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Okay, NOW Panic!  by Boz4PM 28 Review(s)
KathyGReviewed Chapter: 60 on 6/22/2020
I see you've only posted a few stories here on SoA, mostly the "falling-into-Middle-earth" stories that you've created. (I wouldn't want to be in Penny's shoes, and that's a fact! =)) You could post the rest of the Tolkien fanfiction you've written here, too, you know! You'd get more readers that way. Any chance you'll write and post any more Tolkien fanfiction in the future?

Since July, 2018, Dreamflower and I have been posting a "falling-into-Middle-earth" story that I thought of quite a while back. It's posted here on SoA, too. Ours is titled "An Unexpected Adventure."

Queen GaladrielReviewed Chapter: 60 on 8/26/2011
Dear Boz4PM, I can't believe I didn't review this before! I was a little embarrassed to discover that actually, as this must be the third, fourth, or maybe even fifth time I've read both of your marvelous Penny stories.

Thank you for two such wonderful, thoughtful and thought-provoking, marvelously detailed, and vibrantly human stories of what a real Middle-earth experience might be like. Your writing is superb, and your characters, whether they are Ooriginals or borrowed from Tolkien, simply leap off the page, they are so full of life. This comment is probably more appropriate for "Don't Panic," but as I'm leaving one monster review, I'll put it here. i want to especially compliment you on the way you portrayed Penny's slow mastery of Sindarin and beginnings in Westron, without actually needing many Sindarin words. In fact, I originally started rereading these stories a few days ago because I'm writing an original one and have a character who is in just such a predicament as Penny, needing to learn an entirely new language, and I was in search of good ways to show that without actually having to invent much if any of her own obscure native tongue. I was wonderfully inspired, and, once again, simply couldn't stop reading once I'd started, causing my poor story to be sadly neglected! :D I also love the gradual formation and growth of Penny and Halladan's relationship through shared pain and shared healing, and the beautiful love story that came from it - delightfully true to reality, just like the rest of the story.

I'm sure this won't be the last time I read this series. Thank you, thank you, for an epic tale that can satisfy my Tolkien craving and is not such a massive undertaking, and is, in many ways, more real and alive!

anaReviewed Chapter: 60 on 3/1/2011
Wow, this was quite a journey! I loved it and I thank you for it.

BronwynferchdaiReviewed Chapter: 60 on 3/12/2009
So . . . I think you may've ruined me. This is not the fandom I usually read and certainly not the one I write, but I've spent the past three days reading "Don't Panic!" and "Okay, Now Panic!" and I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed them.

There were moments when, admittedly, I found myself rolling my eyes and grumbling "Just get ON with it already!" at a character, but that is to be expected and the build was always worth the wait. Not that I waited long, really.

So, honestly, just thanks ever so for writing it because I rather enjoyed reading it. I'd expound for a while, but my timer's beeping so I have to go rescue my pies before they burn.

Thank you again,
Bronwyn

midnightduskReviewed Chapter: 60 on 2/27/2009
Two days ago I was embarrassingly searching for decent Harry Potter fan fiction (although i did not come across any), when I found a few people recommending some random LOTR fic. I looked at it, i looked a little more, and then i decent to try and read it. What then happened was two days of me lying on my bed reading both of the Penny fics. Two Days. I read them in Two Days. I got no sleep. I didn't move off my butt at all. If i put on lots of weight from this, then it is your fault!

I have been reading fan fiction for a very long time now, and i have to say that no other story has been better than yours. You didn't rush your story, all of the characters had completely different personalities and you stuck to them, as well. It made me squeal, it made me cry, it was shocking and beautiful and very real. It was incredibly well written and I am so pleased them a found something on fan fiction that proves to me WHY i read fan fiction. By the way, I'm now stalking you to find out more about this amazing person who wrote these stories.

Thank you!!!



MaribelReviewed Chapter: 60 on 2/13/2009
Oh, Boz, I am such a bad, bad, reader. I've been following this starting from Don't Panic! since mid-last-year (I even loaded it onto my phone so I could read it on buses and trains - got some weird looks from people reading over my shoulder!) and I have never once reviewed. I know reviewing is supposed to be purely obligatory but then again everyone knows that nice reviews and the subsequent warm, fuzzy feeling are often great motivators for writers. So, anyway, sorry! :(

Over the years the protagonists of most GFIME fics have evolved into an alien species of eternally-teenage girl: perfectly adapted to life in Middle-Earth, more fluent in Sindarin and Quenya than the Elves themselves, able to induce falling-in-love in any named character within five minutes of meeting, and of course, carry an endless supply of foundation and lipstick with them in their magical handbags. Unfortunately I'm guilty of reading one (or) two of these in the infancy of my LOTR (etc.) obsession myself. I will never quite be the same again when I hear the words "OC" and "Legolas" in the same sentence.

So, anyway, I'd like to thank you as everyone else has done for writing such an interesting fanfic! It was really refreshing to see this kind of story written from the point of view of a modern woman. Although at some points I was a bit bored (indeed I think there was more than one chapter where I read the first and last two paragraphs and counted it as 'read') it was lovely to see how you imagined all the places in Middle-Earth. Especially delightful were the descriptions of day-to-day life, as well as the less majestic or rarely-seen facets of Tolkien's world.

I think it's really brilliant how you stuck through this fic and wrote such a whopping number of chapters without losing (too much) steam. The many references (or were they anecdotes?) to Brit life were also an added bonus, as I have this *thing* about England (London in particular - it's probably just the novels talking...) and it was nice to see that included.

Well done! And don't forget about Moments of Panic!

AiwenReviewed Chapter: 60 on 1/3/2009
I really like the ending of this story. Bringing the circle round and closing it like that was most eloquent. Beautifully done, and kudos for hanging on to the end. Not easy to do with the story this long.

Kathy_SFFReviewed Chapter: 60 on 11/6/2008
I know I haven't reviewed as often as I should have, but I have faithfully read every chapter (although not in a timely manner). I really loved your story. Penny became part of the story without interfering with the interactions of the cannon characters. I especially loved how you developed the relationship between Penny and Halladan (sp). I also loved how "Tying Up Loose Ends" depicted their relationship as a very REAL "happily every after", complete with the love they had for eachother but also with the occasional fight and night in the barn or on the couch. Overall A+.

BKBReviewed Chapter: 60 on 10/31/2008
These stories have been quite the best fanfic that I have read in a very long time! You have given me several hours great pleasure.

Since language and knowledge are two elvish fortes, I think that gossip is a very natural "vice" for them.

Your handling of Penny's and Halladan's growing friendship and intimacy feels very realistic since it develops out of the concern each has for the grave emotional problem that the other is facing.

Thank you very much!

Sincerely, BKB

obsidianjReviewed Chapter: 60 on 10/1/2008
*Big Sigh* This is a satisfying ending to the story. Luckily, I could read the last chapters in one go. The storyline of Halladan and Penny came to a satisfying conclusion, the one I was hoping for. In true romance tradition, she now refused him, but all ends well. That chapter got me teary-eyed.

So, is Penny caught in a timewarp a la Babylon 5, the TV series? It seems so from the last paragraphs...

Great story!

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