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The Measure Of A Man  by Virtuella 9 Review(s)
AkiReviewed Chapter: 14 on 2/27/2022
I do not know if you still keep track of the reviews you receive here. But I have found your fic and just finished binging, I couldn't put it down! I felt so dearly for Deoric and your descriptions of his struggles and his victories were so touching I couldn't help but laugh and cry with him. Truly this is an amazing story, showing the slow healing of a young man after the war, paralel with the healing of the land that had such suffered as well.
Thank you for writing this, it was a pleasure and an honor to read it.

OptimusCloudman Reviewed Chapter: 14 on 3/30/2021
I honestly think this might be one of the best fics I’ve ever read in the 5 years or so since I first started. Every word on the page evokes a new emotions, and the images seem to jump out of the page. Bravo indeed.

Author Reply: Thanks so much; it's lovely to get a review for a story that was posted so long ago. If you're interested, there is a sequel, Truth Be Told, in which Deoric travels around Rohan collecting stories.

Have a great day!

FreyalynReviewed Chapter: 14 on 4/3/2012
Well, I read Olive and loved it, and then wandered around your stories and found this one. Lovely, sweet and uplifting - thank you so much for sharing it. Your dialogue was convincing, and the Rohirric society you described made sense.

Author Reply: Thank you, this is one of my favourites among my LOTR stories, so I'm glad you liked it.

EarosseReviewed Chapter: 14 on 3/24/2009
This is an incredible story. Please write a sequel sometime soon.

Author Reply: Thank you! I have plans for a sequel and a few thousand words written, but I won't be able to tackle it in earnest for a wee while yet, since I have some other commitments.

Linda HoylandReviewed Chapter: 14 on 1/13/2009
I'd love to read your essay.It is great to find a fellow writer who uses themes and plot arcs in their stories. I Would much enjoy a sequel when time permits. Maybe Eowyn could be taking her baby to show off to her brother.Perhaps the child could have some minor imperfection like an extra toe which could tie in with your previous themes/

Author Reply: Thank you so much for your continued support of this story!

nancylea57Reviewed Chapter: 14 on 1/10/2009
annette, i thank you for emailing me that you had completed this. i found it last night and needed to get you a review wrote. i am looking forward to more about the chronicler of rohan, he has grown and matured well. it might still be said about him in the future that he wasn't behaving like a man but i think it would be a compliment the next time, he seems to have refound that joy in life and i hope to see him playing a few jokes and pranks in the sequels that would help to show that he is truly recovering. i think his mother has much yet to give us in her story and i hope your next months settle down and let you return soon. wonderful work. n.

Author Reply: Thanks a lot. Plans for a sequel are taking shape in my mind, and I do have something good in store for Dirlayn. As for a humourous Deoric - well, that has possibilities!

AinarielReviewed Chapter: 14 on 1/8/2009
Enjoyed the tale right to the finish! I did read the comments you had posted (but later removed) - and I enjoyed them. It was a interesting bit to see if I picked up on all the symbolism in the story - and to see if I understood it as the author intended.

Great story about hope and determination. We usually don't get everything we want, but usually get what we need - IF we can learn to see the world beyond our own expectations! Kudos!

Author Reply: Thanks a lot! I removed the comments, because a few people had said they took away from the story in their opinion, so I thought it would be better just to mention that they are available for those who want them.

Agape4GondorReviewed Chapter: 14 on 1/7/2009
I really have to quibble a little about your 'understanding' of your tale : )

'the important realization that others have suffered losses equal to his own or worse'

I think the above statement is used too often to try to make people accept their limitations and not grow - totally false premise IMHO.

What kept me reading this tale about an 'ordinary' wounded Rohiric soldier was Déoric's continuing to struggle and NOT give up; that's what made this story so important - not the fact that others have suffered too. We all know others suffer, we all know others have horrible burdens, we all know grief... But it is in the way we deal with these hurdles forced on us by life that we become heroes. The boy's final triumph tells us all that we too, in the midst of unspeakable grief or horror or injury, might still live a full and productive life - and a happy one too. We might too be heroes.

As I've said before, I consider Déoric one of the best OC's out here!



Author Reply: Good point! I didn't express that very well and have made changes accordingly. I didn't mean it in the sense that "Oh, look, others have problems, too, so you should be jolly grateful." What I meant was that seeing these other people with their own limitations and the way they are dealing with them help him to correct his perception. At the start he has this naive idea of what makes a desirable member of Rohirric society, expressed in the dream where he comes home with the spoils of war. He sees himself as not fitting into that pattern and hence as useless. Seeing these other people helps him to realize that in reality many people don't fit that mould and can still be valuable members of society. This in turn allows him eventually to reach out to others and to see what he has to give. The turning point here is his encounter with the child Fryn when he sees that he can cheer her up with the gift of his picture.

Does that make more sense?

Thank you so much for your continued support of this story.

curiouswombatReviewed Chapter: 14 on 1/7/2009
What a good ending. I have really enjoyed following this story of the Riddermark, its people, and, above all, of hope.

Or possibly of how stubborn headed young men can sometimes be... :~)

Author Reply: Thank you so much for all your comments!

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