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A Healer's Tale  by Lindelea 9 Review(s)
LarnerReviewed Chapter: 18 on 5/18/2005
Oh, I'm so glad of this, you know. Lovely, lovely to see sleep and not death as yet.

Pearl TookReviewed Chapter: 18 on 5/12/2005
I had just re-read this section of "At the End of His Rope" a few days ago and had this sudden wondering in my head if I had already read this chapter of "A Healer's Tale". hehehe

"'Can you move the leg?' I say, trying to contain my excitement. Miraculous draughts from legendary beings indeed! Why, I’m tempted to go out and hug a tree in celebration." I love the tree hugging!! It's good for the spirit, that! ;)

A joy and wonder as always :) VWD and Bravo!!

Author Reply: Very funny! Deja vu. (Is that how you spell it?)

We have two very lovely elm trees in front of our house, and we hug them often and whisper to them to stay well, especially with Dutch Elm disease ravaging the elm population...

Anso the HobbitReviewed Chapter: 18 on 5/12/2005
A three-in-one review again. I`m going to get a permanent line one of these days so I don`t have to log of the net each time I`m reading something, lol

Very wise lad, that Merry. :) If he had gone in to Pippin first Pip would give up and die and instead he insists Sam goes with the ent-draught. A very exciting chapter. I also love how you describe the travel-weary hobbits - I`m sure they were a sight! :)

I do so love how you picture the little every-day details of the Shire - included Pippin`s birthday breakfast and the lads at the market. It`s sad that Pippin broke the pot that Woodruff herself had broken but it really wasn`t only his fault. I wish I could live in your Shire, lol, instead of a little 2nd floor smial in a big city. :)

Oh, and I`m glad the ent-draught is working. I remember the story this is a sequel to and how they fight with getting the bad leg better. This is excellent, Lin! Truly lovely. :)

Author Reply: I love your three-in-one reviews, that you take the time to write out a review is always a delight and an honour.

Yes, the travel-weary hobbits were not only a sight, but a smell, too.

(and I wish I could live in my Shire, too). Umm, perhaps you could pretend that you have an apartment in the Great Smials? Or in Buck Hill? (I think that's what they call the hill that contains Brandy Hall, but I could be mistaken.)

Thanks! (And more Merry to come, both in the Woodruff chapters and the Interludes)

Connie B.Reviewed Chapter: 18 on 5/11/2005
I always liked this part of "At the End of His Rope", and seeing the added details is great. I am really enjoying this.

Thanks.

Connie B.

Author Reply: It's fun to flesh out a scene, trying to stay true to the story and yet be fresh and not boring.

Thanks for commenting!

EruvywethReviewed Chapter: 18 on 5/11/2005
So sweet! Wonderful chapter. You've done a remarkably gorgeous job with Merry at the end...Eruvyweth God-follower commends you!

Author Reply: Oh, thank you very much. There will be more of Merry in the next Interlude, too.

BodkinReviewed Chapter: 18 on 5/11/2005
Phew, what a relief! A real nick of time rescue. And he is not out of the woods yet, but at least he's reached a path. Sam's a hero - and Rosie is already in the bath.

It's interesting to see how Woodruff reacts to a sip of Ent draught. Perhaps Treebeard should go into business, make enormous amounts of money and set up the forests as exclusion zones. Entry limited to Ents and the Nine Walkers.

Author Reply: "reached a path"--good choice of words. No, it's not a quick and easy recovery, especially when I think of Reginard's wounds in "Merlin". But then, the Entdraught *was* made specifically for Pippin's ills as Sam described them to Treebeard, so maybe it is not so very surprising that he'd make almost an overnight recovery, after all.

Ent Entrepreneurship. Kinda gives a new ring to "Dr Pepper".

FantasyFanReviewed Chapter: 18 on 5/11/2005
Reading the healing of Pippin the "At the end of his rope" you don't quite realize how very last-second the cure is. Pip is sick, Pip's been sick, Pip has crises. That's not quite the same level of intensity as here as where every breath is urgently counted, and the most knowledgeable one present is convinced that each may be the last. Gripping.

I loved especially two things. The line:
>Why, I’m tempted to go out and hug a tree in celebration. cracked me up, though I didn't catch it until the second reading through. There is a lot of the trademark wit of the hobbits, treating even the most serious subjects with lightness and a joyful irascibility.

Then,
Merry thrusts himself forward; he has been hovering in the background, behind the others, hiding himself in the shadow of the opened door. Now he kneels beside the bed. He has yet to speak.
As much as the Tooks made me smile, Merry's anguish made me cry. He's willing Pippin not to die, as though if he stays at the door, he can stop his most beloved cousin's soul from going through it. He won't come in, he won't speak, he won't trust himself not to inadvertently let Pippin go. If Pippin had died here, I wonder that the blow might have been too much for Merry to fight.

I'm looking forwward to the celebration, though there's a terrible night to get through first, and to how Ferdi handles almost being named Thain. And finally, I wonder if Woodruff got any taller?

Author Reply: Well, I'm glad I was able to clarify that point; yes, it was very close, though perhaps too subtly stated. I think Pippin would have died right then and there, in that scene where he was tacitly (I think it was tacit anyhow) asking Merry to let him go, if Merry hadn't said he wasn't ready yet, to let him go.

Glad you caught the tree-hugging line.

I think that the blow of losing Pippin might have been too much for Merry to fight. After all, I remember reading somewhere that the two died within a day of each other in Minas Tirith.

Chortling over Woodruff getting taller...

AndreaReviewed Chapter: 18 on 5/11/2005
"Miraculous draughts from legendary beings indeed! Why, I’m tempted to go out and hug a tree in celebration." - Me too ;-)

Yes! He will be alright again. It was a very tough time, for Pippin and for me. But it was worth waiting for.

The bantering between Sam and Pippin even with death in sight and Merry's fear to speak to Pippin and, as a result, seeing him leave, were very touching.

Now I'm relieved and can wait for the next "Woodruff chapter".

Thank you!

Author Reply: Oh, I am glad it was worth waiting for.

In "At the End of His Rope" it seems like rather too miraculous a recovery, so the details provided in this story will (hopefully) show that it wasn't "too good to be true".

Next Woodruff chapter is due out Monday! Think good thoughts.

TopazTookReviewed Chapter: 18 on 5/11/2005
"In any event, the hobbit has seldom if ever done what was expected of him..." Too , too true, Woodruff.

Unlike the author of this story, who can be expected to tell a good one. I really like how this interweaves so nicely, with the dialogue and everything, to "At the End of His Rope." (With much more stinky, and appreciated, details about Sam and Rose.)




Author Reply: "Unlike the author of this story" whew! Wasn't sure where you were going with that at first, perhaps to say that I was too predictable (a fear of mine) but then you clarified the sentiment to my relief and resulting smile.

Must remember to include more stinky moments in future stories, if they add to the reading pleasure... *g* (Old high school writing teacher: "Appeal to *all* the senses you can! Let your reader taste, touch, and smell as well as see and hear!" Must admit the writing I enjoy reading brings me right into the scene.)

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