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An Act of Desperation by Shieldmaiden of Rohan	3 Review(s)
phyloxena	Reviewed Chapter: 29 on 11/30/2006
And again, you make it so credible! It never occured to me that Eomer thought his sister "bewitched". Indeed, guy looks almost like Aragorn, speeks quetely and wisely, almost like Grima (and an advisor, too) -- something is wrong!!! Author Reply: You can hardly blame the guy for being suspicious, can you? Honestly, the whole reason for his reaction was to tie it into another story I wrote (The Best-Laid Plans) because I like being consistent. But the similarities between Faramir and both Aragorn and Wormtongue in that way were too good to pass up on!

Dreamflower	Reviewed Chapter: 29 on 11/27/2006
I've had my eye on this story for a while, wondering whether there would be enough Merry in it to hold my interest (it's hard to attract my notice at all without hobbits, LOL!)--yesterday, with rather a dearth of hobbit stories, I decided to give it a shot. This is excellent! Usually, I don't care much for lengthy first-person stories, as they tend to be too "modern" in tone, but you have captured the feel of Eowyn's speech in her thoughts very well, so that she does sound like a princess of Rohan and not a modern girl masquerading as one (as so often that turns out). I like the way you have managed to blend some of the more arresting images of the movies into what is basically a book-canon story. It's very appropriate to the earlier parts of the story especially, as JRRT doesn't really show us what's going on in Meduseld before Gandalf and the the three hunters arrive--so there's not a lot of conflict with the book, except in having Theodred buried at Edoras rather than at the Fords of Isen. And I do love some of the movie images you evoke--that scene of Eowyn, standing in the wind as the flag blows away is one of the finest visual moments in TTT. I also love the deep friendship you have shown between Eowyn and Merry--I, too, believe that after their shared experience of killing the W-k, they would have a special bond, almost like brother and sister, in spite of their difference in race. Your Faramir is also brilliant. Again, you use the better images from the movies, yet you keep his personality and behavior strictly grounded in the book. This is not the wimpy and flawed Faramir of the films, who dragged Frodo and Sam off to Osgiliath because he was afraid of his father and tempted by the Ring, but the noble Faramir of the book, who would not have taken the Ring if it lay by the side of the road. He is strong, courtly, gallant and courteous. The skillful way you interweave the canon dialogue into his exchanges and conversation with Eowyn is marvelous. I will very much look forward to more of this tale! But I am glad I had waited till you had lots of chapters posted--it was a nice long and delightful read! And I am very impressed to discover that it was your first fic! Author Reply: First of all, thank you for the thoughtful review! And I apologize that it's taken me this long to reply. Honestly, if I were to start this story again, I don't think I would do it in first person. But that was how it first started coming out, so it stuck. And it's nice to be able to do side stories from other perspectives because of it, but I also find it difficult to avoid the modernness in her thought. So it's good to know it's coming off. Since you liked the blending of the book and movie, you may be disappointed to know that I'm actually in the process of rewriting the first few chapters to bring it closer to the book canon (mainly meaning Theodred is now going to be buried at the Fords.) I'm still undecided as to what to do about whether Eowyn shows up in court before or after Aragorn when Gandalf heals Theoden, but it's under consideration. But I am hoping it works out to keep some of the better movie images-- I would definitely agree that the scene with Eowyn and the flag was very visually powerful! I'm also quite relieved to hear that Faramir's turning out all right. He's a bit intimidating for me to write, since I love him so much in the books, but his extreme nobility makes him very hard to write convincingly because it's a challenge to humanize him without losing the essence of what makes him so great (as anyone who was annoyed at the changes in him for the movies probably knows.) I haven't forgotten this story-- part of the reason for the rewrite is to get my brain geared up to finish it by reviewing the old stuff! So now that I'm nearly done with the major rewriting in the first two chapters, I'm hoping to be able to review the other 27 fairly quickly (with perhaps a few minor edits here and there to clean up the writing, since, after all, it WAS the first fic! ;) and then get this one ready to finish. I hope that the wait will be worth it!

Raksha The Demon	Reviewed Chapter: 29 on 11/26/2006
Poor Eomer; things are moving a bit too fast for him. His uncle who was also his king and liege-lord is dead, he's going to be king, Rohan and the rest of Middle-Earth is saved, and Eowyn's being seduced by the Steward of Gondor when just a few weeks ago she was moaning about Aragorn. I would think that Aragorn has guessed, or been told by hobbits, about at least the possibility of attraction between Faramir and Eowyn. He's probably delighted not to have to feel guilty about Eowyn anymore, particularly now, when he can actually think about marrying Arwen. Good chapter! Author Reply: I do feel a bit bad for Eomer-- it's a lot to take in all at once. It'll probably be rough on him for a bit longer too-- I decided to at least make it consistent with "The Best-Laid Plans", if not a more blatant tie-in at some point, so he's not going to be happy with this for awhile yet. ;) Still trying to work out the Aragorn thing in my head-- I know that he and Eowyn probably need to have a little chat, and most likely in the next chapter. So we'll see how that goes. :P And thank you. It's nice to finally have another one done. (I'm feeling rather silly- the previous chapter has been done and up for about two months, but I forgot to take it off of "hidden". Oops.)

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