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| Glorious Summer by daw the minstrel | 243 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| Elemmire | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 10/11/2004 |
| A lovely end to a lovely story-you brightened my day! :), Elemmire Author Reply: Thank you, Elemmire. Endings are hard to write, so I'm glad you liked it. | |
| The Karenator | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 10/10/2004 |
| I just wrote a long juicy review and my computer went out on me. AOL doesn't have a clue. I'm on dialup now and I'm hurrying before it does this again. It's done it again after th first time. All I think I have time for right now is to say that there were a lot of wonderful moments in this chapter. I'll tell you all about them later when I have a stable hookup. My favorite part was Eilian and Ithilden trying to push off on one another who was going to tell Celuwen that she couldn't dismiss the guards. Such a terrific story. I can't wait for the next one. I'm hurrying.....Karen Author Reply: Thank you for the kind thoughts anyway, Karen! Celuwen does need to learn to accept the guards, but I wouldn't want to be the one to tell her. | |
| French Pony | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 10/10/2004 |
| My my, Little Miss Diplomat is hard at work here! Celuwen is pulling double duty these days. In the mornings, she mediates between Thranduil and the settlers, in the afternoons, she mediates between Eilian and Sólith, and in the evenings, she mediates between the various and sundry members of the royal family. She's very useful. And so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed about it. You can see how Thranduil restrains himself from patting her on the head. There are students who are like that with their professors, and I blush to suspect that I was one of them while an undergrad. I'm still getting to know my current professors well enough to do that with. It seems that both of Thranduil's daughters-in-law are absolutely indispensable to the household in very different ways. Alfirin is the nana that everyone has missed for so long (I'll bet she even mothers Thranduil), and I loved how her first instinct upon seeing that all was not right was to find someone to feed. Celuwen is, of course, the mediator. She charms everyone she comes in contact with (okay, maybe not the Men) and manages to be so sweet and reasonable when explaining the problem that you can't help but sit down and re-think things. And boy, does she have a knack for timing. "Oh, by the way, before you rip my husband a new one, you might want to know that he saved all of us and figured out a mystery you didn't even know you had. Just FYI." Poor old Maltanaur. He got stabbed in the back. Then he had to be spoonfed. Then he found himself quite literally between Eilian and Celuwen. Then Mrs. Maltanaur showed up to rail at him. He's not having a very good time of it here, is he? Is this his penance for surviving Tangled Web? There are times when it seems like Eilian is Maltanaur's keeper, and not the other way round. Thranduil eyed him and then smiled slightly. “It appears you were right to be worried about the Men in the woods. It is fortunate that you were at the settlement.” To Thranduil’s secret amusement, Eilian’s mouth dropped open in astonishment. Ithilden, too, blinked in surprise, but Celuwen smiled at him. It was good to be able to startle one’s children sometimes, Thranduil reflected. We all knew he was a wily old fox. That's our Thranduil, in tip-top form. Ithilden wants Eilian to tell Celuwen to please not dismiss the guards next time? That's an evil punishment right there. And once Eilian is recovered from the aftereffects of doing that, for his next trick, he will cut down the tallest tree in the forest wiiiiiiiiiith. . . a herring! I'll bet that part of the reason that Ithilden didn't demote Eilian was that he knew that, if he did, Eilian would be completely insufferable, and he's too good a troop commander to do that to the rest of the army. Good story. Author Reply: I've actually been feeling bad for Alfirin lately because I've been working so hard to integrate Celuwen into the family that I've let her sort of fade into the background. I think she is very motherly, and I think that was important to Legolas when he was younger. But it's important to all of them now, as you say. It's funny that Eilian does wind up taking care of Maltanaur sometimes, but I think maybe that would happen because Maltanaur is going to put himself between the arrow and Eilian. But also, it's just fun. :-) Thranduil *is* wily and in this case he's willing to be Adar and let Ithilden take care of his officer, which is really where the breach of discipline occurred anyway. To me, this would be like my son really screwing up at work. The screw up would be his boss's problem. I suppose I might try to get him to change some habitual behavior if the problem was due to that. But I think that Thranduil also recognized the truth: there really was nothing else Eilian could do. And Ithilden knew the same thing. Eilian is very lucky he was right, or insufferable or not, he'd be back in the warriors' ranks. | |
| Antigone Q | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 10/10/2004 |
| Eilian had hissed a single warning at them: “Never again let me hear that you have left someone you are guarding alone, no matter what they told you to do.” You can't tell me Eilian wasn't remembering his mother when he said that. The nice thing about reading a series like this is that we get whole layers of history in the story - like Celuwen's stone, and Legolas' words to Eilian, and the backhistory of Eilian's relationship with his father and older brother. You've really built a whole world here - I'm in awe. That was a nice little scene with Maltanaur and his wife. I thought the advice he gave could have applied equally well to the conversation Eilian was going to have with Celuwen. Was that your intent? Ha! The usual script took a turn when Celuwen intervened. Good for her! I hope she earned her husband some brownie points with his commander. I thought it was SO funny when neither Ithilden nor Eilian wanted to confront her about sending the guards home. So Legolas and Eilian have learned a great deal about their place in the world, and we had another great story (with a happy ending!). Thank you for writing it, Daw! Author Reply: Antigone, you are making me feel very good here. I've written so much about these characters that it is a world by now to me, so I'm glad it's one you enjoy reading about. I actually hadn't thought about Eilian and Celuwen when I wrote that line, but given that Maltanaur had just been in the middle of their argument, it certainly could have applied there. Maltanaur would believe she needed guarding. He's seen the big bad world and knows what she means to Eilian. Celuwen is a new factor in the family dynamic and her presence has to change things. When they married, Maltanaur said she would be good for Eilian and I think that will be true in the long run. I'm so glad you liked this, Antigone. | |
| esamen | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 10/10/2004 |
| So what did Thranduil want? Did he want Eilian to deny his feelings for the woods? What would he have done if he had been able to sense the danger that killed Lorellin? He knew that answer to that easily enough: If he had thought he might be able to save her, no power in Arda could have stopped him from trying. Oh, gorgeous. Somehow, I knew that you were going to circle around back to this in the end. Thranduil couldn't possibly bear to criticize Eilian too much when he himself had lost a wife in such a way. Celuwen is really the sweet surprise, isn't she? Playing with the big boys now, and winning some hands? But that really was foolish of her to dismiss the guards. And Legolas is so sweet. Quite grown up and filling out his role now. He is such a darling. If I were Thranduil I'd be proud of him too, and I'd miss him and worry about him too. Thanks! On to the next adventure! have fun dreaming up the next one! I can't wait! Author Reply: Thank you, Esamen. I couldn't see Thranduil being too hard about this one, although I thought that Ithilden had to assert himself. Celuwen needs to smarten up about the guards. She really isn't being defiant. She just doesn't know all the rules yet. *I'm* proud of Legolas. He's doing what he needs to do, even though he's a bit lonely doing it, I think. | |
| Duchess | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 10/10/2004 |
| A very good story! I'm sooooo glad Thranduil surprised them by saying hat he did. LOL Author Reply: Thank you, Duchess. I was glad about that too. I decided that Thranduil could afford to let Ithilden ream Eilian out and just act as a father himself. | |
| Manderly | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 10/10/2004 |
| I am sad to see this story end. You have done a wonderful job with it and I hope you have another one brewing for us (soon?) I am glad Ithiden and Thranduil went easy on Eilian for he really did not deserve their wrath. I am sure had they been in his position, they would have reacted no differently, and I think they have come to realized that at the end. Once again, I can see the sometimes impossible task of balancing duty to the realm and duty to the family. Celuwen once again proves her worth to Eilian, and to the Royal Family. I hope she will become the bridge between Thranduil and Eilian. And Legolas is really all grown up now, isn't he? I have always wondered whether some of the more seasoned warriors would feel a sense of resentment of having to obey someone who not so long ago was but an elfling in their eyes. I am glad to see none of it so far. Thank you again for the wonderful story. Author Reply: The more I thought about it, the more I decided that Ithilden and Thranduil would back down. They could see that Eilian was right and that this was his wife's safety they were talking about. Ithilden did have a delicate balance to strike, but Thranduil could afford to be just Adar if he wanted to, and he decided he did. Legolas is doing well. He's growing into Legolas of the Fellowship. | |
| Antigone Q | Reviewed Chapter: 9 on 10/10/2004 |
| Loced Celuwen's speech: “ Do you think Eilian and Legolas want to spend their lives as warriors? Do you think that they would not like the chance to live among healthy trees in harmony with the song of Arda?” And Thranduil ought to thank the Valar that he chose Celuwen to negotiate with the settlers. I don't think anyone else would have been able to accomplish so much. I wish Eilian's Adar weren't always so hard on him. Sigh. Author Reply: I wish that too, so I decided to make things a little better. :-) The settlers respect Celuwen as one of their own, but it didn't take more than a few weeks of sitting on Thranduil's council for her to see things a little differently. Her father had no chance against her! | |
| Antigone Q | Reviewed Chapter: 8 on 10/10/2004 |
| "What are brothers for?"...I remember that one all the way back from the snowball fight. Nice touch. Author Reply: I love using stuff from previous stories, like that phrase or the necklace Celuwen finds and wears. | |
| meckinock | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 10/10/2004 |
| I forgot to say how much I liked Thanduil's self-examination, too. About time he asked himself why he's always riding Eilian. The whole family seems to be getting their heads screwed on straight. Wait- what are they going to have to argue about now? This isn't going to get boring, is it? Author Reply: I hope not! I think they'll find some issues. They always do. | |