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The Grey at the End of the World  by jodancingtree 6 Review(s)
Raksha The DemonReviewed Chapter: 20 on 10/16/2005
This is so sad. We saw Osta born in THE QUEEN'S ORC, and we saw his end, in heroic battle fighting for the Shire.

I'm almost afraid to follow this tale to the end, which I fear will be bitter, but it's too good not to. I feel like Canohando's an old friend; and I plan to stick by him. I just wish that he and his family, and his descendants, and the Shire, had more time - an Age was not enough.

Author Reply: No, Raksha, don't be afraid to read - the worst is over now, I think you'll find, and the end is poignant, maybe, but not bitter. But thank you for sticking by Canohando - it warms my heart that you consider him a friend!

jo

InklingReviewed Chapter: 20 on 10/10/2005
Some great moments in this chapter…the charge of the hobbits into battle, for instance, led by Feldibar in his armor (wonder if it was Pippin’s?). Reminded me of Theoden at Helm’s Deep, saying something to Aragorn about it being better to die in battle than like a badger caught in a trap. Yep, that’s how The Took would want to go…

And the scene with the old gaffer soothing the little ones with stories of Osta was a sad, lovely elegy for a gentle warrior.

Ps--Recently re-read “The Long Home of Mortals” for the MEFAs…it’s hard to believe the same author wrote that story and this one! ;)


Author Reply: Oh yes, I think the armor must have been Pippin's, kept preserved and polishd all those the years as a priceless, useless mathom - and put on for the last battle perhaps more for the honor of the thing than for protection - for it must have been thin and brittle by that time, however carefully kept.

But the MEFAs - oh mercy, was Long Home of Mortals on it? I tried once to get on the site, but I'd forgotten my password, and then I got busy and forgot. And now I've missed it all- darn! Anyhow thanks for reviewing, Inkling!

jo

perellethReviewed Chapter: 20 on 10/9/2005
MErcifully brief and jolted, jo, ( in the best of senses, mind you)yet so powerfully described, the tide overcoming the damns and then nothing left to do, the men swarming and the hobbits making room, now intent on surviving them who began fighting for their place. Such a wodenrful tale of a long, unstoppable defeat, and I love the way everybody fulfils their duty with the simpolicity that comes when things come to their bitter end.
And yet what most moved me was the way the old hobbit praised OSta. It was a god way to show what the guardians had meant to the LIttle Folk, and how worth of their courage their hobbits were. So moving! Sigh!

Author Reply: Oh, I'm so glad Osta's story touched you, perelleth! He really got to me - the bluff, tough soldier, with a pocketful of little gifts for the Hobbit "childer"...

jo

Rose SaredReviewed Chapter: 20 on 10/8/2005
And so they fight another long defeat, huh? Spellbinding writing Jo, as ever. Where will you go with this tale now? Dont care I will read and enjoy. Great ride you have taken us on.
Rose

Author Reply: Ah, the tale still has a ways to go, 8 chapters more, to be exact - for the Hobbits are still with us, or so Tolkien hinted. And Canohando isn't dead yet...

Thank you for coming along on this long, sad journey, Rose!

jo

CuthalionReviewed Chapter: 20 on 10/8/2005
The closest warriors shouted and pressed  forward, but they were driven back  by a phalanx of mounted Hobbits, their arrows flying as they charged ahead, and Feldibar in the lead. He alone, of all of them, wore armor, and above his head he brandished a naked sword. Twice the blade flashed down, and rose again; then it rose no more, and Canohando lost sight of the Hobbit paladin.

You know I told you before, but this was the moment when I burst into tears during the read of this chapter. This moment was so intense, strong and heartbreaking that I could see it in front of my inner eye. The imagination of the Tooks, riding out into their last battle like the Rohirrim in Helm's Deep completely blew me away. It was a moment of true, grim heroism. Brava!

Author Reply: Thank you, amiga! You know, I couldn't imagine the Hobbits - and especially the Tooks - being willing to let the Guardians fight and die for them, without going forth themselves to defend their own people. They're peaceable folk, but stout-hearted when it counts. And I'm humbled that the scene touched you so.

jo


demeter dReviewed Chapter: 20 on 10/7/2005
Wow! this whole story has had me holding my breath. This chapter, I think, puts where you are going into focus. Malawen lived throuygh the ending of one era, andd now forsees the end of another. Yet, even though the light of Lorien faded, the light of Iluvatar remained in other places. It will be indeed interesting to see how you lead your people through this darkness into a new light. As you always do in your stories. Your stories always have been filled with light. Now with their beloved first=born gone, Canohando and Malawen will be depending on Arato and their other children even more. I wait eagerly for next chapter!

Author Reply: Thank you, demeter d! Besides hearing that you're eagerly waiting for the next chapter, what more could an author wish to hear than, "Your stories are filled with light"? You really made my day, dear!

jo

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