspense and dread and then it was over. Thank God! Wasn't expecting the shard to have a life of its own and try to get back in. Dear me. I wonder indeed where it came from, what part of the Song had to be warped... Namarie, God bless, Antane :) Author Reply: How the shard came to have that much autonomy I'm not certain--it's one of the parts of the story that wrote itself, I found. It is interesting to explore the Master's world and to figure such questions out, isn't it? Thanks so, Antane! | |
| shirebound | Reviewed Chapter: 11 on 8/4/2013 |
| Whew! It took the skill and dedication of many to see the shard rendered purposeless, in the same way it took many to see the Ring to its destruction. I love this line: the thought that they might not be able to assure him of their love had been driving him to distraction. Author Reply: I suspect that at this point Merry could more easily imagine Frodo dying than could Pippin, and I'm certain he would be in a terror at the thought of Frodo not being reassured at the last moment of the love they all had for him. And, yes, I think it took the work of many to see the shard conquered. And I'd not realized that what you say is true--it took the work of many to save Frodo, to re-empower Narsil, to see the Ring to Its destruction, and to best Sauron and Mordor. Thanks for that perception! | |
| UTfrog | Reviewed Chapter: 11 on 8/4/2013 |
| You do such a good job describing the tension. We know the shard was successfully removed, yet you made the surgery so real that we wondered if it would be. Great story. Author Reply: Thank you so, UTfrog. I'm so glad to know that I was able to convey just the atmosphere I'd hoped to describe! | |