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| The Way Home by Lindelea | 257 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| shirebound | Reviewed Chapter: 64 on 4/28/2026 |
| to this day I still do not know where they are bound, nor have I the slightest inkling as to why they must make the endeavour. All I knew for certain – and still believe – is that they were and are trustworthy companions. Bert, young as he is, has also proven himself trustworthy over the relatively few days of our brief acquaintance. And so, together as one, we forge onward at a gallop, into the unknown. You so beautifully enter -- and communicate -- Bill's thoughts and heart. | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 63 on 4/26/2026 |
| I love how all of Bree are coming together in this manner, all knowing which child will treat Bill on each day and conspiring to prepare the chosen child to give the pony the best of treats. How delightful! Author Reply: It's probably a reflection of the constraints affecting the townsfolk; even the smallest details of daily life become magnified when you're "stuck" in a situation and can't see any light at the end of the tunnel, only the same day-in-day-out activities. In fact, they might even count the sameness of their mundane condition as a blessing, considering how much worse things could be (and might still become). Thus, Bill as a minor celebrity becomes a welcome distraction, both from humdrum circumstances and worries about what disaster might be looming just out of sight. Interestingly, the Professor wrote about multiple assaults on Lórien, "long battle under the trees and great ruin of fire" in Thranduil's realm, and an assault on Dale and the Lonely Mountain being besieged before the passing of Sauron and lifting of the Shadow. However, Bree's fate is not included in that passage in the Tale of Years. Along the same lines, Butterbur only mentions the one attack early in the year, and that the Bree-folk had to keep watchers all around the fence and guard the town's Gates at night. Was Bree overlooked in the grand scheme of things, I wonder? Thank you for your lovely review! Thinking about a conspiracy to spoil-while-not-spoiling Bill made me smile. | |
| KathyG | Reviewed Chapter: 63 on 4/25/2026 |
| So, the townsfolk are cooped up because of the threat of ruffians? That can't be any fun! Where are some Rangers when you need them? At least Bill's having a good time. You ask me, he's in danger of being spoiled by the kids! =) But at least he's already in so much better shape than he was when he was first brought into town. Author Reply: We call that "cooped up" feeling "trail happy" around here. I'm sure the Breelanders have all kinds of explanations as to the Rangers' absence, though I doubt any of them would be able to guess at the real reason for their departure. It's satisfying to think of Bill living in the lap of luxury (so to speak) and recovering from his arduous journeys. Proper rest, good food, pleasant companionship... all of those go a long way. Hopefully his mum raised him to be sensible and appreciative without becoming spoiled (LOL!). It probably helps that he only gets one treat per excursion. Thus, he can expect a daily treat and yet not be looking around for more (or demanding more or expecting more). Thanks! | |
| Lady Forlong | Reviewed Chapter: 63 on 4/25/2026 |
| "King of nonsense." LOL I wonder if Bill ever got a chance to go back to Rivendell? Author Reply: I've often wondered about that same topic. How likely would it be for Sam to travel to Bree, for that matter, much less Rivendell? Tolkien never mentioned any such trip before Frodo sailed West. In a rare AU (rare for me, I mean), I wrote about Frodo and Sam riding to Rivendell together – and Sam would have been riding Bill at that time – but in that story, Frodo did not sail West. Do you have any fanfics to recommend where Sam goes to Rivendell? (Bill certainly wouldn't go there without him, I should think.) Back to Sam. Would he go to Rivendell, or maybe as far as Bree, in his capacity as Mayor of the Shire? Bill would still be young enough to make such a journey during Sam's first (or maybe second) term as Mayor. I have trouble imagining that hobbit casually traveling such a distance, for some reason that's not quite clear in my mind at the moment. He just seems like a homebody to me (which is probably why I explained to myself his reasons for going to Gondor in S.R. 1442 as having to do with a desperate quest to find healing for gravely-ill Pippin). By the time he and Rose and Elanor travel to Gondor, 21 years after Frodo sailed, Bill would probably be fairly old for a pony, even if he was relatively young at the time of the Quest. And even in the Gamgees' journey to Gondor, in my imagination, their guardsmen escort took them south along the Greenway and did not go through Rivendell. Maybe I'm avoiding thinking about Rivendell after Elrond has departed; that seems the most likely explanation. Bree seems a little more likely destination for a return visit from Bill. In most of my Fourth Age stories, when one or more of the Travellers go to Rohan or Gondor, they take the Greenway south from Bree and don't go through Rivendell. In a couple of my Fourth Age stories, Faramir Took and a Tookish cousin (Ferdi in one story, Everard in another) stop off in Rivendell on their way to somewhere else. I can almost envision Sam riding to Rivendell with Pippin and/or Merry, but there would have to be a compelling reason for him to go that far from hearth and home, I think. Still, the scope for the imagination in Tolkien's world is wide. Sorry, I'm rambling. I've had rather more chocolate today than is good for me. But it was good while it lasted. | |
| shirebound | Reviewed Chapter: 63 on 4/25/2026 |
| not my Sam, o' course, but a hobbit child of the same name and much the same smell, mingled of kindness and wonder and good, clean earth Oh my, that's lovely. Author Reply: I'm glad. I am missing Bill's companions almost as much as he is, I think, which is probably why the young son of a gardener living in Bree popped into my head and joined the Bill-the-Pony Admiration Society. (Poppet Fan Club?) Thanks! | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 62 on 4/22/2026 |
| A sweet interlude as Spring reintroduced herself as snow gives way to rain, followed by springing grass and Violet being among the older children while Bill gets his walk around the town. Author Reply: Sweet interludes are very necessary, I find. Angst can be exhausting, even though it adds spice to a story and keeps it from being bland. (There is also the fact that too much sweetness can lead to toothaches! ...don't mind me, I'm in an odd mood today. I think I'll spend at least part of the afternoon sitting in the sun, listening to birdsong, and letting the world go by.) Thank you for your encouraging reviews. May you enjoy sprinkles of sweetness in the coming days – without toothache, of course. | |
| KathyG | Reviewed Chapter: 62 on 4/19/2026 |
| At least things are lot more peaceful now! No ruffians breaking into town to steal and disrupt things, just one pleasant day passing to the next. After all he's been through, Bill needs that. And Violet is back! I know Bill welcomes that. But he'll welcome even more the return of his hobbits from their quest! Author Reply: Bill has definitely earned a rest. The story has a few ups and downs in coming chapters, of course, if only to keep people from falling asleep while reading. I am so looking forward to Bill's reunion with his hobbits! Thanks! | |
| shirebound | Reviewed Chapter: 62 on 4/17/2026 |
| The beasts are restless this morning! Let them dance on the meadow and kick out at cloud-shadows I love your choice of descriptive images. :) Author Reply: Thank you! It must come from all the wonderful stories my mom read to me as a small child, along with all the reading-aloud I did with the wee hobbits over the years. We all still love to listen to stories; thank goodness for audiobooks! | |
| Lady Forlong | Reviewed Chapter: 61 on 4/13/2026 |
| If it's spring, then "his" hobbits ought to be coming back any day now. Or wait a minute -- I just remembered they stayed in Gondor until midsummer, and then I think they hung out in Rivendell for a while after that, so Bill still has a while to wait. But he's going to be so happy to see "his" Sam again. Author Reply: It feels as if they ought to be back soon, but in reality, they didn't leave Gondor until a few weeks after the royal wedding. Even then, they didn't seem to be in a great hurry as they traveled homewards, stopping off in Rohan, for example, and Isengard, and Rivendell, and other places. They passed Saruman on the road, and even though they were mounted and the wizard was on foot, Saruman still managed to beat them to the Shire, and he had time to do quite a bit of damage before they finally arrived. In fact, they were still traveling when Frodo suffered his first "anniversary" illness on October 6. Yes, Bill has a while to wait, but oh! ...the joyful reunion that is to come. It almost makes me want to skip over all the chapters in-between, except they're already written out in draft form, so I might as well polish and post them. Thank you for coming along on Bill's journey! | |
| KathyG | Reviewed Chapter: 61 on 4/12/2026 |
| I get the feeling that Bill misses Bob, and Pansy, too! Are Bob's days of overseeing the stables over for good, or is the bookkeeping meant to give him something to do while he recovers from his injuries? Author Reply: Your feeling would be accurate. Bill has a big heart. At the moment, the idea is to give Bob quiet, not-physically-demanding, gainful employment that keeps him busy enough so that he won't sneak off to the stables to pitch hay or clean stalls or do any of the other heavy labor involved in keeping equines. At least long enough that his body has a chance to heal from his near-fatal injury. Hopefully he won't make himself indispensable as Barliman's record-keeper... Even if he did, I suspect he'd find a way to work both jobs. Thanks! | |