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Some Nameless Place  by Budgielover 8 Review(s)
AspenJulesReviewed Chapter: 25 on 1/17/2007
Oh, LOL... very very good! And the twist at the end with the town being called Ashville was hilarious!

I really enjoyed this introduction to Marly, Peter, Rich and Brion, and have a greater understanding now of the fellowship's pleasure at meeting up with them in Minas Tirith. And now I found out that my daughter read this a long time ago on ff.net and loved it too! Very very fun - I look forward to reading Leavetaking next, then Snowball fight. Thanks for such a wealth of pleasurable reading, Budgie!

Queen GaladrielReviewed Chapter: 25 on 12/14/2005
There are many kinds of evil, and you capture these two perfectly: the malicious, proud, through-and-through evil displayed in your fire-making monster (what is it, by the way?), and the treacherous, devious evil in Alissa; and yet there was a drop of good left in her still, I think.

That said, I enjoyed this story very, very much, and read all but the last three chapters in one sitting. Very suspensefull...I'm so glad I didn't catch this one while it was still in progress; I'd have been driven out of my mind by the cliff-hangers! :-) I love your characterisation here, and I think Frodo, Gimli, Aragorn, and Gandalf are especially true to canon. I'll have to check out "Leavetaking." You continue to amaze me with your complex plot lines! And I'm always astonished to see how your stories play out. Goodness, you wouldn't think such little folk could get into so much trouble and get out again alive! :-) I'm inclined to say with Gandalf that Hobbits are most amazing creatures. Very well done! God bless,
Galadriel

Pearl TookReviewed Chapter: 25 on 11/22/2003
budgielover,

This was great fun! Exciting, action packed and a good laugh. A wonderful story! Thank you!

Pearl Took

LKKReviewed Chapter: 25 on 9/18/2003
Excellent story, Budgielover! I loved that you mixed humor and terror throughout the story. You have a marvelous ability to handle a large number of characters, make them all individuals, and most important keep them all equally involved in the story. I had a wonderful time reading this. I'm looking forward to the "silly little epilogue" that I plan on reading next. :-)

LKK

LamielReviewed Chapter: 25 on 9/11/2003
Oh, this is marvelous. Just wonderful. I've been following this fic for weeks now, and lurking the whole while shamelessly, but I just had to let you know what a wonderful job you've done. All the characters are great, and their interactions, and a fantastic mix of humor and action/adventure. Legolas shooting that throwing star was perfect, and the Hobbits were very well done--so often they're treated like children, or glossed over entirely, but here they had unique and separate personalities. Lovely. Thank you so much for a great story.

Lamiel

P.S. You wouldn't by any chance happen to be from Ashville, Oregon? I grew up not far from there.

Author Reply: Hi Lamiel. Thank you for letting me know how much you enjoyed the story. I'm always so proud when someone says they come out of lurking to let me know that they liked it. SNP was a real challenge to write, extremely complex, but I think it is my favorite of my stories. I'm so pleased you enjoyed it to. I'm from Alaska, actually, now living in my birthstate of Arizona, but I know of Ashville, OR. Let's hope the hobbits never visit it.

FantasyFanReviewed Chapter: 25 on 8/27/2003
I've found the last chapter of your lovely story here at storiesofarda, where I had missed it ending at ff.n (came here for another story entirely after ff.n was behaving so badly as to not let me leave a review). I have to tell you, I burst out laughing at the final paragraph. So appropriate, for I was sure that there wouldn't be a building standing in this poor town by the time they left it.

Lots of nice tying up of ends in this chapter - indeed I was astonished to see the word 'complete' in the summary as I thought there would need to be several more chapters to end it. I am really intrigued as to what kind of creature that could possibly have been. It's a magic user, able to conjure fire, and cloak in darkness, unsurprisingly in the service of Mordor, but reassuringly mortal. I realize that you don't have to completely explain everything in these kind of stories, but I wonder what you had in mind?

Anyway, I knew Frodo would be indignant at Merry's unorthodox methods of obtaining funds, and he was. However, Frodo is a hobbit of surprising talents, and it was clever of you to remember his reputation as a rakish youth. Having Sara be his teacher was a brilliant touch.

And then Pippin, of the sweet eyes and smile. Just like him to collect goodies from his admirers. I do like the way all your characters are drawn in this fic. Overall, I'd give this a high grade for exciting plot, well-done original characters and faithful canon characters, and witty writing. Thanks for sharing it with us!

Author Reply: Hllo, FantasyFan. Yes, SNP could have gone on for while a while (why, there were lots more buildings to burn down!) but it really was time to draw it to an end. I was overwhelmed by the positive response to this story - people got so involved in it. So did I, actually.

Let's see if I can answer your question about the fire-wielding creature. Saruman created it in one of his failed breeding experiments, while the wizard was trying for the Urak-hai. Instead of investigating what he had, Saruman threw it out to die. Which it didn't - instead it thrived and determined to extract revenge on its creator. It tells all of this to Frodo in the chapter where it first kidnaps him from the Inn. It was very, very tempting to develop the creature further, but that wouldn't have fit the purposes of the story. A hint, though ... surely there were other failed experiments of Saruman's that lived... (cough, cough)

Thank you so much for your comments on my characters. It is such a joy to me to have my readers see them as I do. SNP was a thoroughly enjoyable ride for me, and I'm so pleased and proud that you liked it.

shireboundReviewed Chapter: 25 on 8/27/2003
Complete!!???? That took me totally by surprise, Budgie! What an amazing story. (You'll never live this one down, you know. Never.)

This was amazing:

“She is very beautiful, Boromir.”
“I do not wish to discuss this, Aragorn.”
“Breathtaking as the glow of the moon through milk quartz, those Harad women. I have heard –“
“Gimli, I do not wish to discuss this with you, either.”
“Would you take offense if I compared her to an exotic bloom –“
“I would, Legolas.”
Frodo smiled and snuggled himself deeper into the Ranger’s warm arms, and let the world drift away from him.

Wondrous dialogue! Snuggling! Ashville!

Another Budgielover extravaganza.


Author Reply: You know how a story makes you grin as you write it? (I know you know.) SNP was one that did that to me. It seemed like it was hardly work at all. Thank you for telling me how much you enjoyed it - your comments mean a great deal to me.

Iris SandydownsReviewed Chapter: 25 on 8/27/2003
Oh, this was the perfect ending. And I love the name you gave the town! LOL!
That was very clever having Alissa kill the creature. I was seriously worried about how they were going to get Frodo back this time. Too bad she and Boromir will never actually meet in Minis Tirith. (but of course in AU anything is possible!)

I enjoyed this story very much and I'll definitely be taking your advice and reading "Leavetaking" starting tomorrow.

<3 Sandy

Author Reply: Hi Sandy! Thank you so much for your comments. I really enjoyed writing SNP - I can usually turn my writing on and off, like a switch, but I couldn't with this story. It kept demanding to be written. I guess it was stimulated by everyones' reviews and comments. People were just so excited about the story.

I find I keep putting in "what might have beens" for poor Boromir. The ending of the first chapter of "Snowball Fight" comes to mind, where he is carrying the lost Pippin back to the Fellowship, and musing about how he hopes to carry his own son so, someday. A hope that was never to be.

Thanks!

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