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| The Way Home by Lindelea | 4 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| Erulissé | Reviewed Chapter: 55 on 2/24/2026 |
| Lovely! Bill has become quite the steady wise pony. It’s been amazing watching him grow as his journeys go on! I bet the Bill of the beginning would never have believed that he could lead a defense against Bill Ferny’s cronies. I can’t wait to see him reunited with ‘his’ Sam. (And possibly meet up with his dam?!) I know already it will bring me to tears. Cheers! Author Reply: Just as you said, if anyone had told Bill before he set out on the journey that he would be able to rise up against his cruel master, I don't think the pony would have believed it. His reunion with Sam was one of the first draft chapters I wrote when I was outlining this story (which was originally one very long story, but it had to be broken into two parts because it ended up having more chapters than SoA could accommodate in a single story). The first half was easy because it followed the book as closely as possible. The second half... realizing that Bill would be waiting for Sam in Bree for more than half a year was daunting. The easiest route would have been to bring him to Bree and then, in the next chapter, give a time clue as to the passage of time, and have Sam show up. Instead, I chose the more challenging course of imagining what might have happened to Bill during those months in Bree. Barliman Butterbur certainly didn't offer much help in that department! I think I have managed to fit Bill's dam into the story with an appropriate amount of irony and coincidence so that it doesn't sound contrived. At least, I hope it doesn't. Bill's reunion with Sam will indeed tug at the emotions, and in more ways than one. Hopefully that's not too much of a spoiler. The scene tugged at my emotions, at least. But then, I'm following as closely as I can in the footsteps of the original author, or trying my best to do so. ...even though I'm addicted to alternate visions of events, like Dreamflower's Eucatastrophe and Shirebound's "Quarantined" universe where Frodo ends up staying in the Shire and not sailing to the West. Bill's story, despite my added embroidery, will remain as true to the original narrative as possible. Thanks! I'm so glad to hear from you! | |
| Lady Forlong | Reviewed Chapter: 55 on 2/24/2026 |
| This chapter almost made me cry, you handled it so beautifully. I guess you can't have a battle like that without some casualties. Your assumptions, based on the small amount of info available, all seem plausible. I'm glad Bill has food and water and everything he needs now -- in spite of it all, they didn't forget him. Author Reply: When I realized that the timeline would (just barely, if it's allowable to imagine "early in the New Year, after the heavy snow we had" as mid-February) allow Bill to witness the battle for Bywater, I began to ponder those five deaths that Butterbur mentioned to the Travellers. They weren't just numbers (three and two) but people ("all good fellows") with friends and families who cared for them ("and they're missed"). Thus, I did my best to make them as real as I could within the constraints I had to work with – including sticking as closely as possible to "canon" and how Tolkien presented the people and the locale, however brief his description was against the backdrop of the much larger story. Just like real life, even though big events may take place elsewhere in the world, it's what happens in our own backyard that holds the most meaning for most if not all of us, I should think. (And I would be perfectly happy to live the rest of my life without any "big events" happening in my backyard.) Sorry, I'm rambling. Current events are unsettling, to say the least. Working on this part of the draft sometimes feels like escaping into another world that, despite a few bumps in the road here and there, promises a refuge and respite of sorts. Thanks for coming along on Bill's journey. As the draft currently stands, Bill will have a lovely spring and summer, enjoying the blessings of friendship and recovering from long effort and semi-starvation. I want Sam to see him sleek and glossy when they meet again! | |
| KathyG | Reviewed Chapter: 55 on 2/24/2026 |
| Ouch! What a battle, and what an aftermath! Too many people were killed by those horrible ruffians. But thank goodness Bob's going to live, and Bill is safe from Ferny! Author Reply: You're right. Even one person would be too many. But in the aftermath of a near-disaster, counting blessings is an essential part of the recovery process. At least I think it is. Thanks! | |
| shirebound | Reviewed Chapter: 55 on 2/24/2026 |
| Fluff and hugs are appreciated every day. Hugs right back to you! This chapter is sad, but gently and beautifully unfolded. Before long, I have all I might have ever wanted: a freshly-filled haynet, a feedbox heaped with grain, a bucket of cold water lately drawn from the well... All but my Sam, that is. What a reunion that will be, especially since neither of them are assured that it will ever happen. Bill's joy will shower both of them with Light and Love. Author Reply: Oh, I am so looking forward to their reunion! Meanwhile, I've added a few glimpses of Bill's hobbits (like his dream at the beginning of this chapter) to a few of the draft chapters that are still to be posted to provide time clues to help keep track of where they are on the journey. Hopefully Bill's connection with wizards (and Elrond!) is enough to explain how he is able to dream of them...? He really is an ordinary pony, except that he has had some really extraordinary experiences and relationships. (He is too wise to let it get to his head, however.) Author Reply: p.s. I re-read part of your "Rohan Tapestry" today and saw your take on how many encounters Merry had with the Black Breath. But while re-reading the original as I was working on those "glimpses" I mentioned, I ran across another encounter that neither of us had counted! (Near Sarn Gebir, Legolas shot down a UFO! (I can call it that because of the discussion afterwards, where they couldn't decide what the winged nightmare had been. For example, Legolas answered Gimli's praise for his "mighty shot" by saying, 'But who can say what it hit?' In the discussion, I noticed that Merry didn't say anything, so we don't know how much he might have been affected. That said, Gimli felt something that reminded him of the Balrog in Moria, and Frodo felt as if something clutched at his heart, along with a deadly cold 'like the memory of an old wound, in his shoulder'. I had forgotten all about that incident until today!) [As they were paddling down the Great River through the darkness, ...a dark shape, like a cloud and yet not a cloud, for it moved far more swiftly, came out of the blackness in the South, and sped towards the Company, blotting out all light as it approached. Soon it appeared as a great winged creature, blacker than the pits in the night. Fierce voices rose up to greet it from across the water. Frodo felt a sudden chill running through him and clutching at his heart; there was a deadly cold, like the memory of an old wound, in his shoulder. He crouched down, as if to hide. (From the chapter, 'The Great River'.) (I have to add that 'like a cloud and yet not a cloud' reminds me of the shadow that passed over the stars after the Company left Hollin on their way to Caradhras, Gandalf's 'wisp of thin cloud' that Aragorn observed was 'moving fast, and not with the wind'. Was that incident the one you were referring to in your story, in Pippin's mention that 'one flew over us on its way to Isengard'?) So it may be that we can count Merry as having even more exposure to the Black Breath than either you or I originally calculated. Maybe? Author Reply: (oops, misplaced parenthesis, the bane of my review-reply existence. There shouldn't be one in front of "Near Sarn Gebir"; if you take it out, the passage makes more sense.) Author Reply: And an orphaned bracket, too, where the mate "]" is missing just before the quotation starts. I'm sorry for spamming you... I ate a few of the Girl Scout cookies that my nearest and dearest brought home tonight, and now my brain is racing and I can't turn it off. *sigh* Thanks for putting up with my rambling. | |