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Unexpected  by Madeleine 8 Review(s)
whitewaveReviewed Chapter: 3 on 6/29/2008
I really enjoyed reading the quotes you placed at the beginning of each chapter. The scene with Amrothos' hangover was priceless. Eomer's reaction to having Amrothos stay longer in Rohan was very entertaining--I'm sure the Dol Amroth prince would have a lot to contribute by way of wit.

Liked how Lothy handled the impertinence of Aldhelm.

KittyReviewed Chapter: 3 on 5/23/2006
Äh ... ‚cuddlesome’ Spinnen? Jetzt weiß ich wenigstens ganz bestimmt, daß Amrothos nicht ganz normal ist! Zwar habe ich keine Angst vor Spinnen, aber das heißt ja nicht, daß ich sie mögen würde. Geschweige denn, sie zum Knuddeln zu finden! Und schon gar nicht große, haarige.

Ist das Dein Ernst, dem armen Éomer auch noch Amrothos auf längere Zeit anzuhängen? Was hat der Ärmste Dir eigentlich getan, daß Du ihn so piesackst? Ein Jammer, daß Imrahil Lothíriels menschenfreundliche Entscheidung, ihrem Bruder seinen Kater zu gönnen, nicht so gut fand wie Éomer (und ich) *gg*

Eruanneth_LuinReviewed Chapter: 3 on 4/23/2006
Éomer and Lothíriel are so remarkably believable and enjoyable together. Though Lothíriel is definitely a woman to be respected, she does not have that unlovely trait of feeling she must be equal to a man in all things. Capable of intuitive insights as well as the ability to think rationally and with genuine honesty, she is a refreshing change from the abrasive, argumentative females so often portrayed as ‘strong and independent minded’. With humor and wit she turns a confrontation into an earnest concern and desire to help, and in so doing heads off a minor crisis over tradition being overturned.

Amrothos is, without doubt, my great favorite of the House of Dol Amroth, though his imperturbable sire is a close second. A parent who can view without undue stress the actions and interactions of his grown children, has learned much about the releasing of the childhood boundaries, freeing the young ones to fly or fall as they will.

That Amrothos will unquestionably create havoc effortlessly ensures the wedded life of the King and Queen of Rohan will be fraught with challenges and trials, aside from the other numerous demands on the rulers in a recovering land.

Nutmeg_CairnReviewed Chapter: 3 on 4/23/2006
Maddy: I've just read chapter three, and immensely enjoyed it. I like the way you weave the story from the focus on the couple (the newly weds) to a broader focus on the larger group in the meeting chamber (Aragon, Gimli, Galdolf, and more). This is an effective way to expand Lothloriel and even the story, from the focus on the coming together of the lovers, the young healer and the horse lord, to the larger story of the Queen of the Mark (or so I can see it), and the adult world she has her place in. Nicely done.
regards, Donna

NilmandraReviewed Chapter: 3 on 4/22/2006
I laughed throughout this chapter. You know, I enjoy Amrothos too much to kill him, but I truly do see Eomer's point. And he should definitely stay in Edoras. If nothing else, Eomer needs a court jester.

I love Imrahil yet again. He is unperturbable. Like Gandalf, I am amused. And Gimli really is tactless! Perhaps Legolas can teach him a little bit about subtlety!

Lady SarumanReviewed Chapter: 3 on 4/21/2006
Did I tell you? I printed out your whole story (at least, the three current chapters of it.) They proved to be nice and long out of the printer. I printed them out at school so that I could read it at home since I don't go on the computer all that often. The first chapter was nineteen pages, the second was twelve, and this one was nineteen again. Page after page came out of the printer, and I think the librarian suspects something, since she can hear the sounds of the printer and see numerous pages coming out. But it's really worth it, it's such a good story. =)

Yes, it certainly is amazing how Lothíriel could start arguments and counter-attacks when she puts her mind into it or when provoked. Éomer undoubtedly has an incredible wife. He'd better be careful! First thing in late morning/ early afternoon (though it isn't quite noon yet) that the young king needs would be Amrothos ambling into the room trying to find the healer and now queen for a hangover cure, and annoying him, seeing how much Éomer detests his wife's brother.

Éomer’s lips slowly twisted into a gleeful grin. “You have got a hangover.”

Evil king! But Amrothos does deserve it. His constant appearances are really annoying in the king's point of view, not the reader's. However, this was what I find most funny:

“Yes,” Amrothos hissed painfully, pinching the bridge of his nose between forefinger and thumb. He groaned again, “This is one of those days that common sense teaches us are best spent lying in bed.”

“That is probably the reason why you are here and not in your bed,” the Rohír remarked unsympathetically.

Éomer is mocking him—what he just said is sending a message loud and clear to Amrothos—that he has no common sense. Funny that the prince should bring it up, talking about common sense. Though in Amrothos's state he probably didn't get the message. After all, he either has a pretty bad headache not severe enough to be a migraine, or probably he has just that—a migraine. *Cackles gleefully* Now I'm becoming evil too.

Before he had the chance to offer his guests his greetings, his dwarfish brother-in-arms rumbled on. “So, how was it?”

This question of – undoubtedly – genuine interest provoked a variety of choked noises and even stifled laughs from the Hobbits . . . and a scandalized glare from Prince Elphir which did not impress the Master of Aglarond in the least. If he took any note of it at all. His entire attention was concentrated on the King of Rohan who decided that this was an absolutely ridiculous situation and deserved to be treated as such.

“Educational,” he stated laconically and made his way across the room to have a closer look at the chests. He could downright feel the bewilderment caused by his answer.

“I would have expected nothing less from your wife,” Gandalf remarked with a satisfied undertone as if one of his pronouncements had just found its corroboration. But nobody had the chance to respond to the wizard.

“Educational?” Gimli repeated. “How can a wedding night be educational for the man? He is not supposed to need any more education in that field.”

Éomer wondered if there were words for tactfulness or subtlety in Khuzdul. He took a seat on one of the chests.

That was FUNNY! Now I do wonder if the dwarves’ DO indeed have the words “tactfulness” or “subtlety” in their Khuzdul vocabulary. Probably not, if Gimli would do something like that that would humiliate both himself and the Rohan king.

After the tortoises mating thing that Lothíriel told him about, Éomer certainly caught on a point which made everyone of his wife's family lose all manners and control except for her father Imrahil. Erchirion's reaction was somewhat more tactful than the others. Amrothos's behavior was somewhat childish while Elphir’s was rather scornful and earned him the opinion of others that he probably never learned of the existence of manners. Only Imrahil was tactful enough out of the four.

I can almost imagine Pippin’s terror of what he assumes to be prodigious spiders (they would be prodigious to him, considering his size and all that). Amrothos considers tarantulas to be CUDDLY? Oh my gosh, that has got to be the worst thing about him. Tarantulas have hair, yes, they certainly do, but never would they be considered cuddly. How gruesome! x( Lothíriel (and now Éomer) does have an interesting family—an aunt who has a boa by the name of Denethor. But I thought Aragorn would have know since he visited Ivriniel.

Wow, Lothíriel did take quite a while to dress, seeing as she FINALLY comes in the study. Her greetings were appropriate, but the one she got in return was not so—as a way of greeting her brother pops up with the question of whether or not tarantulas are cuddlesome pets. I thought that by now the subject would have been dropped but that obviously is not so. In the young queen's opinion—and I agree with her—they would be cuddly to someone like Amrothos, but NOT if someone wore skirts with nothing underneath. Imagine one of those hairy arachnids crawling up your leg! Ugh, I simply can’t imagine it—it's too mortifying.

Éomer really DOES need to control his desire. Though he can do that, it must have taken a lot out of him to do it.

It looks like Rohan will have a single-minded queen. The first thing that Lothíriel does once she arrives is to inquire about her books. Éomer is certainly right—it would be hard to change her agenda once she has it all planned out. And yet, Amrothos intervenes again, as that is probably what I assume to have been (and still is) one of his habits, as proven with what you said:

The Rohír pondered if he should do something about the two rows of perfectly set teeth in his brother-in-law’s mouth.

KNOCK THEM OUT!!!!! KNOCK THEM OUT!!! My suggestion! Amazing really that someone can be born with even one row of perfectly-set teeth, much less TWO. That is so not fair, I am currently going through the painful process of braces to obtain straight teeth, and even after the treatment my teeth may still not be “perfectly set.”

When they FINALLY go outside, the first person that the king and queen see is Aldhelm. He proves to have annoyed the king as easily as Amrothos does. Éomer's glare and tone would be enough to make a full-grown warg to put its tail between its legs and run, eh? Surprising. I didn’t know wargs had tails (or if they did, I don't remember seeing any).

Surprisingly, Lothíriel can be quite impertinent when she wants to. To say something like “My Lord Aldhelm, how long have you been suffering from gout?” is certainly something that I would never have expected from a well brought up person, especially her, with all her composture that she has.

Finally, the young king's decision about having someone hitting Amrothos on the head if he tries to leave the hall made me erupt into fits of laughter. Now, I'm going to end this review with the same final sentence that you have: ‘No, the Rohirrim had no idea what was going to hit them.’

A nicely done story =).

-Lady Saruman

BodkinReviewed Chapter: 3 on 4/19/2006
Oh, this is just brilliant. Much as I love seeing Eomer and Lothiriel - er - developing their relationship, it is a sheer delight to see all the usual suspects being bemused by the antics of Lothiriel's siblings. Only Amrothos would stagger through in the hope of knocking at his sister's door that morning in the hope of getting a hangover cure. Had Eomer still been inside when he arrived, he might just have received the sort of cure that would stop him worrying about anything for a couple of hours, too.

Although he is a clever one. I wouldn't put it past him to have deliberately greeted Lothiriel with a comment designed to avoid her being embarrassed. Because, much as she loves her brothers - they also love her! And are protective. Eomer will feel much more comfortable in their company once he has passed a few tests.

Lothiriel is so single-minded! Only she would immediately start unpacking her library! And Eomer is wise to realise he will have to work to keep up with her as her confidence grows. I think she's onto a loser when it comes to the horses, though. She might as well accept defeat gracefully there and focus her attention elsewhere.

The warg imitation silenced Lord Aldhelm - and Lothiriel dived in with a good bit of distraction. And the fire and flood made themselves known among the inhabitants of Meduseld.

I don't think it will take the citizens of Edoras long to take to her - although hopefully the elements referred to by Amrothos don't mean that her healing skills will be needed that soon! Poor Amrothos. Only minor head injuries allowed. I wonder if he knows yet of the plans to abandon him among the Rohirrim. So much to look forward to.

Excellent chapter. Looking forward to more!

daw the minstrelReviewed Chapter: 3 on 4/18/2006
Poor Eomer! In-laws are the very devil. But really, I like how lively and clever Lothiriel's family is. Eomer is probably right. They need something useful to do and he needs them to do it elsewhere.

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