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A Small and Passing Thing  by Lindelea 8 Review(s)
LarnerReviewed Chapter: 68 on 4/25/2023
So glad this was not AU after all. My, how long it's been since I last read it! And Frodo gets to live, blest by beauty until the end of a life known in Peace.

AntaneReviewed Chapter: 68 on 9/3/2011
Love it, love it, love it! What a joy to know that he will be healed and Sam was there at the end to see him into light instead into darkness as you said so well. Love the letter Frodo wrote to his faithful cousin. I suspected that letter from Gandalf would be lost and delayed like the first but it came in time. Thank God for that! What a blessing.

Namarie, God bless, Antane :)

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 68 on 4/16/2005
Glad he escaped.

FantasyFanReviewed Chapter: 68 on 11/13/2003
The only thing I don't like about this chapter (but its a biggie) is:
‘Master Elrond gave him something to drink, when we reached the Havens. He said it would make his heart strong again, and that he’d have a good, long time to enjoy Elvenhome.’

How dare Elrond have a cure for Frodo, but not offer it until the last minute? If he had given this magic elixer sooner, would Frodo have decided to stay in the Shire? Could he not have been cured, and seen Bilbo off, and returned to live a good long life with his friends and those who loved him? I feel really cheated by this. He doesn't have to leave!


Author Reply: My editor said much the same, adding that the outline was much clearer than the text on this point. Astonishing, that the expansion should muddy the waters! The elixir Elrond gave Frodo was to strengthen him for the journey. Frodo would be fine in (I forget the elvish name for Elvenhome) without the strain of Shadow constantly pulling him down and putting stress on his heart, but the elixir by no means *cured* him so that he could stay in the Shire. Is it clear now, in the revision, or do I need to spell it out still more? I tend to bounce between over-obscurity and wordiness-to-the-extreme...

UnadrienielReviewed Chapter: 68 on 11/13/2003
somehow, it doesn't seem quite right
i think you need another chapter to close out the night.
68 chapters doesn't quite pay,
add on another, and see Sam on his way.

~Una

(sorry abt the rhyming, i've been watching a documentary on Dr. Suess. i think you get my point anyway)


Author Reply: I love Dr Seuss... it would be an interesting challenge to re-write LOTR completely in Seussian rhyme... (did you hear that noise? Was it perhaps the Professor spinning in his grave?) no, no, let me quick sip my second cup of tea, surely it will make me more alert and awake.

I have added an epilogue for those who want to see a little more of Freddy, and the last Pause is in the works, as it is a delicate matter to craft Sam and Elanor's final farewell. I am a sucker for a happy ending, and saying goodbye to your beloved Dad doesn't strike me as such. Ah, well.

And this is not necessarily the "last" of Fredegar Bolger. Who knows if the Muse will strike again?

Thanks for the review!

Bob's Your UncleReviewed Chapter: 68 on 11/13/2003
Wonderful chapter but I have to throw my dime in and say that I want to see an epilog! I want to see Sam coming to terms with leaving, his farewells... and hopefully his reunion with Frodo.

Author Reply: Hullo, Bob, thanks for the review and the dime!

You get two chapters for your trouble, a little more Freddy with a last bow to Frodo, and Sam and Ellie's parting (which is still in the writing, but hopefully to be finished before the weekend).

Reunion with Frodo, eh? Must admit I hadn't thought of tackling that. It has been a long time since I've ready anyone else's take on that scene, so I ought to be able to come up with something original... will ask the Muse and see what she says. At least it offers the chance for a happier ending than Ellie and Sam's farewell does.

Tim the EnchanterReviewed Chapter: 68 on 11/12/2003
Frodo's advice is wonderful... and please post the Sam and Elanor chapter. With the story beginning with them, it would seem odd and incomplete not to finish the story with them.

Author Reply: Too true. The story was originally planned as a sandwich, y'know, with the Pauses as the slices of bread holding the thing together. Guess we won't make it open-face after all, even though it somehow *felt* finished to me.

Ah, well. Now you get two chapters for the price of one, an epilogue, and the last Pause.

FantasyFanReviewed Chapter: 68 on 11/12/2003
The ending of this chapter is satisfying, but I for one want an epilogue. I want to see the last conversation between Sam and Elanor, to see Sam come to acceptance about leaving and hear that he hopes to find Frodo still alive. I want to hear who else besides Sam wrote the last part of the story (Frodo says he leaves the writing to Sam, but it’s really Freddy’s story that is being written, and I could see him writing it). I want to hear how the pages were finally finished and when, since they've been lost at least once and possibly twice. I want to hear if Freddy marries Meliot Brandybuck, and what he does name his first son if not Frodogar, and about Budgie’s and Viola’s child too. I want to see Freddy happy in later years. I want to get the feeling that life went on in the Shire, and it was good, and that those who knew Frodo remembered him and acknowledged that anything they had was owed to his courage and missed him because he couldn’t stay to enjoy it with them. I know you have moments like those in some of your other stories, but they are among my favorites and I’m greedy for more, especially in a story that focuses so much on Frodo.

Raven says she wants to see another chapter too, especially to see the goodbye between Sam and Elanor.

That’s two opinions for your consideration!


Author Reply: Thanks for the opinions! Tell Raven that she'll get two chapters instead of just one, even though I am having a terrible time at the moment with Sam and Ellie's goodbye, and may have to crumple up the computer monitor, throw it in the waste-basket, and start over again.

Freddy happy in later years? That will have to be another story, if the Muse allows. This one is quickly drawing to an end.

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